The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin

Excellent Hotel in the "old" center of Berlin (Potsdamer Platz), with everything you can expect from a Ritz Carlton: quiet rooms, friendly staff, and good breakfast. I had a lovely welcome at check-in. The only less positive note is that it feels like a business hotel, and it lacks warmth. They could add some dish to the room service menu—it is very essential.

The hotel’s location is well located, and the lobby and bar are elegant. The real magic of this hotel was the staff - incredibly warm and professional. Maybe this level of service and training is a lost art not, but not here. From check-in (charming Renata) to breakfast to the front door, the staff was excellent. It really made an impact on our stay.

I’ve only one other time written a review while at a hotel but in the brief 3 hours of being here I feel compelled. Our experience thus far reminds me of what staying at the Ritz Carlton was like a decade prior. It has restored my faith in a brand that once went head to head with the likes of Mandarin and Peninsula. It has reminded me just how important true service is to the hotel experience. With the exception of our amazing experience at the Ritz Carlton in Tokyo last summer, our recent Ritz experiences have been unremarkable - a sentiment shared by many travelers these days. I chose a 5 Star hotel because I knew that would make the overnight flight less dreaded. I’m so glad I chose the Ritz. And here is why… 👍 The room was ready upon arrival 👍The rollaway bed we had arranged was already in the room made up! 👍We were offered a welcome glass of champagne 👍The extra foam pillows we ordered were delivered lightening fast 👍The sauna steam room and gym area is fantastic 👍The bathtub is glorious even in a king corner room 👍The welcome bottle of wine at turndown along with a full size chocolate santa was the final touch that reminded me of the glory days when you were made to feel special Well done! The Brown family can’t thank you enough for making sure the lacking sleep from an overnight flight just melted away…

Many know the story about Van Halen’s requirement on tour, to have a bowl of M&M’s but not brown ones ready. While this was seen as capricious at first when reported, it turned out that this was a clever test if the local company really has read the full requirements document including the much more important requirements with relevance to performing a gig in a safe environment. That story immediately came to mind when I checked in at the Ritz-Carlton Berlin and the one sentence, which the check-in staff always states when you are a platinum member, regardless if you stay at the St. Regis Venice or Moxy Frankfurt Ost, didn’t come: “Thank you for your loyalty as a Platinum member” At every single Marriott property I stayed in, and yes I found it quite unnecessary most of the time. At the Ritz-Carlton Berlin It didn’t come and I immediately knew, that this stay would be off. The benefits of the Marriott Stars booking I had were not explained, and I felt I had to remind the staff of them. No biggie. That was followed by an unrequested wake-up call in the morning. It was at a normal time, but I wondered if there are any processes behind them to prevent an unwanted wake up call at, say, 4 AM. It concluded with me reminding the check out staff of the F&B benefit my booking that they still did not seem to be aware of, but not before first needing to get my room-key reactivated, because late checkout, while showing confirmed in my app, did not make it to my room key. If the rest of the experience would have been great I would not mind. But the rest of the experience was just mid: The room with “soundproofed windows” which allowed you to overhear conversations outside and hear the clacking of high-heels. The pool in the spa: Charming stainless steel. The breakfast 55 Euro for a pre-packaged breakfast from an admittedly good catering service, but an expensive standard breakfast nevertheless. Average Club Sandwich, that’s 29 Euro, thank you very much. Maybe I am overly demanding when I expect that hotels which self-assess themselves as “luxury” are actually delivering on that promise and not just see it as a pretext to overcharge and then under-deliver. Rich people maybe find this normal, but unfortunately I am not rich, and so I find this still irritating. Maybe that will change, until then I’ll stay at a hotel in the neighborhood, which does not claim to be something it isn’t, but actually over-delivers on their promise. It is doubtful however, if I’ll stay at a Ritz-Carlton again.

The once great customer service of the Ritz Berlin is now gone. I’ve stayed at the Ritz over 10 times over a 15 year period. I was shocked upon checking in that their customer service has disappeared. It’s very sad that this great place will no longer be on my travel list or my recommendations to my friends and colleagues.