A&O Berlin Friedrichshain, Berlin

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A&O Berlin Friedrichshain Reviews

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A&O Berlin Friedrichshain is an enormous hostel that can accommodate hundreds of guests in its many dorms. As a result, you will likely share your stay with very large groups of teenagers on school trips. Its size and layout over multiple floors create the feeling of being in a boarding school; the facilities are lacking and stretched. You also have to pay extra for bedsheets. Meeting other travelers will be difficult and its location is quite far from the sights.

The Location

This hostel is a five-minute walk from the Ostkreuz subway station. As you exit the station, turn right and walk down to the small park at the end of the road. Then, turn right again and walk past the restaurants on either side until you get to a cross road with a kebab shop on the opposite across the road. Turn left here and walk a hundred meters. You'll see the hostel on your right.

Rooms and Bathrooms

Surprisingly, the standard of the dorms is high. There are large, comfy beds and each dorm is very spacious. There are lockers in each dorm (bring your own lock), reading lights at each bed, and Wi-Fi is present throughout the entire building. Considering how many guests there can be, this is pretty fast. The bathrooms are a big issue here -- there simply aren't enough of them, and sharing with school kids can be frustrating. Each floor has has around six showers and a few toilets, however, each floor may also contain more than a hundred guests. These are, however, kept very clean, as is the rest of the property.

Common Spaces

The common spaces are poor, to say the least. There is a bar with a pool and football table where you'll often see people eating and drinking at in the evenings; however, its layout of small, singular tables means that everyone keeps to themselves. There's also a nice courtyard with benches, perfect for chilling with a beer if you're already in a group. On top of this, there is also a volleyball pitch, a small but useful kitchen, and a large school-canteen-like dining hall where breakfast is served for a fee each morning.

Summary

Like many other budget options in Berlin, the extra money you'll be asked to pay for bedsheets means that you could have booked a nicer hostel. It's also quite far from the city center, so subway costs will be higher. The standard of the dorms make it the best of a bad bunch for this part of the city, but you may have to put up with not meeting anyone. Security is also much better than other nearby hostels, as all main doors and room doors require a keycard.

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