My partner Angela and I stayed with friends at Michel's pad in Prenzlauer Berg for a week and it is the perfect location from which to experience the cafe culture in Berlin - in fact Prenzlauer Berg proved to be our favourite area of the city. Not as grungy as Kruezberg or Fredrichshain perhaps, but a wonderful part of the old DDR that has clearly flourished into a very desirable neighbourhood - just what a group of mellowing 30+ year olds were looking for. That said, we still found excellent night life there and a cool little indie nightclub called Duncker near by the apartment to relive our teenage years. Michel's apartment is trendy, functional and very clean and gave us a real sense of what living in this wonderful city must be like, a fantastic experience that was altogether different from the separation of staying in a hotel. Check in with Anne was effortless and Michel was also prompt at responding to queries about the apartment. Sorry we didn't get to meet you Michel, but anyone who has Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (one of my all time favourite movies) in his DVD collection is definitely a man after my own heart. With all my heart I would recommend Michel's apartment as the ideal place from which to visit and explore Berlin - we had a wonderful time.