As is often the case when I travel, I recently found myself inbetween two places and with a few days spare, so naturally, my only option was to take myself to Berlin for a pit stop. I’d never visited before so I had absolutely no idea what to expect, but the first job on the list was to find accommodation. Read on to find out what I thought about Generator’s capsule beds in the German capital.
Choosing Generator
I went for the Generator hostel in Mitte. I’d prefer to go for a smaller, independent company, but the thing with Generator is it’s always a good experience – the staff are friendly and there’s a good vibe, so it’s a safe and predictable option. I stayed in one of their hostels before in Stockholm and had no complaints, so I was more than happy to go for it again.
The Mitte location is well situated in the city, close to landmarks and an S-Bahn station lies directly opposite. The street is full of restaurants and bars, so you’re never far from an easy meal. The building itself is designed in the characteristic Generator style, with a large canteen-like chill area, cafe and bar, including some bookshelves and sofas, and everything is adorned with colourful lights and neon signs. This one even had outside space in the form of a courtyard which was a nice touch. My only complaint is that a lot of hostels seem to be relying on having a cafe/bar in their common space, instead of a good old stove and microwave! Yes, they offer cheap beds, but if there’s nowhere to prepare your own food, the cost creeps up again. That said, these hostels are a great choice for solo travellers because they often run events such as tours, yoga, and quizzes, so you can meet people in that way. Often there are also bikes for hire.
Staying in a sleeping pod: “I’m still deciding how to feel”
As for my bed itself, I opted for a “sleeping pod” – Generator’s version of a capsule bed. I’ve fancied staying in a capsule hotel for a while, but often find them to be overly pricey for what they are. Charging for the novelty, perhaps? But on this occasion, I paid £20 per night, and was satisfied with that.
Despite the wonderful price, I’m still deciding how to feel about the rest of the stay. I would absolutely stay in a capsule again: let’s get that out of the way. The privacy is pretty nice and the space-age feel is fun. But it wasn’t so incredible that I’m desperate to do it again, and I found there were certain drawbacks that make the added privacy not necessarily worth it. You couldn’t lock it from the inside, for example. Of course, you can’t lock the space around your bed in a normal dorm, but because there was a door it felt like it should lock. Perhaps I’m being a bit ridiculous here, but I found it a bit offputting, because you didn’t know what was going on outside the pod despite hearing movement from other people. Sticking your head out was sticking your head into the unknown! And should anyone have made the mistake of opening the wrong door, again, that just feels awkward in a way that a bed mixup in a normal dorm wouldn’t be. Perhaps I’m not making sense.
But, as I’ve said, the pod itself was pretty cool. It was comfy enough, although the mattress was thin foam – presumably so they could actually get it through the door – which might be a problem for some. I also found it to be pretty spacious; I could just about sit up in it and move around with not too much difficulty. Again, though, that might be trickier for some: I’m 5′ 1″ (156CM) and young. There were white switch-controlled lights inside, and one wall was a mirror, which made the space feel bigger and also meant you could do makeup in there if you wanted (although the light might be a bit harsh for that). The blue light was a nice touch which added to the ambiance, but had no practical purpose. There was a normal EU type C plug socket (which didn’t work) and two USB ports for charging. There were also two headphone jacks, although because I didn’t have an aux cable with me, I don’t know what they were for. I struggle to believe there was piped music into the pods! The wifi didn’t work great in that room, possibly because we were so far from reception, down some steps and along winding corridors.
Crucially, there were also two air vents, although on my first night they were not enough and I was quite warm. And I do have questions about airflow generally: I left my door open on my first day, and came back to fresh bedding, which I didn’t want or need. But I wanted fresh air! Similarly, at night, airflow might be more comfy, but I don’t know if I’d want to keep the door open while sleeping (again, the mere presence of the door seems to make things feel different than just sleeping in a normal communal dorm).
Booking.comIt’s a lot harder to sort your stuff out, as you can’t easily lay things on your bed to pack your bag. The only surface in the room outside the pods was a bench for putting on shoes. I also didn’t have a space to hang my towel – usually the dorm would have hooks or you could hang it over the bunk bed bars. So I put it over the pod door, which worked fine for a small microfibre towel but it’s not as ideal. There was a changing area behind a curtain which was a nice thought, as it’s tricky getting dressed inside the pods, but there was only one for a room of at least 40 pods (you could just as easily pop into a toilet or shower cubicle).
On the noise
This is the second time I’ve stayed in a place that was basically one big room divided up. The first time it was divided into tents – yes tents – so although I booked a 4 bed dorm, I could hear noise from essentially a room of 40 people with canvas dividers. I didn’t know what to expect out of the pod area at Generator Berlin Mitte, but the pods are only divided by plastic, so you hear your neighbours and what’s going on outside. It was very quiet when I was there, but had it been full, it might have sounded no different to a huge communal dorm. Not necessarily a bad thing – this is the normal hostel experience, after all. But it means that the only practical difference to the experience is that you’re visibly private while sleeping.
Final thoughts on the sleeping pods at Generator Belin Mitte
In all, I generally reccommend Generator hostels as you tend to know more or less what you’re getting. It doesn’t quite fit with my desire to always go with small local companies, but when I’m staying in hostels on my own I don’t want any surprises. Generator always have great staff who speak multiple languages between them and are staffed around the clock. Often you can buy necessities at reception, such as locks, flip flops, and toothpaste. The pods were an experience, and they have their pros and cons. For the same price as a 6 bed female dorm I might slightly prefer the pods? But only very slightly, and it might depend on where I am and what my plans are. But only if it’s cheap: I wouldn’t spend more than what I did for this experience.