Departure was much too early. Why did we have to get a 7am flight? We could not check into our rooms until 3pm and that meant there was a lot of hanging about. Stephen, our tour guide, arranged with the hotel reception for us to buy travel tickets for three days, which was useful, although it seemed to take an inordinate amount of time as there were of course other parties at the hotel besides ourselves. What would have been really helpful is if the hotel could have laid on coffee and a snack after so early a start.

After everyone had bought their tickets we then proceeded on a walk around the local area of Alexanderplatz and beyond. I and others at last got a coffee at a small scruffy Starbucks in the station, standing as there was no room to sit. Normally this wouldn’t have mattered, after all, I’m used to getting around London, but I was tired by this time and to be honest I thought Alexanderplatz and the station, as an introduction to Berlin, to be a bit of a dump!

Although I cannot fault the hotel, I’m afraid its location leaves something to be desired. It is in the former East Berlin and whilst some may find its charm attractive, I found the graffiti, weeds growing beside the tram tracks and general run down air of a former communist era brutalist housing block unattractive. Plus, it was some way into central Berlin. On the plus side, transport links were good.

The ‘Farewell Dinner’ on Sunday evening, for which I was charged £56.00 was a ’rip-off’, there’s no other way to describe it. The TV tower is a spectacular venue with wonderful views across the city, if only the food and service came up to the same standard. We had to make our choice for the main course almost as soon as we arrived at the hotel on Friday morning, as it seemed the management were being awkward and needed to know a week in advance! It was either beef, fish or risotto, with a standard ‘tomato soup’ for starters. When I asked about a dessert choice, I was informed that it would be chocolate mousse, there being no other choice. We were sat on tables according to our main course choices, ie meat or fish (why, I never understood). Drinks were not included in the price, which I and others thought were poor. The staff obviously didn’t like their jobs and were surly and unhelpful, and the food, when it eventually arrived, was poor tasting – the tomato soup consisted of hot water with bits of pepper and other things floating in it and the fish (my choice) was dry. The chocolate mousse was in fact the best bit! I’m afraid it wasn’t worth £56. We would have done better to go to a local restaurant at half the price.

On the plus side, I enjoyed the many things I saw in Berlin, especially the Reichstag which was spectacular. I should like to come back one day to explore the city more fully.

Stephen was a great tour manager and was just the right sort of person for this job. He was very friendly, personable and helpful and I had every confidence in him.

I think that Just You needs to make a few modifications to this Berlin Trip and it will be much improved.

Thank you for writing a review of your recent Just You Berlin trip, I have forwarded on your comments to our customer care team and asked that someone contact you directly to address your feedback.

As you are aware, I was on the same trip and whilst I was there for a holiday and not in an official Just You capacity, I will be sitting down with the team that look after this tour to feedback on my own experiences and discuss some of the comments that were shared by my fellow travellers.

I'm pleased to hear that you enjoyed many of the things you saw in Berlin and I agree with you, the Reichstag really is spectacular!

Kindest regards,

Julia

I was also on this trip but I’m afraid I have a different opinion regarding the early flight. Yes it was inconvenient but in my view worth it as, along with the early evening inward flight, it allowed us to maximise our four day break and see as much as possible. Compare this to a recent four day JY break I did in Istanbul – the two midday flights effectively gave the group just two days to explore the city. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course, I guess it proves you can’t please all of the people all of the time!

Having said that I would agree that the tour needs tinkering with. I was somewhat surprised to learn that we had to buy public transport tickets in order to participate in some of the organised trips. These remember, are trips that the group had already paid for within the main holiday price – surely travel should have been included as part of the price?

My other gripe concerned the River Spree cruise, an optional extra. This was described in my final documents as a “1-2 hour boat trip with spectacular scenery”. What we got was 40 minutes of looking at the same small selection of Berlin architecture twice (he turned around after 20 minutes) - and with German commentary! Two minutes searching on the web has pointed me towards a 3 hour trip with English commentary for less than £20, I can’t remember what I paid but I believe it was more than twice this…..

On a more positive note, these were both relatively small issues against an otherwise very enjoyable short break and one which I recommend to others who may be considering it. The TM deserves credit for adding some extras into the tour, including the hugely enjoyable Riechstag trip and DDR Museum, whilst the tour itinerary was flexible enough to allow me to make the most of my newly purchased travel card and explore some of the other attractions in Berlin not included within the JY tour.

I fully accept that this is a relatively new holiday that JY is offering and is therefore somewhat "work in progress" itinerary wise, hopefully the feedback from us both will make this tour even better in future!

Michael.

Thank you for posting your review of this trip too. As with Chelseagirls comments, I have forwarded this on to the wider Just You team I'm sure they will be discussed in the chat I'll be having later this week.

Kindest regards,

Julia

I was also on the Berlin trip and it was my first JY trip and had a really great time. We had a good mix of people and soon got to know everyone - particularly over a beer or two in the evening (but won't mention any names!!) and as a lot of us said one of the many benefits of is being able to meet up with others at meal time and have a chat.

Picking up a few points. Early flight out and late return is fine as it makes most of the time over there and if anything I think we could have done with a bit more time in Berlin, but agree with Michael - you can't please everyone. On the Farewell meal, I'd agree that the food was unacceptable and expensive - a restaurant of that size should be able to offer a choice to a group of 15 people, but the TV tower is a great location. I was expecting more than a 40 min boat ride on the River Spree and an English language commentary would have been helpful. Again as Micheal says these were only minor points and didn't spoil the trip.

I thought the hotel was good and in a good location with good access to the bus and short walk to the trains. I wasn't concerned about having to pay for the travel pass (but glad it was a lot cheaper than London!!) and was really grateful for the additional trips that our Tour Manager, Stephen, arranged for us, as without this there would have been quiet a lot of free time. These gaps in the iitinary were a concern to me and I think it would be a good idea if these events were shown on the website/brouchure. Some free time is important, but without these extra events we could have ended up with Friday and Monday on our own.

Stephen (our TM) was brilliant not only did he organise the extra events, knew a lot about Berlin and kept us informed on what was happening, where we had to be so we were able to enjoy ourselves. He'll certainly get 10/10 when I get the feedback form.

I would definately recommend this Berlin tour and with a couple of changes this would be an excellent tour. I'd certainly recomend JY and am thinking about my next trip - possibly the West Coast of America in the Autumn - just need to save up!.

Thank you for taking the time to write your review and share your thoughts of this Berlin trip.

I'm so pleased to hear that you enjoyed your first Just You experience and I've forwarded all of your comments on with the others so that they can be reviewed.

When you have decided where to travel with us next - please let us know!

Kindest regards,

Julia