The Hostelz.com Review
Having been to the Generator Hostel in Dublin, we very much looked forward to staying at the location in Berlin. Though it doesn’t quite meet that standard, it still has much to offer.
The Location
The hostel is located on the S-9 line, so it’s a direct, thirty-minute trip from Berlin Schonefeld Airport (aka Berlin Brandenburg) to the Landesberg Allee station. The S-41 and S-42 also stop there, which form the “Ring” line (circling Berlin,) and the M-6 tram will take you from the hostel to Alexanderplatz in fifteen minutes. There is a small shopping center next door to the hostel, with a grocery store, pharmacy, and discount store, as well as a Mexican restaurant that isn’t too shabby. Burger King is across the street. All of the stores are closed on Sunday.
Rooms And Bathrooms
The beds in the dorms are a little hard, but it’s not a dealbreaker. Linens, comforter, and towel all included. The heating system works well. Lockable rolling cages, under the bed to secure your belongings, can handle a carry-on suitcase and a backpack.
There are approximately eight public showers per floor for each gender. The showers' water flow is very weak and it will occasionally change temperatures on you. There is no privacy area in the shower, so you have to step out on a very slippery floor into the open in your birthday suit to dress. Toilets are on each floor and are sometimes stinky. They often clean them in the middle of the night, which is great if you don’t mind going to a different floor in your pajamas. The toilet paper is downright nasty, harkening back to the splintery, sadistic tissue of the Communist era.
Common Areas
The common facilities in this hostel are top-notch. There is a bar, restaurant, various lounges with vending machines, a computer/study room, and lobby. The food in the restaurant is well above the quality you might have learned to expect from a hostel cafe, and it includes both international items (pasta, burgers) and local specialties (schnitzle, spaetzle). The bar is always running a promo on beer. You also get a free drink ticket from the reception when you check in and there is a happy hour every day from 5 to 7 p.m. There are activities planned, though half seem to be canceled for reasons like the karaoke machine is broken, or the pub crawl person doesn’t show up. The New Berlin tour has a guide picking up hostelers every morning from the lobby.
The fourth floor has a laundry (though half of the washers and dryers were broken during our stay). You can wash and dry with soap for a price. There are free internet terminals and a few pay computers -- we’re not sure what the difference is. Wi-Fi is free, but you need to get tickets from a machine, good for six hours of free Wi-Fi at a time and it only works in the downstairs area. The restaurant serves free breakfast in the morning, with the normal cereal and bread offerings, along with a smattering of unusual deli meat. In the evening, you can buy dinner -- we took advantage of this twice during our stay, and both times, it was delicious.
Summary
Generator bills itself as the "Ultimate Party Hostel," and it may be doing itself an injustice. The party atmosphere is there, for those who wish it, but it also has ample facilities for those who are looking for a less-intense experience.
The Location
The hostel is located on the S-9 line, so it’s a direct, thirty-minute trip from Berlin Schonefeld Airport (aka Berlin Brandenburg) to the Landesberg Allee station. The S-41 and S-42 also stop there, which form the “Ring” line (circling Berlin,) and the M-6 tram will take you from the hostel to Alexanderplatz in fifteen minutes. There is a small shopping center next door to the hostel, with a grocery store, pharmacy, and discount store, as well as a Mexican restaurant that isn’t too shabby. Burger King is across the street. All of the stores are closed on Sunday.
Rooms And Bathrooms
The beds in the dorms are a little hard, but it’s not a dealbreaker. Linens, comforter, and towel all included. The heating system works well. Lockable rolling cages, under the bed to secure your belongings, can handle a carry-on suitcase and a backpack.
There are approximately eight public showers per floor for each gender. The showers' water flow is very weak and it will occasionally change temperatures on you. There is no privacy area in the shower, so you have to step out on a very slippery floor into the open in your birthday suit to dress. Toilets are on each floor and are sometimes stinky. They often clean them in the middle of the night, which is great if you don’t mind going to a different floor in your pajamas. The toilet paper is downright nasty, harkening back to the splintery, sadistic tissue of the Communist era.
Common Areas
The common facilities in this hostel are top-notch. There is a bar, restaurant, various lounges with vending machines, a computer/study room, and lobby. The food in the restaurant is well above the quality you might have learned to expect from a hostel cafe, and it includes both international items (pasta, burgers) and local specialties (schnitzle, spaetzle). The bar is always running a promo on beer. You also get a free drink ticket from the reception when you check in and there is a happy hour every day from 5 to 7 p.m. There are activities planned, though half seem to be canceled for reasons like the karaoke machine is broken, or the pub crawl person doesn’t show up. The New Berlin tour has a guide picking up hostelers every morning from the lobby.
The fourth floor has a laundry (though half of the washers and dryers were broken during our stay). You can wash and dry with soap for a price. There are free internet terminals and a few pay computers -- we’re not sure what the difference is. Wi-Fi is free, but you need to get tickets from a machine, good for six hours of free Wi-Fi at a time and it only works in the downstairs area. The restaurant serves free breakfast in the morning, with the normal cereal and bread offerings, along with a smattering of unusual deli meat. In the evening, you can buy dinner -- we took advantage of this twice during our stay, and both times, it was delicious.
Summary
Generator bills itself as the "Ultimate Party Hostel," and it may be doing itself an injustice. The party atmosphere is there, for those who wish it, but it also has ample facilities for those who are looking for a less-intense experience.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
October 2011
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Generator Hostel Berlin Reviews from the WebHostelz.com Guest Reviews
People Factory for processing underaged kids Firstly, we stood there for over ten minutes whilst the only person on reception answered the phone (after he had started serving us) then continued to chat and laugh, until he finally decided to call another staff member to finish our check-in. As a couple, we requested and were put in a double room -- but this was above the outdoor bar. After twelve hours traveling, we were exhausted and needed to sleep. The noise from the bar was so disturbing we couldn't sleep with the window open, and there was no ventilation in the room when we shut it. We did fall asleep with the window shut, but I imagine it was more of a coma from lack of air. We woke up in a lather of sweat and hardly able to breathe in that room. We tried to move one of the beds to rearrange the room so that our heads were away from the window, and saw that no-one had swept under the beds for ages. It was filthy. We requested a change of room at reception. The receptionist's response was cold and aggressive -- and she tried to tell us that they were booked out, so we have no choice. We had booked and prepaid for three nights, so when we told her we would just stay one night and request our money back for the other nights, suddenly there were rooms available in forty-five minutes after they have been cleaned. The next room turned out to be a bigger nightmare, although it was at the front of the hostel so away from the bar. Again no airflow into the room (interestingly there is airflow/conditioning in the corridors) you need to have the windows open. Why on earth they allow people to stand at the front door smoking when there is a bar behind the building is beyond us! So until the wee hours, there were people laughing, drinking and partying at the bloody front door of the hostel right under our window keeping us awake. To make it worse, every morning we were there, there was a group of young boys stomping and yelling up and down the corridor outside our room at 4:30 in the morning. We were disgusted but not surprised when four ambulances turned up and took away kids from this hostel, as well as a visit from the police on the last night we were there. Interestingly, was that the owner who turned up in the black car with headlights turned off during the debacle? Must have been, because as soon as the police turned up, he left suddenly. Obviously leaving the mess for the staff to work out? Interesting indeed. We hoped this would settle down the environment so that we could get at least one night's sleep before the gang of boys came home at 4 a.m. full of drugs, I am guessing, and create the atmosphere of a football stadium outside our door. No. They were there again. We then hoped they would go home on Sunday and we asked to extend our stay another night. After paying for three nights, we were then slugged with a 62Euro charge for one more night, with the explanation that this was "weekend rate." It is the end of the weekend -- and most guests left on Sunday. So to ask premium rates is preposterous. We could get a cheap hotel in Mitte for that. Needless to say, we left. I stayed in the Generator five years ago, and it was not this noisy, nor the staff so rude.Their costs are now exorbitant, and far too much for the location. You are better off if there is more than one of you staying in a hotel in the centre. The trains and trams both stopped prior to Landsberger Allee at random times during our stay, with no explanation nor advice on how to get there unless you can understand train-speaker german. So it is apparent the standard of "give a sh*t" at the Generator in Berlin has dropped through the floor. They are nothing more than a processing plant for German teens escaping their homes and parents to get pissed and run amok. They have lost the whole meaning of the concept of a "traveler hostel." If you're a true traveler, stay the hell away from there. — Debra , Australia (2009-06-24) A very nice hostel for the price I especially liked the experience of staying in former East Berlin. It was so interesting to see how the neighborhoods were different from those in the West. It is also very easy to find and get to as it is right beside a U-Bahn station. The room I stayed in was spotlessly clean. I thought the breakfast was a little bleak and bland, but for the price a great place. — Thomas , Ireland (2009-01-26) Was great Generator hostel was great. I had a shock walking through the doors I thought id entered the crystal maze! It's not the kind of hostel for those wanting an early quiet night and I know that many people over the age of twenty-five would probably describe it as there personal hell, but for people like myself who want to enjoy themselves, meet lots of people ready to have a good time, and no one judging you cause you decide to go about at night in your pyjamas then this place is for you. Let's face it we are only young once so why not make the most of it. And as to regards to hygiene its true they don't clean your rooms while you stay but who cares the short amount of time you actually spend in them, and more importantly every inch of the place is spotlessly clean. About the food it was not American style fast food as someone has previously mentioned, I was traveling with someone who lived in Germany for years so I think they would know what they are talking about, plus Berlin has loads of amazing restaurants that you would want to check out. In short it has the spirit of Berlin that I love, do what you want, be who you want, wear what you want, which makes this hostel lively, exciting, multicultural, and friendly. — nicole , Scotland (2008-03-01) This hostel is probably a good place to stay if you are sixteen years old and looking for a place to party. However, this place might be a little shocking if you are not ready for it. Expect sixteen-year-old kids showing up at the breakfast buffet in their pyjama at night. kids running around the hallways screaming. the place felt more like a high school than a hostel. The room itself was reasonable, but if you are over 1.90 meters, the bed is a little short. The room is reasonable clean, but after six days of staying it really needed some cleaning (they dont clean the room during your stay). Bathroom is very small. The location of the hotel is quite far off -- expect long rides on the tube to get there. From the city center it's around thirty to forty-five minutes. The area of the hotel has a certain east berlin feeling to it, with new buildings here and there. This hostel is one of them, together with the park plaza next door and the burger king across the street. — Alex van Es , Netherlands (2007-05-12) A party hostel in my opinion. I've stayed here with some friends during the summer. I had a really good time -- helpful staff, excellent breakfast and dinner, good prices, clean, good location (keeping in mind that Berlin is a big city), nice bar in the hostel. I'm not sure if I am right if I say you shouldn't expect backpackers in here, more people who explore Berlin for a couple of days or a week. If you want a couple of days of fun in Berlin and some relaxing during the night -- this is a good place for it. — Tim, Netherlands. (2007-03-16) This place was Horrible. Full of thirteen- to fifteen-year-old very loud children. The food was American style fats food. Very cheap atmosphere. i think the women's toilet flooded twice while we were here and the entire floor where we stayed smelled filthy. We left after one day and ended up staying in a better hostel down the street. — Jennifer (2006-11-19) this hostel was one of the best we've stayed in. the twin rooms are little but very clean and the beds are comfortable. we've stayed in a room en suite, but we've to admit that also the shared bathrooms on every floor are very very clean, spacious and provide a hair dryer. one thing we've enjoyed so much is the daily happy hour where we used to drink more than one beer at only 90 cent! the staff is friendly and multilingual. just out the hostel there is a station of the metro, so in a few minutes you can reach every part of the city. i would like to advise it to everyone who's going to berlin. enjoy it! — carla and domenico (2006-09-05) Great value for your money! The rooms were clean and the beds incredibly comfortable! There were free lockers in every room, and the shower/bathroom area was large and clean. The free breakfast was also very good. The main problem with this hostel is its location; it is a bit out-of-the-way but that shouldn't be too much of a problem if you know how to use the S-Bahn. Good if you are looking for a quiet and comfortable place to rest and recharge. — Alex W (2006-08-24) this hostel is by far the most fun and craziest place i have been, the hostel is clean and modern with good facilities, a decent bar and kitchen, internet is fast and there are plenty of computers but is pretty expensive. An absolute must do while staying here is the pub crawl which leaves every night at eight-fifteen p.m. I did it twice and it was awesome, the people staying there were all great and i made loads of friends really easily, I wish i could move in forever. The only downside was the expensive internet since there is free internet in town next to checkpoint charlie and the location is not that close to town but is directly next to a S-bahn station so easy to get around. — Kiwi Mike (2006-08-20) Good price (and ten percent off with isic card). Smelly and not very clean room. You get (clean) towels and linen. Bathrooms are clean. All-you-can-eat breakfast is great (that was our favourite part of the day. Noise depends on which side of hostel is your room. Great hostel with great breakfast and at least one smelly room. — Berlin (2006-07-29) Absolutely top notch for the price, clean, very friendly, and excellent staff. Great breakfast included and close to train and tram links. Dorms tended to be noisy but we requested private twin room which was very quiet and, though basic, was exceptional value! — Philip Hussey (2006-06-16) The Generator hostel was definitely the largest hostel I have ever stayed in. You can't beat the price, so long as you don't spend too much money on things such as internet access, which can be expensive (for cheap internet, head to Kochstr. 74, very close to Checkpoint Charlie). Even though Generator hostel is situated a ways from the city center, it's conveniently located next to the S-Bahn. The staff are helpful, but you might have to wait in line. All drinks are half off during happy hour at the bar downstairs. On the weekends count on some noise during the night. — Steve (2006-05-31) It was the most fun we could have had, after we went to the 20th World Youth week. — Jessica Lafond (2005-08-30) I had never had so much fun as I did in Berlin. It's a perfect hostel where I met lots of people! I'll never forget it; that's why I'm coming back this July! And also, there was a boy from Liverpool with whom I talked during the pub crawl, but we didn't give our phone numbers so if you read this (I don't even remember your name but he stayed in Generator the first week of September) please e-mail me! aupaferrero@hotmail.com — Ana (Barcelona) (2005-06-17) The Generator was really clean! We booked a room with shared sanitary, but we got our own bathroom! The staff were English speaking and friendly. It is a bit far from the center, but with the U and S-Bahn you can travel to anywhere. The bar is enjoyable, but not that great. They do have great cocktails, though. I can definitely recommend The Generator! — Anonymous (2005-03-13)