The hostel will re-open on March 30th, ready for the Easter-Weekend, new and improved!

From January 2010 the Circus Hostel at Weinbergsweg will be closed for three months for renovations. Since we opened in 2001 we are extremely pleased that the Circus has consistently been recognised by our guests for having the highest possible standards of facilities and services. However, it is always possible to improve, and the upcoming renovations will focus on two key areas.

First, we will be making changes to the infrastructure of the building in keeping with our general commitment to environmentally friendly and sustainable practises. In order to make the hostel more efficient – and therefore using less resources – we are improving the isolation of the building, implementing energy recovery through a combined heating and power unit, and improvements to the efficiency of existing elements, such as the ventilation system. We will also be making a complete change to the facade of the building.

Second, we will be focusing on changes that will allow us to improve the services we offer our guests. Over the years we have had many criticisms of small failures and suggestions from our guests that we were unable to rectify due to the fact that the hostel was continually operating. With the closure for the main technical improvements to the building, we are using the chance to fix some of the small things as well. For example, new shower systems are being added to improve the problems with water pressure that some guests told us about, and we will be adding new security features in the form of lock-boxes for each guest in the rooms. These lock-boxes will include power-sockets, for all those gadgets such as cameras, phones and laptops.

There will be new furniture added throughout the hostel as well as a general renovation of the public areas such as the bar and the cafe. Most importantly, and again another criticism that we have often heard in the past eight years, we will be changing the reception area to provide more space for travellers to simply hang out and meet each other. Another new project that will come with the renovation is one that has been dreamed up by two of the Circus team – Matthew and Konstantin – who are developing a very special guide to Berlin that will appear on touch-screens in the hostel and through the Circus website. The guide will be developed and added to by the Circus team and the guests, and will be an interactive and actual overview of the best that our city has to offer. Keep an eye-out on the website for more details.

In the eight years that The Circus Hostel at Weinbergsweg has been open, we are extremely proud of the fact that we have consistently been rated as one of the best hostels in Europe. With the technical improvements and the implementation of the many useful and interesting suggestions from our guests over the past eight years, we are convinced that we will take the hostel to the next level.

Many thanks to all of you who have stayed with us since 2001, and for all the ideas, suggestions and criticisms that you have sent our way. We are really looking forward to the changes that will come, and to seeing everyone back at The Circus Hostel in Easter 2010.