Artrium Apartments
Right in the heart of Berlin's Friedrichshain district, this collection of spacious apartments aims to offer a home-from-home feel, with all the "important little details" of your own abode included. From the fully equipped kitchen to the large flat-screen TVs in every room, the funky bookshelves, the Warhol prints, the PlayStations and the Panton and Mies van der Rohe chairs, it will send you home wishing your place was like an Artrium apartment. There are bicycles for hire, too (€7 a day). From €59 a night for a studio sleeping two. • 00 49 151 1567 7558; artrium-apartments.com
Miniloft
With its award-winning steel and concrete exterior, the Miniloft, in East Berlin's trendy Mitte neighbourhood, bags the title for most striking apartment block in town. While the suites in the older part of the building have a pared-back, industrial look – all stark white walls, exposed stonework and free-hanging light bulbs – those in the renovated building have a more homely feel, with soft furnishings and thick curtains. All have gorgeous floor-to-ceiling windows, underfloor heating and a personal guide to show visitors the city sights. From €130 a night for two. • 00 49 30 847 1090; miniloft.com
Blue Home
If you're looking for an elegant apartment in arty Prenzlauer Berg, you can't go wrong with Blue Home, a collection of single rooms, studios, apartments and suites that feature high ceilings, rich fabrics and handsome Balinese teak furniture (think canopied beds, coffee tables and writing desks). Only the suites and apartments have kitchenettes. Two-bedroom apartments from €150 a night. • 00 49 30 4433 7633; ackselhaus.de
Ima
IMA The new heart of Kreuzberg's artistic community, and a stone's throw from Checkpoint Charlie, Ima (which means "mother" in Hebrew) is a burnt-red brick former bathroom fixtures factory dating from 1893. Founded by designers Eyal Burstein and Marina Ostrowkski, this year it is hosting galleries, studios and creative spaces centred round its courtyard deli and bar. There are 20 rooms for rent, all with kitchens and decked out with sleek black and white furniture. Private views and parties take place every weekend. From €55 a night for two people.
• 00 49 30 6162 8913; imalofts.com
Lux 11
Back in the Mitte neighbourhood, you'll find Lux 11, a collection of design-focused apartments and penthouses housed in a beautiful 19th-century building. All 72 apartments – which range from "value" rooms to suites – are chic and minimalist, with bare cream walls, faux fur throws, suede chairs and flat-screen TVs. There's even a teeny chic kitchen, but if cooking sounds like too much of a chore there's also a restaurant on the ground floor, along with an Aveda spa and a designer boutique. From €165 a night for two. • 00 49 30 936 2800; lux-eleven.com
Ostel
Offering a glimpse of communist-era East Germany, this hostel-hotel in Friedrichshain is based on a typical GDR concrete apartment block, complete with beige 70s beds, garish striped wallpaper and original retro furniture. Choose from a "Pioneer Camp" (or dorm), a chic single or double room or an apartment sleeping up to six. Ostel also offers free city tours in that fine example of East German manufacturing excellence, a Trabant car. Doubles from €54 a night; apartments from €120 a night for two, or €180 for six. • 00 49 30 2576 8660; ostel.eu
Urban Apartments
Log on to urban-apartments.com and you can browse some of Berlin's coolest apartments in locations throughout the city. We love the look of the converted loft apartment in an old industrial building in Kreuzberg. Just like those huge New York loft apartments you often see in films, it has a gorgeous open-plan design with high ceilings, wooden beams, steel columns and big windows. Sleeping eight, it is so stunning it's often rented out for photo-shoots. Weekly rental starts at €880 for two sharing, or €1,760 for eight. • 00 49 30 4004 1830; urban-apartments.com
