We loved staying here. The apartment itself is spacious and super clean, and Lucia and Massimo were generous enough to leave us with many essentials like shampoo,soap, coffee, washing machine soap, etc. The bed was comfortable, the shower was great, and the kitchen was well equipped. There is an iron, space for luggage, and even an iPod docking station (iPod 4). Awesome!
Check in was easy, with Lucia staying in touch via sms and WhatsApp. Our flight was late, but she was so gracious and cool with it. The apartment is a short taxi ride from Tegel (10 mins, 15 Euro), or 15 minutes on the bus.
The apartment is a 5 minute walk to the nearest U Bahn in one direction and 5 minutes to the S Bahn in the other. We loved the neighborhood feel of the place, the amazing dive bar around the corner, and the nearby cafes and doner place for a late night snack. The apartment is very much a base camp as described... A really nice place to come back to at the end of the night, in an authentic and safe Berlin neighborhood. In other words, don't expect to be very central. You need to travel on the U Bahn or by bike in order to be "central." The thing about Berlin is that there are so many awesome and different neighborhoods so you end up using the U Bahn anyway even if you are staying somewhere more central like near alexanderplatz, for example. The 20 minutes on the subway from Moabit didn't bother us at all, and in fact we enjoyed the commute with the locals.
Overall, we have nothing but excellent memories and can't wait to be back in this vibrant, interesting, and eclectic city. Staying in Lucia and Massimo's apartment contributed to our positive experience and we would not hesitate to stay again.