You’ll find Motel One hotels all over Germany in every major city and some smaller ones as well.  Same standard, same design, same price range. When the Motel One group was founded in 2000, they had a clear strategy to offer “viel Design für wenig Geld” (lots of design for little money) and fill a gap in the market by creating a chain of low budget design hotels. Accommodation at a low price without being grotty.

For stylish travellers on a budget

The plan has worked well. There are now dozens of Motel One hotels, with properties in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Dresden, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Potsdam, Ratingen, Saarbrücken, Schweinfurt and Stuttgart. Depending on which hotel and city you choose, single rooms start from €59, locations are central, near airports or train stations, rooms are modern and furnished in trademark turquoise and brown colours. Hotels are clean and offer everything you could need for a city break or short business trip. Breakfast is booked extra and served in the so-called “One Lounge” which also functions as a bar, snack room and general meeting place. There’s also free W-Lan Internet access in the lounge.

If you’re travelling on a budget and don’t fancy spending too much on accommodation, Motel One is a great option. The management has figured out how to provide inexpensive, stylish and modern accommodation in major city centres (something that is certainly missing in cities like London or Paris) and garnered a number of industry awards on the way, the last one for best budget hotel in Germany in 2010, selected by the German Institute for Service Quality.

Berlin alone has nine locations, and there seems to be no stopping the brown-and-turquoise budget revolution in Germany. Travellers all over the country are certainly benefitting from it.

www.motel-one.com