The grand hotels of Berlin: the back story

About The grand hotels of Berlin: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Berlin Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Berlin’s grand hotels gather in two centres, a legacy of the divided city. In Mitte, the Hotel Adlon Kempinski looks onto the Brandenburg Gate from Pariser Platz, the Hotel de Rome faces the State Opera across the Bebelplatz and the Regent stands by the Gendarmenmarkt. In the old West, around the Zoo and the Kurfürstendamm, Hotel Zoo, the Hotel Bristol, the Waldorf Astoria and the InterContinental keep the boulevard’s glamour, with Das Stue on the edge of the Tiergarten. East of the centre, Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain and Prenzlauer Berg have the city’s most characterful small hotels.

In Mitte

The Hotel Adlon Kempinski stands at Unter den Linden 77, on Pariser Platz beside the Brandenburg Gate; its Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer holds One MICHELIN Star in the 2026 guide. The Hotel de Rome, a Rocco Forte hotel, is on the Bebelplatz, and the Regent Berlin by the Gendarmenmarkt. Hotel Château Royal and the Telegraphenamt bring a younger, art-filled style to the streets north of Unter den Linden.

The City West

Around the Zoo and the Kurfürstendamm, the boulevard of the old West, stay at Hotel Zoo (Kurfürstendamm 25), the Hotel Bristol (Kurfürstendamm 27), the Waldorf Astoria or the InterContinental, home of the one-star Hugos. Das Stue occupies a former embassy on the edge of the Tiergarten, and the 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin looks straight over the zoo.

You don’t need a room to enjoy them: book dinner at Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer or FACIL, or a drink at the Monkey Bar.

The creative east

In Kreuzberg, Orania.Berlin fills a corner building on Oranienstrasse; in Friedrichshain, the Michelberger sits by the Warschauer Strasse station and the Oberbaum Bridge; in Prenzlauer Berg, Hotel Oderberger occupies a restored historic bathhouse. Soho House Berlin is on Torstrasse.

Out in the green

The Schlosshotel Berlin is a villa hotel in Grunewald, among the lakes and forests of the south-west.

Our advice: for a first visit, stay in Mitte, between the Brandenburg Gate and Museum Island; come back and stay in the West or the east.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The grand hotels of Berlin: the back story before you go.