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Corridor showing the signage and a typical dispense unit for snacks and drinks
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"the slow changing views of the outside make one long to change the view for a beach"
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Like a den this is not a room for a traveller with a great deal of luggage as there is no wardrobe to hide suitcases, just two clothes hangers on the wall. However if you travel light then the space has everything you need, including the tea/coffee maker and a workable desk.
The wet room is also functional, and includes toiletries with just enough room for the contents of a soap bag. These are not rooms for the untidy, and neatness keeps a feeling of spaciousness. All the controls for the lighting, ventilation etc. are contained in a neat panel at the bed head, where your key card turns everything on.
The room is well lit and comfortable and whilst cosy for one, it would definitely be intimate for two, whilst cat swinging is not recommended. At the price point one has to compare it with the Etap (see our earlier Review) or an Ibis, and it compares quite favourably with both in terms of utility and comfort. The addition of a 42” screen also adds a touch of luxury missing in the others, setting ‘nitenite’ apart. One hotel group recently added ‘scenes’ from around the world as images on the glass of their room windows to transport guests, in their imagination, from the workaday to the exotic. Whilst the lack of a window doesn’t impinge, the slow changing views of the outside on the TV screen make one long to change the view for a beach in the South of France – in fact anywhere but a rain soaked Birmingham would have been more enjoyable...
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Detailing throughout the hotel is in keeping with the high quality aspirations of the owners, and is typified by this nicely detailed computer installation available for the guest to use.
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Lounge area provides comfortable seating outside the bedrooms
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The public areas are stylish, and the operator owns the smart café next door, which provides breakfast and also offers the food service not contained within the hotel itself. The café appears independent but links through double doors to the hotel. The reception and lounge areas are smart, and again high quality timbers are used as the main finishes, together with high quality lighting. For those on a tight budget who do not want to eat out there is a range of snacks and drinks available from vending machines on each floor. There are small seating areas which can also be used for the now familiar informal hotel business meetings, and there are also two computer equipped workstations which allow guest to log onto the web. Typical of the high design values espoused, these have neat stainless steel keyboards built into the desktop units.
In many respects this hotel conforms to standards outlined in the various star rating guides despite its lack of windows, although the Berlin hotel conforms to a minimum room size apparently laid down in German guidelines.. It raises interesting questions not just about traditional building techniques and concepts of comfort and style but also about branding and standards generally. It doesn’t answer those questions, but the hotel does provide an interesting twist to the ‘micro-boutique’ concept and as the first of this new breed sets a standard for the others to match
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nitenite cityrooms
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