Hotel Royal
This is a very clean, cheap and conveniently located three star hotel a stone's throw away from the main station. It's location on Schiller street is right in the thick of the sex shops and live strip show cabarets, but don't let that put you off. Many good hotels are located in this area, and despite the sex shops it isn't all that seedy, and not in the slightest bit dangerous. There are no drunks, pimps, drug addicts or any of the usual rubbish you find in such areas, and plenty of good cheap places to eat, like Ali Babas.
The hotel itself offers three star comfort: cable TV with mostly German channels as usual, but at least it has CNN, BBC World, along with one Spanish, French and Italian channel. The bed is very comfortable, and the en suite shower clean and new. It's a little rough around the edges, and the rooms are a bit small, but the place is very efficiently run by some very friendly people. The noise from the rooms facing the streets can be a bit much, but they have double glazing and it pretty much shuts down outside after midnight anyway.
For the quality and location of the hotel the price is very good. The basic price outside of festivals and trade fairs is 50 euros a night, but you can get it for less through the Hotel Reservation Service. I paid an average of 43 euros a night for the week I spent there. Breakfast is included in the price, as is free internet access via wireless LAN; a service few other hotels bother to offer and even less offer for free.
Unique Quality: Free Wireless Internet Access!