The Estrel Berlin in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

is Europe’s largest convention, entertainment, and hotel complex, and with its 1,125 rooms the largest hotel in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. With a total turnover of 100.8 million DM (

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark (currency), mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it ...

) in the year 2000, the Estrel became the hotel with the highest turnover in Germany, a status which it retained. In 2009 it had a turnover of 50.45 million

Euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

. The Estrel employs a total of 450 people including trainees, in addition another 150 employees from outside companies and about 100 part-time

employee Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

Private ownership

The Estrel does not belong to a hotel chain but is privately owned by the contractor and building namesake Ekkehard Streletzki, who received the industry prize "Hotelier of the Year 2000". Furthermore, Ekkehard Streletzki was awarded the “Verdienstkreuz am Bande” (the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon) by the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in November 2005 in honour of his lifetime achievements, his social commitment, and his work for the city of

Location

The hotel is located near the train station

Sonnenallee ''Sonnenallee'' (''Sun Avenue'' or ''Sun Alley'') is a 1999 German comedy film about life in East Berlin in the early 1970s. The movie was directed by Leander Haußmann. The film was released shortly before the corresponding novel, '' Am kürzer ...

in the district

Neukölln Neukölln (), officially abbreviated Neuk, is one of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is located south-east of Berlin's center and stretches from the inner city southward to the border with Brandenburg, encompassing the eponymous quarter of Neu ...

near the city center. It has its own

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

which enables guests to arrive and depart with chartered trains, and an own jetty along the Neukölln shipping channel from where sight-seeing and boat tours are on offer.

Opening

The Estrel Hotel was opened in October 1994. Since 1997 the Estrel Festival Center, a reconstructed factory hall, hosts the successful

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

live show ''Stars in Concert'' with impersonators of international stars like

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, Tina Turner, Elvis Presley and others which was attended in 2010 of more than 3.8 million visitors. The entire Estrel complex was completed in 1999 with the construction of the Convention Center which hosts around 1,800 events a year, including major sporting events (e.g. boxing championships), major fairs (such as the World MoneyNotes Fair) and political events.

2009 World Championships in Athletics

The Estrel is one of two hotels that provided accommodation for the athletes who participated in the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

, the other being the Hotel Berlin.

Expansion

In 2014 plans were announced for the Estrel to be expanded with a new hotel tower. The new tower will have 50 stories, with 700 more hotel rooms and will be 176 metres tall, which will make it the second tallest structure of Berlin and the tallest hotel in Germany.Estrel News
''Estrel to become tallest hotel in Germany''

References