Hostel Review: The Circus Hostel [Berlin, Germany]

I arrived at The Circus Hostel late in the evening after missing my earlier flight from Madrid. I like to arrive at a hostel during the day due to some having lock-out periods and it just makes it easier to find. I wouldn't suggest wandering around a new city at night. Check-in was easy, and I grabbed some food from the chatty vendor across the street. He asked me about the Red Sox, but I had to admit I didn't pay attention to that. I bought an awesome gyro for a few euros, and ate it in the downstairs bar of the hostel. Much to my surprise the bar was dedicated to David Hasselhof. I remember it having some sort of shrine, and they were playing old episodes of Night Rider on a projector. The hostel offered a free drink at the bar (awesome!), and I headed to bed shortly after.

The hostel was very modern and clean with large rooms. There is a small lounge in the entrance with an attached cafe that offers a breakfast for a few Euros. The hostel advertised cheap (bus?) rides between cities that seemed like a great deal. I met an interesting girl at breakfast who mentioned how difficult it is to navigate in China due to the signs and maps not being in a language with recognizable characters. It sounded like quite a challenge. Another girl had a Sony UMPC that looked really handy for going online while traveling. I have since bought a Nokia N800 and iPhone, both of which have been useful companions on my travels. I can't imagine lugging around a full-size notebook.

I only had about a day before I needed to catch a train back to Cologne, so all I remember doing was having some tasty hot dogs and beers before I went to see the piece of the Berlin wall that was still intact.

I didn't take any pictures of the hostel, but this video has a great review. (albeit in german)

Hostel Review: Eastener Hostel [Berlin, Germany]

Eastener hostel is a small, inexpensive hostel with a kitchen and friendly atmosphere in Eastern Berlin. My room was smaller than the others, and luckily I had it all to myself during the week. The hostel also includes a public PC, kitchen, and there is a grocery store nearby. It was within walking distance of bars and cool music clubs. I saw a cool punk band at one bar, and a local tourist pub crawl came through the bar. Another band did a cover of Michael Jackson, something I have almost never seen in the US. A number of the bars/clubs were located in cool underground vaults and offered plenty of cheap beers. I was amazed when I walked in late to one of the shows, and they actually cut the cover charge in half. The eastern part of the city had a cool, young vibe, and I also stayed later at "The Circus" Hostel in Berlin.

Note: I visited this hostel in April 2007