Great interior, added to the historic feel of Berlin. We had a comfortable, large room-
Staff were efficient and helpful.
Location is ok, not the most picturesque area- Near Ostabanhof station which is 1 or 2 stops away from Alexandraplatz, so centrally located but just out - We had to take a taxi back from Alexendraplatz to the hostel one night because the trains had stopped running which was quite exepensive.

Overall though really lovely and great price too- we had an excellent stay.

the hotel has an interesting purpose:to bring you back to the GDR. Well, it does the job. However, the staff could be kinda friendlier but nothing really serious happened during my stay.The restaurant has GDR stylish food the a mon avis, a little overpriced.The location is not very good but if you take the subway at ost bahnhoff (subway station) you go to wherever you want to go pretty easily. Maybe the fact that I speak German helped me to get around but I guess if you don't you should not have any major concern.

I stayed in a dorm room and it was possibly the least appealing place I had ever stayed. Shabby, mattresses so thin you may as well not have bothered, unfriendly staff (what's new in Berlin!). I had a genuine interest in the GDR theme but saw nothing of interest. Would never stay again.

Well the hostel lived up to all the expectations we had of it. And for hostel quality, this is rather good quality.
We easily booked a couple of rooms in advance by phone and received an email booking confirmation. Good start. The hostel is then nicely placed near Ostbahnhof, so arriving there was easy (as was departing, since our train would eventually leave from Ostbahnhof). As mentioned in other posts, the staff at the reception weren't that friendly (with one exception), but I guess it adds to the whole DDR charm. We spent 4 nights in two double rooms with a shared bathroom. The rooms are well decorated in the kitschy DDR style, as well as being clean and spacious. The shared bathroom was OK. No decorations there, just pragmatic, if not rather old, amenities. Don't expect to find a lift, don't expect any room service and no one will clean your room during your stay. WIFI only in the lobby. But hey, the price isn't that high and the hostel is well placed, so use the money you save on hanging out in cool cafes and shopping Berlin. That's what we did and really I can't complain! Would do it again.