There is no end to the construction site at Alexanderplatz, for the Spanish hotel chain „Best Hotels“ is planning the opening of its new hotel „Barcelona“ here in summer 2011. A group of investors is putting around €60 million into the plot where the GDR Ministry of Health once used to stand.
So there will now be another hotel? But not only at the „Alex“, but also at Hauptbahnhof and Zoofenster, further luxury hotels are in the planning.
There are currently more than 100,000 beds available in Berlin, and the city recorded more than 17 million overnight stays during the last year. „No other city has as many luxury hotels as Berlin, and probably not in Europe, either. This shows how popular Berlin is at the moment. For already existing hotels, this may prove to create tough competition. The question is, though, how the whole of the hotel industry will develop in the financial crisis“, said Thomas Lengfelder, Chief Executive Officer of the association „Berliner Hotel- und Gaststättenverband“.
The hotel chain „Best Hotels“ is realizing its first property in Germany, planned together with the German project developer „Gold.Stein“ in cooperation with the Berlin Senate and the district of Mitte. The hotel is to rise 19 stories high and guests will be able to view the pool on the roof of the base construction directly from the reception hall.
However, realization was not easy. In the beginning, there were problems with the execution of the construction project. The planning was repeatedly delayed because in some parts, the subway tunnels lie only half a meter below ground level. After four years of considerations, the planning was eventually successful and the hotel will be able to open in 2011.
Opinions as to whether additional hotels are worthwhile differ largely. On the one hand, every single hotel is one too many, since smaller boardinghouses or hostels will be having difficulties to keep up. On the other hand, every additional hotel is another step for the endeavors of Alexanderplatz, Potsdamer Platz, or even Berlin.

In the next three years, Berlin will gain about another 120 new hotels in all categories. The number of tourists this year reached the 17 million expected by BTM (Berlin Tourismus Marketing), and 20 million for the following two years were dreamed of – but that is not likely to happen, looking at the general financial crisis.
Do we still need further hotels?
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