Hotel Palace in Berlin

I cannot recommend this hotel despite its convenient location and good breakfasts. During my stay in Berlin, my travel companion suddenly became seriously ill, and I made the difficult decision to cut our trip short because of her health. Unfortunately, I felt completely misled by the Front Desk Manager. He assured me that he understood the urgency of my situation and explained that if I had booked directly through the hotel, they would have refunded the remaining night. However, since I booked through Booking.com, he claimed there was nothing he could do and that it was entirely up to Booking. To my surprise, Booking.com told me the exact opposite — that it was entirely up to the hotel, and the hotel refused to issue any refund.
I even suggested an alternative: to reschedule my unused night for another visit to Berlin and pay for an additional night or more, but the hotel declined this as well. To make matters worse, they still charged the full city tax for all nights, including the one I never stayed.

I found this very disappointing — the inconsistent communication, the lack of flexibility, and the refusal to show understanding in an unforeseen health emergency. In the end, it became clear that the responsibility lay solely with the hotel, not Booking.com who tried to negotiate it on my behalf with hotel, yet they chose to deny any form of customer service or goodwill.

Big disappointment, and I cannot recommend this hotel.

PS. Hotel send me response: „Unfortunately, the booking portal does not allow cancellations of such rates and instead directs guests back to the hotel. This may understandably create the impression that the decision lies with us, but regrettably that is not the case.”

And Booking.com sent: „After multiple attempts to negotiate with the property on your behalf, we regret to inform you that they have declined the refund, citing the non-refundable nature of the booking. We genuinely tried our best to advocate for you, but as previously mentioned, Booking.com is not authorized to issue refunds directly, this decision rests entirely with the property.”