This was a very pleasant stay. I was a bit apprehensive about staying so far from Berlin's centre initially. I had booked last minute and my travel agent hadn't been able to find anything else. So I took this booking and gave it a chance.

To get into Berlin, you hop on the free shuttle to Tegel airport. Then you grab an X97 (Can't remember the exact number, be sure to check before you go) bus and it can drop you at a number of main stops including the Hauptbahnhof and Unter Den Linden.

The room was aesthetically pleasing and very very quiet. Room service was yum, the TV was a bit tricky to work, too many steps to get to free-to-air tv I thought.

Bathroom was gorgeous, lots of room and the shower worked, though it was slow to drain sometimes.

The breakfast served in the restaurant was amazing. 2 types of scrambled eggs and anything your heart desired. I was a bit disappointed at how crowded it was on New Years Eve morning, there was barely any food, drinks and plates around and the kitchen seemed a little slow to replenish supplies. Surely knowing how many guests they were going to have they could've staffed the restaurant a little better?

The 24-hr reception staff were very helpful, friendly and spoke good english. Near the toilets in the lobby there is a rack containing touristy cards for all the major Barlin attractions, I found these helpful.

Internet access was my only problem. The hotel offers access via a third party terminal but this was extremely expensive. The airport has little stands but I couldn't access my webmail via these. I think if I had've had a laptop with me I might've been able to connect from my room free but I didn't so I'll never know!

If you need postal services, front desk can offer limited service. Your next best bet is to take the shuttle bus to the airport, there is a post office there where you can send parcels, anything other than plain letters and postcards. The lady that helped me didn't speak english so knowing a bit of german might help you there.

There is also a small supermarket type store that sells foody bits at the airport. This is handy if you don't want to pay out for room service, but just want some fruit and drinks etc.

One big warning though - there are 2 Mercure hotels at Tegel airport, make sure you arrive at the right one. It is a 10 minute cab ride if you go to the wrong one.

Overall, a great stay and if I knew someone who had to hang out near the airport for a night or 2, i'd recommend it to them. If you want easy access to the city of Berlin, you might want to look at a hotel closer in and save yourself the commute.