Sick at your Berlin hotel

Sick at a Berlin hotel — why a house call is almost always the better choice

Berlin sees more than 35 million overnight stays per year, distributed across hotels ranging from the Adlon and Hotel de Rome at Pariser Platz, the international houses along Kurfürstendamm and the boutique addresses in Mitte, to apartment-hotels in Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg. When you wake up in a strange bed with a sore throat, a fever of 39 °C, an acute bronchitis, gastrointestinal symptoms or a migraine attack, the last thing you want is to figure out where the nearest emergency room is, study the U-Bahn map or try to explain your symptoms in a crowded German walk-in clinic. The private house-call answers exactly that situation: a board-certified physician arrives at your room with a fully packed case, examines and treats you on the spot — discreetly, in your language, without you having to leave the bed.

There is a clinical advantage too. A waiting room exposes a feverish traveller to other coughing patients and produces multiple infection risks. A hotel-room visit removes that risk entirely. Most travel-related complaints — viral respiratory infections, gastroenteritis, urinary-tract infections, back pain after long flights, sports injuries from sightseeing — can be fully diagnosed and treated on site. Our case includes rapid tests for influenza, RSV, SARS-CoV-2, streptococcus and CRP, plus pulse oximeter, portable ECG, otoscope, IV equipment and the medications needed for first-line treatment and prescription handover.

Typical complaints in a hotel room

Frequent reasons for a visit include febrile infections (38.5 to 40 °C) after long conference days, sore throat with suspected streptococcal angina, acute bronchitis and sinusitis, gastroenteritis after restaurant or buffet meals, migraine attacks after short sleep, urinary-tract infections (common in business travellers who drink too little), back pain and lumbago after a long flight, allergic reactions, minor injuries after sightseeing and circulatory weakness. We treat the acute event, issue prescription and sick note, arrange specialist follow-up at a Berlin practice if needed, and communicate directly with your travel insurer or assistance provider on request.

Discretion and coordination with reception and concierge

Hotel visits are part of our daily routine in Berlin. We coordinate with reception whether our doctor is expected at the guest entrance or the staff door, whether the room bell is sufficient or whether the concierge announces us personally. For houses with security profiles (embassy hotels, VIP floors, suites with personal protection) we respect protocol completely. Our physician arrives in civilian clothing; the medical case is neutral. Invoices and sick notes can be issued bilingually (German/English) and sent encrypted by email or by mail to your home address on request.

How a hotel house call works

You call the RAB Ärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst or send a WhatsApp callback request (please no medical details by messenger). We take down your symptoms, hotel name and room number, preferred language and insurance status, and give you a realistic arrival window. You inform reception that a doctor is coming to your room — nothing more is needed. The physician calls shortly before arrival, comes to your room, examines you, runs the necessary rapid tests and treats on site.

A visit typically lasts 25 to 45 minutes. You receive a prescription (we can arrange delivery from a 24/7 Berlin pharmacy on request), a sick note and the GOÄ invoice. If an infusion is needed, the physician stays with you during the drip. If the clinical picture warrants hospital admission (for example suspected pneumonia with oxygen saturation under 92 %), we organise the referral and recommend a suitable Berlin hospital.

Cost, GOÄ and international travel insurance

All services are billed strictly according to the German Medical Fee Schedule (GOÄ). The invoice is issued through our Privatärztliche Verrechnungsstelle (private medical billing service) and is accepted by all German private insurers, by most international travel insurers (Allianz Travel, AXA Assistance, Europ Assistance, AIG, Generali Global, ERV and others) and by assistance providers. You receive an itemised invoice with all GOÄ codes; on request we add an English translation of the diagnosis.

Typical cost for a hotel visit including examination, rapid test and first-line treatment ranges from EUR 220 to 380, depending on time of day, day of week, diagnostic scope and whether an infusion is required. Treatments on weekends, public holidays and late evenings carry the surcharges defined in the GOÄ. For life-threatening emergencies — chest pain with shortness of breath, loss of consciousness, severe bleeding, suspected stroke — call 112 immediately. For low-threshold advice outside our hours, the statutory on-call service 116117 is the right contact.