(Sorry in advance this is a bit long)
Here are some thoughts and reflections from a recent (last weekend) 36 hour stay in Berlin. I had not been in the city for 8 years and the last time I went I was with family and did only sight-seeing, so this trip was heavily focused on nightlife. I stayed in the "Mitte" district near Torstrasse/Rosenthalter Platz. This was a good location, close to bars/restaurants/cafes in a short walking distance. The other choice would be Kreuzberg due to its proximity to another grouping of bars/clubs.
Berlin was easily navigable by Subway or taxi. The subway has reduced night service during the night. A special note about Berlin taxis, if you are traveling a short distance (under ~2 Km) you can ask the driver (before you start) for a Kurzstrecke, it is a flat 4 Euro fare, however, you must flag down the taxi from the street (no using taxis parked at one of the numerous taxi stands. I had the misfortune of flagging down at taxi exactly at a taxi stand and he still made me pay full fare.
I arrived early Thursday evening and met up with my AirBnB host, he gave me a couple restaurant recommendations and I settled in. I phoned forum member Walderschmidt, as we had planned to meet up later. He told me that he would be delayed due to a prior commitment, so I rolled out to one of my hosts' recommendations - DUDU, a Japanese/Sushi joint. I liked this place, it had a good vibe and a couple of groups of girls. I was posted at the bar, which was kid of small, but luck would have it that a group of two girls sat next to me, one of which was fly. I spit some game at her, but it didn't go anywhere.
After dinner I rolled over to a café/bar on Brunnenstrasse near Rosenthalter Platz, I'm not sure the name of it, but it had a large white sign with "CAFE - BAR" above the door and there was a large group hanging outside the bar drinking/smoking. I grabbed a drink while waiting to meet up with Walderschmidt. There were a couple of cute girls, mostly in large groups, but this place was pretty busy every time I walked past it in the evenings, so it has potential for pre/post dinner cocktail/grind.
I met up with Walderschmidt at a pool hall and we chatted for about an hour over a beer. Cool guy, younger and he is headed into my line of work so I was able to give him some advice/answer questions. After that we rolled over to a dive called Clash. The bar was actually kind of busy when we got there (around 9-9:30ish). We chatted some more then I noticed the girl next to us kept staring. I went and talked to her and turns out she was Canadian and was eavesdropping on our conversation. After a while Walderschmidt bounces to meet a friend of his and I stay behind to tackle the Canadian. She wasn't the hottest thing, but passed the boner test and seemed down (out alone, touching, mentioned sex within the first three sentences), so I gave it a go, but ended up failing pretty miserably. I called Walderschmidt to see what he was up to, but he was headed home and the taxi driver didn't have any good intel on where to go, in fact he claimed outside Friday/Saturday that Berlin is pretty tame after about 2-3am on weeknights. In retrospect I wish I would have prepared better, as I had data from ASW that Cookies was the place to be on Thursday, but I didn't go so I can not confirm nor deny.
The next day I was pretty lazy and only finally left the apartment to run a small errand for my host, which turned out to be pretty cool. Basically he had me drop something off to a friend of his at an art studio in an old, abandon building (Zinnowitzer strasse 9, its kind of hidden take the alley next to the Einstein Café), basically this place holds regular exhibitions and was pretty weird interesting. Didn't see any super fly girls there, but had potential. A small side note, this place was kind of interesting me out as it had security control and a bunch of goons milling around the parking lot, so I was like where the hell am I going? Yet I couldn't find a discernible reason why they'd have security, unless some important meeting was taking place in some back office or something.
Evening rolled around I was in the mood for a hotel lobby, pre-dinner cocktail, so I headed over to Hotel Amano, which I liked (bar layout actually reminded me of the Mayfair hotel in London), it had a good crowd and a couple of groups of girls. I chatted up the two that were next to me ("Is that a good drink") and they invited me to join their group. Thankfully the uglier of the two bounced and things were progressing with the other.
We split and headed to Pauly Saal for more drinks. This place was also pretty good. The crowd was a bit older, but well-dressed and a couple of attractive girls. Side note, this place does dinner as well and is the little sister of Berlin heavyweight Grill Royal, though I did not go to either for dinner, as would likely will have to do a reservation, especially for Grill Royal, or so I was told. Made out with the girl I was with here and then we moved again to Berlin hotspot King Street Bar.
Despite everyone hyping this bar, I was not feeling it. It is very, very small and was very, very crowded. As with most of Berlin, entry is based solely if the bouncer likes you or not. We hung out here for a drink/dancing/makeout and then left. I'm not sure if I'd come here alone as I don't really know what game I'd run, probably just stand in a vortex zone (everywhere) and wait for girls to ram/bump into you. Also, don't wear any shoes you don't want to get destroyed, because they will get stepped on, often. Walked the girl back to her apartment, but got stonewalled, wouldn't even give me her digits, oh well.
I didn't feel like calling it a night, so I rolled over to Neue Odessa Bar, which was also hyped to me. It was dead (at least at ~3am when I was there), however, the one group of girls I talked to said it was crowded earlier.
The next day I decided to hit up some galleries in the area. It was Open Gallery Weekend, which happens periodically in Berlin, where you can get entry to galleries that normally would be appointment only. My favorite was Sammlung Boros (Boros Collection), which is housed in a WWII bunker. There were some really cute girls here and ran some day game, but no success.
At night I decided to not heed warnings and suited up for some more Hotel Lobby Game. First I stopped by Transit, a Thai/Indonesian "Tapas" spot. I like it, and the noodle rice was pretty crazy. This time I started at Hotel du Rome. Nice place, but maybe I just went at the wrong time (~8:30 on a Saturday), but it was only a way older crowd (40+), only one fly girl (a Russian with her man/boy friend), and way too expensive drinks (19 Euro for a Vodka Soda), maybe if better/more girls there.
Undeterred, I headed over to the Ritz Carlton, which was pretty much the same problems as Hotel du Rome. Talked for a while with the Swedish bartender (girl) and some of the bar patrons and was about to bounce, but luckily there was some sort of dance/prom taking place and the bar started to get overflowed with young (thank god for liberal German consent laws), attractive Berliners. Struck up some conversations outside, in the lobby, in the bar, finally spotted two sitting along by themselves in the corner, went over to say hello and they bit. However, one of their mothers came back, so I was about to politely excuse myself, when the mom asks me to join them. These girls seemed down and given better circumstances (they were headed to the airport). Funny thing was the mom acted almost if she was trying to help me out, even when conversation drifted into less than socially acceptable areas, weird. I was the last person in the bar and contemplated trying to pull the Swedish bartender (who was cute, not hot), but she was with her bicycle so logistical problems again.
Miscellaneous notes:
- There seems to be a "Berlin Poor Pride," with very select venues that are suit friendly, exeptions for Hotel Lobby Bars, Pauly Saal and maybe a few select places like Tausend (though I never went, so I can't say one way or the other). When I was suited up I was told flat up by girls not to go to clubs like Watergate cause I wouldn't get in unless I was rolling with a large group of girls (though you could say that about a lot of clubs around the world).
- Nighttime bicycle use is heavy, similar to Roosh's experience in Denmark.
- Only hotel bar I would recommend is Hotel Amano, reasonably priced drinks and a venue that actually attracts good looking girls. However, I read there are a ton of five-star hotels in the city, so maybe I just went to the wrong spots and I never stepped to the Soho House, which is a member spot (entry for members, member invite, staying at the hotel, or grease??) and was heavily hyped.
- There are numerous parks across the city that in good weather always have people sunbathing for day game.
- Some exceptions, but you can smoke/drink pretty much everywhere (i.e. smoke in bars and drink on the street).
- Maybe I missed out by not going to the mega clubs, but the techno, electric, trance isn't really my thing, maybe for the younger guys.
That's pretty much all I got, feel free to ask questions or for those who have been anything that you agree or disagree with. In summary, I would go back (in the summer) for a longer stay, but I'm not bumping it over some of the other places on my travel list.
Here are some thoughts and reflections from a recent (last weekend) 36 hour stay in Berlin. I had not been in the city for 8 years and the last time I went I was with family and did only sight-seeing, so this trip was heavily focused on nightlife. I stayed in the "Mitte" district near Torstrasse/Rosenthalter Platz. This was a good location, close to bars/restaurants/cafes in a short walking distance. The other choice would be Kreuzberg due to its proximity to another grouping of bars/clubs.
Berlin was easily navigable by Subway or taxi. The subway has reduced night service during the night. A special note about Berlin taxis, if you are traveling a short distance (under ~2 Km) you can ask the driver (before you start) for a Kurzstrecke, it is a flat 4 Euro fare, however, you must flag down the taxi from the street (no using taxis parked at one of the numerous taxi stands. I had the misfortune of flagging down at taxi exactly at a taxi stand and he still made me pay full fare.
I arrived early Thursday evening and met up with my AirBnB host, he gave me a couple restaurant recommendations and I settled in. I phoned forum member Walderschmidt, as we had planned to meet up later. He told me that he would be delayed due to a prior commitment, so I rolled out to one of my hosts' recommendations - DUDU, a Japanese/Sushi joint. I liked this place, it had a good vibe and a couple of groups of girls. I was posted at the bar, which was kid of small, but luck would have it that a group of two girls sat next to me, one of which was fly. I spit some game at her, but it didn't go anywhere.
After dinner I rolled over to a café/bar on Brunnenstrasse near Rosenthalter Platz, I'm not sure the name of it, but it had a large white sign with "CAFE - BAR" above the door and there was a large group hanging outside the bar drinking/smoking. I grabbed a drink while waiting to meet up with Walderschmidt. There were a couple of cute girls, mostly in large groups, but this place was pretty busy every time I walked past it in the evenings, so it has potential for pre/post dinner cocktail/grind.
I met up with Walderschmidt at a pool hall and we chatted for about an hour over a beer. Cool guy, younger and he is headed into my line of work so I was able to give him some advice/answer questions. After that we rolled over to a dive called Clash. The bar was actually kind of busy when we got there (around 9-9:30ish). We chatted some more then I noticed the girl next to us kept staring. I went and talked to her and turns out she was Canadian and was eavesdropping on our conversation. After a while Walderschmidt bounces to meet a friend of his and I stay behind to tackle the Canadian. She wasn't the hottest thing, but passed the boner test and seemed down (out alone, touching, mentioned sex within the first three sentences), so I gave it a go, but ended up failing pretty miserably. I called Walderschmidt to see what he was up to, but he was headed home and the taxi driver didn't have any good intel on where to go, in fact he claimed outside Friday/Saturday that Berlin is pretty tame after about 2-3am on weeknights. In retrospect I wish I would have prepared better, as I had data from ASW that Cookies was the place to be on Thursday, but I didn't go so I can not confirm nor deny.
The next day I was pretty lazy and only finally left the apartment to run a small errand for my host, which turned out to be pretty cool. Basically he had me drop something off to a friend of his at an art studio in an old, abandon building (Zinnowitzer strasse 9, its kind of hidden take the alley next to the Einstein Café), basically this place holds regular exhibitions and was pretty weird interesting. Didn't see any super fly girls there, but had potential. A small side note, this place was kind of interesting me out as it had security control and a bunch of goons milling around the parking lot, so I was like where the hell am I going? Yet I couldn't find a discernible reason why they'd have security, unless some important meeting was taking place in some back office or something.
Evening rolled around I was in the mood for a hotel lobby, pre-dinner cocktail, so I headed over to Hotel Amano, which I liked (bar layout actually reminded me of the Mayfair hotel in London), it had a good crowd and a couple of groups of girls. I chatted up the two that were next to me ("Is that a good drink") and they invited me to join their group. Thankfully the uglier of the two bounced and things were progressing with the other.
We split and headed to Pauly Saal for more drinks. This place was also pretty good. The crowd was a bit older, but well-dressed and a couple of attractive girls. Side note, this place does dinner as well and is the little sister of Berlin heavyweight Grill Royal, though I did not go to either for dinner, as would likely will have to do a reservation, especially for Grill Royal, or so I was told. Made out with the girl I was with here and then we moved again to Berlin hotspot King Street Bar.
Despite everyone hyping this bar, I was not feeling it. It is very, very small and was very, very crowded. As with most of Berlin, entry is based solely if the bouncer likes you or not. We hung out here for a drink/dancing/makeout and then left. I'm not sure if I'd come here alone as I don't really know what game I'd run, probably just stand in a vortex zone (everywhere) and wait for girls to ram/bump into you. Also, don't wear any shoes you don't want to get destroyed, because they will get stepped on, often. Walked the girl back to her apartment, but got stonewalled, wouldn't even give me her digits, oh well.
I didn't feel like calling it a night, so I rolled over to Neue Odessa Bar, which was also hyped to me. It was dead (at least at ~3am when I was there), however, the one group of girls I talked to said it was crowded earlier.
The next day I decided to hit up some galleries in the area. It was Open Gallery Weekend, which happens periodically in Berlin, where you can get entry to galleries that normally would be appointment only. My favorite was Sammlung Boros (Boros Collection), which is housed in a WWII bunker. There were some really cute girls here and ran some day game, but no success.
At night I decided to not heed warnings and suited up for some more Hotel Lobby Game. First I stopped by Transit, a Thai/Indonesian "Tapas" spot. I like it, and the noodle rice was pretty crazy. This time I started at Hotel du Rome. Nice place, but maybe I just went at the wrong time (~8:30 on a Saturday), but it was only a way older crowd (40+), only one fly girl (a Russian with her man/boy friend), and way too expensive drinks (19 Euro for a Vodka Soda), maybe if better/more girls there.
Undeterred, I headed over to the Ritz Carlton, which was pretty much the same problems as Hotel du Rome. Talked for a while with the Swedish bartender (girl) and some of the bar patrons and was about to bounce, but luckily there was some sort of dance/prom taking place and the bar started to get overflowed with young (thank god for liberal German consent laws), attractive Berliners. Struck up some conversations outside, in the lobby, in the bar, finally spotted two sitting along by themselves in the corner, went over to say hello and they bit. However, one of their mothers came back, so I was about to politely excuse myself, when the mom asks me to join them. These girls seemed down and given better circumstances (they were headed to the airport). Funny thing was the mom acted almost if she was trying to help me out, even when conversation drifted into less than socially acceptable areas, weird. I was the last person in the bar and contemplated trying to pull the Swedish bartender (who was cute, not hot), but she was with her bicycle so logistical problems again.
Miscellaneous notes:
- There seems to be a "Berlin Poor Pride," with very select venues that are suit friendly, exeptions for Hotel Lobby Bars, Pauly Saal and maybe a few select places like Tausend (though I never went, so I can't say one way or the other). When I was suited up I was told flat up by girls not to go to clubs like Watergate cause I wouldn't get in unless I was rolling with a large group of girls (though you could say that about a lot of clubs around the world).
- Nighttime bicycle use is heavy, similar to Roosh's experience in Denmark.
- Only hotel bar I would recommend is Hotel Amano, reasonably priced drinks and a venue that actually attracts good looking girls. However, I read there are a ton of five-star hotels in the city, so maybe I just went to the wrong spots and I never stepped to the Soho House, which is a member spot (entry for members, member invite, staying at the hotel, or grease??) and was heavily hyped.
- There are numerous parks across the city that in good weather always have people sunbathing for day game.
- Some exceptions, but you can smoke/drink pretty much everywhere (i.e. smoke in bars and drink on the street).
- Maybe I missed out by not going to the mega clubs, but the techno, electric, trance isn't really my thing, maybe for the younger guys.
That's pretty much all I got, feel free to ask questions or for those who have been anything that you agree or disagree with. In summary, I would go back (in the summer) for a longer stay, but I'm not bumping it over some of the other places on my travel list.
