Hotel Elba am Kurfürstendamm - Design Chambers in Berlin

I just checked into the Elba Hotel in Berlin, and unfortunately, my stay got off to a very bad start. As I walked through the front door, I saw a woman standing there—no uniform, no name tag, nothing to indicate she worked at the hotel. She made no attempt to greet me. A few moments later, she seemed to realize I was a new guest and came in. With a blank expression and a voice that could have come straight from the Ice Queen in Arendelle, she mumbled a cold "Yes?"—no smile, no "Good morning," no "Welcome to the hotel." I told her I had just arrived in Berlin and needed to check in. She made a low, unintelligible noise—as if I had stepped on her foot. At that moment, I already regretted booking this hotel. Without any sign of friendliness, she demanded to see identification. I explained that I had my driver's license or a PDF copy of my passport. She seemed annoyed and dismissive. I told her I had already paid for the room through *********** and that nowhere did it state that a physical passport was required (I travel regularly for work, and this has never happened to me before). She repeated that she needed a passport. I repeated my answer. This back and forth happened three times before I finally told her I didn't appreciate her manner. I fully understand that ID needs to be verified, but the way she spoke to me was neither respectful nor professional. Eventually, she accepted my digital ID and reluctantly allowed me to stay at the hotel. I understand rules, but in an age where every service can be reviewed, a little kindness goes a long way. I was friendly and cooperative from the start; she clearly wasn't. When I told her I would review her service on Google, her tone suddenly changed. But by then, it was far too late.

Firstly, no welcome. Keys had to be picked up from another hotel even though we arrived mid-afternoon. The rooms did not resemble the ones on the website. It was very clean but very small with the bathroom being in a cupboard. Coffee making facilities had coffee creamer but no coffee and teabags but no milk. No staff present to request anything. On entering the breakfast room, we were met by a very stern looking lady. Breakfast room was very quiet, no atmosphere and very unwelcoming thus we walked out and found a nice coffee shop. Only plus point was the lovely staircase and interesting, old building