Radisson Blu Hotel Berlin

I've visited Berlin twice, in April 2005 and February 2006. On both of my visits I stayed in the fantastic 5* Radisson SAS hotel, which is quite probably the most interesting hotel I’ve ever stayed in. The reason for this is that it has the world’s largest cylindrical aquarium in the lobby. Built in 2003, the aquarium stretches 25m high and contains over 3000 tropical fish, it really is something, I remember walking into the lobby and being absolutely gob smacked!

At the base of the aquarium there is a lovely curved cocktail bar when you can enjoy a nice drink whilst looking up at the marine life. I had a wonderful cocktail whilst staying there, i don't remember the name but it was a peachy frothy little number... nice! And if you have a room with a balcony looking out onto the lobby you get to see the divers inside the Aquadom, cleaning the tank on a morning and feeding the fish, which is fun.

The rest of the hotel is very good too, being recently built it is very contemporary and stylish, big beds, spacious rooms and wonderful bathrooms. And if you have a room on the outside of the hotel you will be sure to have a pretty great view over the city. There was a fitness centre and a small but lovely marble pool and three different saunas, a solarium was also available for a small charge. Location-wise this hotel is ideal, and it’s literally next-door to the Berlin Dome and Altes Museum, most other attractions such as the Brandenburg Gate were within walking distance aswell.

As a result of the good location there are many nearby places to eat, and we did have a meal one evening in the hotel's restaurant 'HEat'. The location of the restaurant is wonderful, right by the Berlin Dome, so you can get a table with an extremely romantic view of the Dome at night. I had King Prawns cooked in the Tandoor oven, and they were absolutely delicious, and huge, I’ve never seen King Prawns as big in all my life!. We were also presented with a massive Naan bread which was practically the size of our table. For two main meals with alcoholic drinks it cost us about 40 Euro's.. so pretty good value for a good meal in very pleasant surroundings.

Getting from the hotel to the airport cost about 30 Euro's by taxi, but the public transport links are brilliant too.

I would definitely recommend this hotel to anybody who will be or is thinking of visiting Berlin soon.