How Berlin s hotels are fighting to survive in the COVID lockdown
The lockdown is hitting the hotel sector hard. One in three hotels is currently closed, while others have only a handful of guests. The hotels are fighting for a future even if no one yet knows when that might happen.
Most Berlin hotels have been deserted for months during the pandemic
Suitcases being wheeled, cell phones ringing, interspersed by the voices of guests arriving and departing that s probably what it would be like at the Novotel Berlin Am Tiergarten these days if it weren t for the coronavirus pandemic. These days, with Germany in lockdown, the 274-bed hotel is as good as empty. The spacious lobby with its light-colored marble floor is deserted, and only one employee can be seen, sitting alone at the reception desk. Because of the hygiene regulations in force, she is sitting behind a plexiglass screen.