Hotel Scandic Berlin Potsdamer Platz
Scandi-style sophistication in the city centre
The Scandic Berlin Potsdamer Platz by the modern Tilla Durieux Park is the perfect combination of bright elegance and style with easy access to all kinds of popular Berlin attractions. Explore Berlin culture around vibrant Potsdamer Straße – with plenty of museums, theatres, bars, restaurants and stunning green spaces to choose from – and learn how history has shaped the iconic area around Potsdamer Platz.
A greener choice: the Scandic Berlin near Potsdamer Platz
The Scandic Berlin Potsdamer Platz offers the ideal combination of timeless style, modern conveniences and Scandinavian-style hospitality – all just a stone’s throw from the best of Berlin culture. The hotel itself offers friendly service and refined fixtures and fittings in 561 bright rooms with a colour scheme based on the four seasons. Complete with a restaurant serving organic cuisine, a bar and outdoor terrace, you don’t need to venture beyond the hotel for foodie delights. With a focus on accessibility and sustainability, it’s an ethical spot for a Berlin city break that’s open to all.
It’s not just the hotel’s sustainable approach that makes it so green – right on the doorstep you’ll find the vast Tilla Durieux Park with its chic urban atmosphere. Surrounded by modern architecture and stretching from Potsdamer Platz to the Landwehrkanal, where it meets the popular Park am Gleisdreieck on the other side of the canal, it’s a leafy oasis in the heart of the city where you can retreat to after a busy day of sightseeing. And you may well need the rest and relaxation: the hotel’s central location makes it the perfect starting point for exploring the foodie hubs and major attractions in the local area. The buzzing neighbourhood around Potsdamer Platz is particularly famous for its food, shopping and culture, particularly around the Kulturforum.
Berlin culture and history around Potsdamer Platz
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Its proximity to Potsdamer Platz and the many cultural gems in the vicinity makes the Scandic Hotel a great spot to explore Berlin culture – and discover how its history as a divided city has shaped the very streets you walk on. Potsdamer Platz was once a flourishing corner of the city – home to Europe’s first ever set of traffic lights in the 1920s. However, when Berlin was divided after the war, its importance began to wane. In the 1990s, however, Potsdamer Platz got a dramatic facelift, gaining lots of new modern architecture and attractions. The Kulturforum, less than a kilometre from the hotel, is the perfect example of what Potsdamer Platz has to offer today. It’s home to the Berlin Philharmonic, an outdoor cinema in summer and thrilling exhibitions at the Neue Nationalgalerie, Gemäldegalerie and other museums and collections.
The area’s changing history isn’t hard to chart by foot. At Leipziger Platz, right next to Potsdamer Platz, you’ll find a remaining section of the former Berlin Wall. Glean fascinating insights into the city’s sobering history in the free open-air exhibition Topography of Terror, the Berlin Story Bunker – a preserved Second World War bunker – and the German Spy Museum on Leipziger Platz. The Museum of Film and Television in the striking Sony Center is also worth a visit.
After all that, if you still have room for more Berlin culture, you can check out one of the area’s spellbinding theatres. A little further south of the Kulturforum along Potsdamer Straße is the Wintergarten Varieté, a traditional venue staging regular entertaining theatrical performances. For more challenging fare, you’ll find HAU1 Hebbel Theater around 15 minutes’ east of the hotel by foot. Here you can see extraordinary avant-garde pieces with strong artistic demands.
Shop until you drop at Potsdamer Platz and beyond
Of course, one of Potsdamer Platz’s major advantages is its shopping. Kick off your shopping trip at the top of the Tilla Durieux Park, just a stone’s throw from the hotel, at the Potsdamer Platz arcades, before heading to the Mall of Berlin, one of Germany’s biggest shopping centres. En route, you’ll step along the Boulevard of Stars, a red carpet with bronze stars rolled out to celebrate stars of TV and the silver screen in the German-speaking world.
If you fancy yourself a bit of a fashionista, follow Potsdamer Straße south-west from Potsdamer Platz to get your fill of fantastic boutiques. Check out stores from hat designer Fiona Bennett, Andreas Murkudis and sophisticated label Acne Studios.
If all that retail therapy has you tired out, head back to the Tilla Durieux Park outside the Scandic Hotel to relax in the sun, or head over to the Park am Gleisdreieck. Once you’ve recharged your batteries, quirky Kreuzberg and its independent boutiques are right around the corner.
Foodie highlights near the Scandic Hotel
Your culinary journey around this part of Berlin begins at the hotel itself: its stylish third-floor restaurant bar serves fresh, seasonal and local dishes on an à la carte menu and outstanding cocktails. If you fancy heading out for dinner, there’s plenty to explore along Potsdamer Straße, such as the sophisticated modern eatery Oh, Panama. Alternatively, you can chill out after a day’s exploring with craft beer and creative cuisine at the BRLO Brwhouse in the Park am Gleisdreieck.
Locals recommend the Steel Vintage Bikes Café on Wilhelmstraße, just a short stroll north of Potsdamer Platz, for a Berlin dining experience with a twist –breakfast, snacks and coffee are all on offer here at this bike shop that even welcomes live DJs. If you’ve fuelled up enough to keep going until the sun comes up, go to SOLAR Bar on Stresemannstraße, just 10 minutes’ walk from the hotel. You can reach new heights at this bar with club vibes – towering 17 floors above the city in a skyscraper.
