Mitte / Bebelplatz

Hotel de Rome Berlin

★★★★★

Hotel de Rome is the most stylish grand hotel in historic Berlin, and its building tells a story as rich as any in the city. It was built in 1889 as the headquarters of the Dresdner Bank, on Bebelplatz in the heart of the royal boulevard Unter den Linden. After 1945, when the area became part of the Soviet sector, it served as the State Bank of the GDR, until that institution was dissolved after the fall of the Wall. The building was renovated and converted from 2003, carefully preserving its past, and the hotel opened in October 2006 as part of Rocco Forte Hotels. Its bank history is everywhere: the spa occupies the former jewellery vault, where the pool now sits behind the original vault doors; the historic suites were the offices of the bank directors, with high ceilings and wood panelling; and the old main banking hall is now the ballroom. The hotel has 132 bedrooms and 13 suites, decorated in a contemporary-classic style with rich colours, modern art and large marble bathrooms, and some rooms and suites look over Bebelplatz to the State Opera, St Hedwig's Cathedral and Humboldt University. The Italian restaurant CHIARO serves dishes by the chef Fulvio Pierangelini, the Opera Court, a glass-roofed hall, serves afternoon tea from October to March, and in the warmer months the Rooftop Terrace is one of the loveliest places in Berlin for a drink, with views over the domes and towers of Mitte. The Irene Forte Spa has a pool, Finnish sauna, steam room, six treatment rooms and a 24-hour gym. Bebelplatz itself is a place of memory, where the Nazis burned books in May 1933, marked by a sunken memorial of empty shelves under glass in the middle of the square. Rates are high, but the service, the building and the location make it a favourite of seasoned Berlin visitors.

Living the bank: the rooms are generously sized for a historic building, with a sophisticated mix of classic and modern design, and the suites in the former directors' offices are among the most characterful in the city. The best rooms overlook Bebelplatz and the State Opera, while courtyard rooms are quieter. Families are well looked after, with connecting rooms and a children's programme, and the staff have the relaxed confidence of a Rocco Forte house, warmer and less formal than some of Berlin's older grand hotels.

Eating, drinking and the spa: CHIARO brings serious Italian cooking to Mitte, and the Opera Court is the place for afternoon tea in winter. The rooftop terrace, open seasonally, is the hotel's secret weapon, with views of the opera, the cathedral domes and the TV Tower, and it is popular with locals for an evening drink. Swimming in the old vault, surrounded by the bank's original details, is an experience unique to this hotel; the spa is compact but beautifully done.

Location: Bebelplatz is about as central as Berlin gets. Museum Island, the Humboldt Forum and Berlin Cathedral are a few minutes east, the Gendarmenmarkt a few minutes south, and the Brandenburg Gate fifteen minutes west along Unter den Linden. The U5 station Unter den Linden and the stations of Friedrichstrasse and Hausvogteiplatz are within easy walking distance. On the downside, the area is mainly institutional and quiet at night, so for nightlife you will take a short ride to Mitte's northern neighbourhoods, Kreuzberg or Friedrichshain.