OSTEL - BERLIN’S DDR DESIGN HOSTEL
Cheap Accommodations and Nostalgia in Berlin
Feeling
a yearning for those good old communist German Democratic Republic GDR/DDR
days - when the Berlin Wall still divided Germany's sprawling
great city into East and West- life was simpler, you didn’t live
in lavish style, but had a guaranteed job and car made of wood with a
broken engine. You only had to mind your own business and avoid the
wrath of the Stasi secret
police,
watching
what you said, even within the paper-thin walled apartment provided
by your all protective government. Well, you can enjoy those
days
again and save Euros to boot on your holiday visit to Germany’s
exciting and every changing capital city by staying at the amusingly
conceived
OSTEL the DDR Design Hostel in Berlin. 
Starting
with its clever play on a name, (Ost means east in German) the OSTEL
hostel is very conveniently located within steps of Berlin’s
Ostbahnhof, the rail station serving Berlin's east side. You can even
spot the Ostel
GDR Hostel on the train from Schoenberg Airport (soon to be Berlin’s
new International Airport when construction is completed). The Ostel
has
been open for a few years
in the city's
revitalized Friedrichshain
district, conceived as a design concept and an unique experience. The
building is standard late east German apartment complex, with the former
apartments divided into multi-bed hostel dorms and individual private
rooms. True to the East German way, the “private bath” of
the individual rooms are actually outside the room in the hall, but you’re
provided with your own key - and leave the towels for changing outside
your door. The construction is typical East German
technology at its functional mass
produced height
- sturdy,
but
thin
concrete walls
with steel core, pressed wood doors (the same material with which they
built their notorious cars) the width of a credit card through which
you can hear most anything going on, and there is no elevator. The hostel
is decorated with original 
furnishings
of the
late
60’s and 70’s
in a cohesive design style, a bit like living in a modern design museum,
including ever present portraits of Erik Hoenicker, the communist GDR’s
last leader watching over you. The outside of the building has been
painted a bright, very uncommunist era green pastel, but inside there
is
a "secret" conference room which the hostel’s inventive
creators Daniel Helbig and Guido Sand, found at an actual Stasi secret
police
country
retreat
and moved
the
furnishings
into the hostel. Perhaps they'll add an interrogation room with a Sauna
in the future, but current expansion plans only call for a restaurant
and more rooms in the adjacent building.
Rates
for a bed in the 6 bed dorms start at and low cost €9 in the off-season
with single rooms going for €39, prices go up a bit in the summer
months, with the highest rate of €59 for a double room at
peak season. The "Presidential Suite" in the penthouse - a slightly
bigger room on the top floor - can be had for a bit more. Aside
from its period concept, the Ostel Hostel is very clean, modern,
crisp and smart. Breakfast is €3.50
and towels (in the cheap dorm beds) are an extra charge. With its
rising
popularity,
reservations
should be made in advance at
the Ostel DDR Design Hostel. If you want to escape the confines
of your authentic East German apartment for some sun and commiseration
with
fellow budget young travelers, the Ostel has set up its own sandy “beach
bar” outside in the next door lot and will project football
soccer championship games on the slab wall of the neighboring warehouse.
Even if you’re not ordinarily a hostel sort of traveler,
the Ostel DDR Design Hostel may not offer the luxury of the decadent
capitalist
west
Adlon, but can be a fun place to stay for a Berlin bargain with
a clever nostalgic wink. © Bargain
Travel Europe
Review of Ostel GDR Hostel at TripAdvisor
Find best hotel and vacation deals in Berlin on TripAdvisor
Web Info
Ostel DDR Design Hotel
These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission.
See Also:
GLOBETROTTER
ODYSSEY HOSTEL - FRIEDRICHSHAIN
WALKING FIRST CLASS ACROSS GERMANY AT 160
BERLIN
ACTIVE TOURING - SIGHTJOGGING
THE
KENNEDYS MUSEUM BERLIN
