Recommend Hotels in Berlin & Leipzig

[Ash]

My folks are travelling to Germany in a couple of weeks.
They intend to stay one night in Leipzig and one in Berlin. Never having been there, they are interested in recommendations for reasonably priced and well located hotel accommodation for their needs.
Hotel in Leipzig must just be quite central, 3 star or so. Not too far from the railway station might be good.
The hotel in Berlin needs to be reasonably close to both a good restaurant/bar and to the railway station in order to be convenient to catch an early flight the next morning.
Can anyone help with recommendations or areas to look for online?
Any other helpful advice about visiting Berlin/Leipzig would be great too.

 

[Perplexed]

I've found the Park Inn hotel in Berlin the most convenient for early morning flights departing from Schonefeld airport. Train ticket is approx €2.50 & it brings you straight to the airport. This hotel is in Alexanderplatz & the train station is right next door. Also convenient for S bahn & U bahn. The Zoo area is also fairly handy, it just means you have to get the same train a little earlier in the morning. Look up the Berlin trains & you'll see the route. Remember Flughafen is airport in German...it took me a while to figure that out !

 

[almo]

I'd 2nd the Park Inn, and the public transport system in Berlin is pretty good so getting from it to all others parts of the city centre is very easy.

A long walk from Alex Platz down Uner den Linden and up to the Brandenburg Gate is great to get a feel for the city. Visiting the Checkpoint Charlie House and museum is an eyeopener.

The Stasi museum in Leipzig is a shocker.