Berlin Accommodations

Expense It

If you want to stay at Berlin's most stylish address, consider the legendary and completely rebuilt Hotel Adlon (Unter Den Linden 77; +49-30-22610; Hotel-Adlon.de ac;240+). Located adjacent to the Brandenburg Gate, the Adlon is an opulent experience that blends modern features with a classic style. A fully equipped spa makes a long day of meetings fade away.

In Mitte, Hotel de Rome (Behrenstrasse 37; +49-30-460-6090; HotelDeRome.com; ac;310) is just an elegant stroll's distance from the Opera House. The former headquarters of the Dresdner Bank looks across Bebelplatz to the grand, broad boulevard, Unter Den Linden. Alongside the Humboldt University and minutes from Museuminsel, Alexanderplatz, and the Brandenburg Gate, the ultra-luxurious Hotel de Rome has a perfect location. Bold black, red, and white decor in the lobby creates a dramatic entrance for your stay. Accommodations have high ceilings and masculine colors, with some dramatic quarters created out of the wood-paneled former directors' offices and boardrooms. In the former bank vaults, a sparkling pool beckons with a gold mosaic shimmering on walls and pillars. It's small but a brilliant combination of business and pleasure. Until the 1930s, Berlin's society ladies would come and collect their jewelry from their vault, adorn themselves, then sashay across Bebelplatz to the opera, bringing it safely back once the final curtain had fallen.

Video Report: Berlin

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Unique Opportunities

Also in Mitte, the fascinating Arte Luise Kunsthotel (Luisenstrasse 19; +49-30-284-480; Luise-Berlin.com; ac;79+) is an amazing hotel in a building dating back to 1825. Rooms, individually decorated by well-known artists with murals, space suits, painted bananas, and other original artworks, will distract you from your BlackBerry.

Another excellent choice is the Radisson SAS Hotel Berlin (Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 3; +49-30-238280 or 888-201-1718; Berlin.Radissonsas.com; ac;225+). Boasting a fantastic location in the heart of Mitte, the clean and modern rooms all feature either spectacular city views or jaw-dropping views of the lobby's AquaDom, the world's largest cylindrical aquarium, with 2,500 exotic fish. It's wonderfully strange, but also perfectly modern Berlin. The hotel gym and spa is one of the best in the city, and the daily breakfast buffet will set you up nicely for a long day of meetings.

Your Dime

If you want to swiftly shed the suit and head out in search of gay nightlife, the Art Hotel Connection (33 Fuggerstrasse; +49-30-210-218-800; ArtHotel-Connection.de; ac;85), in Schoneberg, is almost right next door to the popular Connection Bar. Once a huge apartment, this gay hotel offers 18 bright and simple rooms with cable TV and phones, and a buffet breakfast.

Gay-popular budget options include Kreuzberg's Hotel Transit (53-54 Hagelberger Strasse; +49-30-789-0470; Hotel-Transit.de; ac;72), a reasonably priced 50-room establishment with a courtyard and single, double, and dormitory rooms. Popular with the young international traveling crowd, the hotel offers a bar and breakfast buffet.

Gay Stays

Axel Hotels , the first global gay hotel chain, with boutique properties in Buenos Aires and Barcelona, opened their third luxury hotel in Schoneberg in March 2009. The "hetero-friendly" Berlin Axel Hotel (Lietzenburger Strasse 13-15; +49-30-2100-2893; AxelHotels.com; ac;80) offers reliably upscale service, lovely luxe add-ons, free wireless, and in-room iPod docks. If you're short of time in town but still want to be social, you can profit from the hot scene in the hotel's Sky Bar.

Hotel Arco (30 Geisbergstrasse; +49-30-235-1480; Arco-Hotel.de; ac;50+) is situated on a small side street near gay establishments, as well as within walking distance of Berlin's swanky shopping area.