This post is written by Katie about her first night in Berlin on the way to Hamburg (and then Copenhagen).

I chose to stay at Generator Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin since I was able to book two nights for just 47€ in a deluxe female dorm. Everything went fine at check-in, but when I got to the room I found that my locker was broken, as the lockable part had been removed. I went back down to reception to see if they would assign me to a different bed/locker. It took me a long time to explain to the receptionist what was wrong – but then she said they were too full to move me. She did say I could use the locker for bed 2 (since it would be empty tonight).

I think this area is what differentiates a deluxe room for a normal room?  If so, it’s not worth the extra euros.

I went back up to the room, but found that locker 2’s lockable feature was also broken (but in a different way). With this find, I just decided to use the broken storage cabinet for bed 4 and lock anything I care about in my backpack. She had said the ‘back-up’ if I didn’t like bed 2’s locker was to leave things at reception – which did not seem safer.

I made my bed by putting the bottom sheet on and laying out the comforter. Then I headed out to explore. I found a Kaufland supermarket that was open until 10pm nearby, so I walked over there to get some milk, bread, and a salad. Then I wandered around trying to find a place to eat my dinner (since outside food is not allowed in the hostel). I ended up finding a place to eat on top of the Schwimm- und Sprunghalle im Europasportpark building.  There were lots of stairs, with many people chilling and drinking beer on them.  I joined the masses and watched the sun set and the full mood rise.

After finishing my dinner, I returned to the hostel.  Upon entering the room, I saw that they had assigned a girl to bed 2 – the one they had told me to use the locker for after assuring me they would assign no one to that bed!  Good thing I ended up not using that locker.

I took my laptop down to the cafe to work on blogs for a bit before calling it a night.