Lifestyle briefs

Sep 22, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Berlin's indoor camping hotel

Berlin (dpa) - The German capital has seen a boom in the growth of hostels and hotels, and owners are being forced to go to ever greater lengths to attract guests. The promise of free wireless internet and cappuccinos are no longer enough. But now one hotel owner has gone one step further: in the district of Neukoelln guests can choose from one of three converted caravans inside a former factory. The idea has proven to be a big hit with customers, according to the managers of Huttenpalast. The caravans have been given the names of 'Little Sister', 'Heart Breaker' and 'Swallow's Nest'. It costs 55 dollars per night for a single person and 82 dollars for two. (www.huettenpalast.de)

A couple of stools and a beer pump - Germany's smallest bar

Hamburg (dpa) - Uschi Reents runs what is possibly Germany's - or even the world's - smallest bar. Located in the harbour town of Varel in the north-western district of Friesland, it has a total space of a mere 4.5 square metres. 'I once had 12 customers standing inside. That was quite full,' recalls Reents. A bar, beer pump and small sink make up the mini-establishment's fittings. 'You can get two or three stools inside but there's no room for chairs or a table.' Uschi Reents does not know for sure if her bar is indeed the smallest in the world and she has never tried to get it into the Guinness Book of Records.

This year the bar is marking its 20th anniversary. Until the 1930s the small structure housed a weighing scales for fish remains that were later ground to fishmeal in a mill. The idea for setting up the bar came from Reents' husband during a game of Skat. A neighbour who owned the hut said to him, 'I'll give it to you as a gift. Do what you want with it.' Since then the couple, who own a fish restaurant opposite the bar, have been opening it to groups of customers looking for a drink of beer before dinner or a schnapps afterwards. (www.vareler-hafen.net/kleinstekneipe.htm)