When Berlin's giant AquaDom aquarium ruptured and flooded a hotel lobby, guest bookings were quietly moved to a sister property — with no notice to the guests who'd booked the original.
On 16 December 2022, Berlin's giant AquaDom aquarium — a cylinder of water built straight through a hotel lobby — ruptured. The flood forced the Radisson Blu Berlin to close its lobby, and temporarily the property itself. The hotel still had bookings on the books, and guests still expected to arrive.
What actually happened to those bookings
The reservations made against the Radisson Blu Berlin were transferred to a sister hotel. That move was never communicated to the guests who'd made them. Anyone travelling on the strength of their original confirmation would have arrived at a hotel that was temporarily closed or access-restricted, with no idea where to go next.
Being redirected to a different property mid-journey, with no warning, is exactly the kind of moment that turns a trip into an ordeal — extra travel across the city, on top of everything else a frazzled traveller is already dealing with.
A confirmation email doesn't know the hotel it names had its lobby flooded three weeks ago. Only checking again, with the hotel itself, does.
What re-verification caught
rePUSHTI had the opportunity to re-verify a booking made at the Radisson Blu Berlin during this window. The guests were told directly that the property was temporarily closed — before they travelled, not after they'd arrived somewhere they didn't recognise. The confirmation number they were holding said nothing had changed. Re-verification is what actually told them it had.
