Berlin travel: Luxury hostel brand in the coolest city in Europe makes going to the Euros affordable

European city breaks are my default choice of holiday - cheaper than staying in the UK half the time, more interesting than beach holidays, more accessible than rural destinations, the list goes on. So, naively, I wasn’t expecting anything unique from Berlin and my first ever trip to Germany - I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Having been awake since 3am, I was in a bit of a daze as we stepped out of Alexanderplatz station in the mid-morning, but was quickly snapped out of it by the chatter of people, rumbling of suitcase wheels on cobblestones, trams packed full of passengers far cooler than me, and the smell of currywurst stands at every corner of the station.

We were staying at Generator Alexanderplatz, which was buzzing with anticipation ahead of the launch party that night. We could see right away how the recent multi million-euro renovation, with hundreds of rooms updated and shuffleboards and gaming spaces added to common areas, was paying off.

Generator Aleksanderplatz' exterior. | Generator (submit)

It isn’t surprising really - if you put a plant in a bigger pot, it’s going to grow. If you put a Generator in the coolest city on the continent, it’s going to thrive.

After trying to cause as little obstruction as possible to the launch party preparation, we dropped our bags to our rooms and headed into the centre for a condensed version of a food tour from ToursByLocals guide, Mariette.

ToursByLocals offers the three-hour Berlin Food Experience for £381 for a two person tour, which includes guiding services, a free map of Berlin and food and drink tastings.

Currywurst - there are shops offering the local snack on almost every street. | NW

As part of this, I tried a tofu banh mi, a type of Vietnamese sandwich, which just about pipped currywurst - bratwurst doused in tomatoey curry sauce - to the post. Sadly, this joy was somewhat short-lived, when gale-force winds blew half the banh mi off the picnic table, but at least a bird got a nice lunchtime treat.

Mariette tied in the history of Berlin to each dish we tried, for example, explaining how Vietnamese immigrants came to East Berlin as contract workers in a temporary deal with the communist government of Vietnam in the 1980s. Many of these workers stayed, with descendants keeping the businesses going, which explains the number of incredible Vietnamese food spots still around the city.

We also met Adrian Doyle, who moved to Berlin from Australia many years ago, for a tour of the city’s street art. It was fascinating even without context, but with AD’s knowledge of how the artists work, their motivations, and the history behind how all the colour and culture from the West exploded into the East after the fall of the wall, there was seemingly infinite information to take in, everywhere you looked.

Street art of Otto Weidt, the owner of a workshop in Berlin (which was based in this building) for the blind and deaf. During the Holocaust, he fought to protect his Jewish workers. | NW

Having dipped our toes in the cultural and historical side of the city, the launch party at Generator was fast approaching. An open bar, hundreds of attendees, DJs, the cast of Germany’s Next Top Model, and more influencers than I could count was the perfect recipe for a party - one that lasted until 6am, just two hours before the venue was turned around for breakfast.

Generator initially struck me as just as stylish as the people around us in the city. It saw record-breaking growth in 2023 and is still expanding fast, with properties across 15 cities which include London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Miami and New York.

The mix of family rooms, private rooms, hotel-style rooms and female-only rooms means the venue caters for pretty much any demographic. And on a slightly more relaxed second evening, the atmosphere at the venue seems to shift at a certain point in the night. 

The cafe/lobby area at Generator Alexanderplatz. | NW

Alastair Thomann, CEO of Generator and Freehand hotels, said: “Travel is so expensive. If you want to go somewhere as a family, where do you go? I know that from last year with my own family - so we stayed in a Generator. We are seeing more and more families.

“The hybrid set-up is interesting. We have it so people can choose anywhere between €850 for certain rooms all the way down to €15 for a bed.”

During the first Euro match hosted in Berlin, a group of four people can stay in a shared room for £97 each (as of June 5). “There is no way you can have four people like that at any other venue,” Alastair added.

Berlin has so much to offer at any time, but with it hosting six matches during the Euros, there is no better time to visit than June and July of this year.