Berlin’s 25 Most Interesting Hotels
A bank, a bathhouse, a women’s prison, and a department store that became a Communist Party archive.
Berlin tore itself down and built back more than once, and its hotels sit in the survivors: a bank, a bathhouse, a women’s prison, a department store that became a Communist Party archive. This list has the hotel rebuilt beside the Brandenburg Gate, one where you sleep in a former prison cell, and one where the rooms look into the zoo’s monkey enclosure.
The list is grouped by character, not ranked. Each hotel’s name links to its own site, where the rate is current and you book direct.
The grand old ones
Hotel Adlon Kempinski · Pariser Platz
The Adlon opened beside the Brandenburg Gate in 1907, backed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, and quickly became the grandest hotel in Berlin. The original burned in 1945, in the days after the city fell; a surviving wing limped on into the GDR years before it came down. The hotel was rebuilt on its old Pariser Platz site and reopened in 1997. In 2002 Michael Jackson briefly dangled his baby son over an upper balcony here, in front of the world’s cameras.
Hotel de Rome · Bebelplatz
The de Rome is in the former headquarters of the Dresdner Bank, built on Bebelplatz in the late 1880s. Rocco Forte opened the hotel in 2006. The spa and pool are down in the bank’s old vault.
Patrick Hellmann Schlosshotel · Grunewald
The Schlosshotel is a palatial villa from around 1912, in the leafy Grunewald villa colony. Karl Lagerfeld designed its interiors when it reopened as a hotel in 1994. The fashion figure Patrick Hellmann relaunched it in the mid-2010s.
Hotel Zoo Berlin · Kurfürstendamm
The Hotel Zoo opened on the Kurfürstendamm in 1911. In its earlier decades it was a base for the Berlin Film Festival. It reopened in 2014 after a redesign by Dayna Lee.
Grand Hyatt Berlin · Potsdamer Platz
The Grand Hyatt opened in 1998 as part of the rebuilt Potsdamer Platz. The Spanish architect Rafael Moneo designed it.
The Mandala Hotel · Potsdamer Platz
The Mandala opened at Potsdamer Platz in 1999. Its restaurant, Facil, holds two Michelin stars.
Hotel Bristol Berlin · Kurfürstendamm
The Bristol opened in 1952 as Kempinski’s flagship on the Kurfürstendamm, taking back the name of the pre-war Bristol on Unter den Linden. It left the Kempinski brand and relaunched in 2024 under new owners.
Titanic Gendarmenmarkt Berlin · Gendarmenmarkt
The hotel stands on Französische Straße, a few steps from the Gendarmenmarkt with its concert hall and twin cathedrals. It is run by the Turkish Titanic group.
Used to be something else
Soho House Berlin · Torstraße
Soho House is in a 1928 building put up as the Jonass & Co department store. It later served as a Hitler Youth headquarters, and after the war as the archive of the East German Communist Party. It opened as a club and hotel in 2010.
Hotel Oderberger · Prenzlauer Berg
The Oderberger is in the old Stadtbad Oderberger, a municipal bathhouse from around 1900. The restored bathing hall is now the hotel’s swimming pool. It opened in 2016.
Wilmina · Charlottenburg
Wilmina was a women’s prison and its courthouse, built in the 1890s. It opened as a hotel in 2022, with rooms built out of the old cells. It holds a Michelin Key.
Das Stue · Tiergarten
Das Stue is in the former Royal Danish Embassy, a building from around 1940 on the edge of the Tiergarten. It opened as a hotel in 2012. Accor is converting it to a Sofitel.
Michelberger Hotel · Friedrichshain
The Michelberger opened in 2009 in a former factory across from Warschauer Straße station. It is independently run, with rooms worked out alongside designers like Sigurd Larsen.
Château Royal Berlin · Torstraße
Château Royal opened in 2022 behind the restored fronts of linked 19th-century buildings on Torstraße. It holds a large collection of German modern and contemporary art.
Orania.Berlin · Kreuzberg
Orania is in the Jacobi building on Oranienplatz in Kreuzberg, built just before the First World War. It opened as a hotel in 2017. It is known for the live music in its salon.
Roomers Berlin Steinplatz · Charlottenburg
The Art Nouveau building opened in 1913 and in the 1920s drew artists and Russian émigré intellectuals. It ran for years as the Hotel am Steinplatz before the Gekko Group rebranded it as Roomers Berlin in 2024.
Music, art and design
25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin · Charlottenburg
The 25hours opened in 2014 inside the 1950s Bikinihaus by the Zoologischer Garten. Its jungle-side rooms look straight into the monkey enclosure of the Berlin Zoo.
nhow Berlin · Friedrichshain
The nhow opened on the Spree in 2010 as what it billed Europe’s first music hotel. Karim Rashid designed it, and it has two recording studios and guitars you can order to your room.
Arte Luise Kunsthotel · Luisenstraße
The Arte Luise calls itself a gallery with rooms: every guest room was designed by a different artist. It sits on Luisenstraße, near the Reichstag and the main station.
Hotel AMANO · Rosenthaler Platz
AMANO opened in 2009 near Rosenthaler Platz, the first of a Berlin hotel group. Its rooftop bar looks out over Mitte.
Provocateur · Charlottenburg
Provocateur opened in 2015 on a 1920s Parisian-bordello theme. It is now part of the Sircle Collection.
Small and offbeat
Hüttenpalast · Neukölln
At the Hüttenpalast you sleep in a vintage caravan or a wooden cabin parked inside a former factory hall in Neukölln. It opened in 2011.
Gorki Apartments · Weinbergsweg
Gorki is a set of serviced apartments in a restored 19th-century Altbau on Weinbergsweg. It pairs the original detailing with modern interiors.
Lulu Guldsmeden · Mitte
Lulu is the Berlin house of the Danish Guldsmeden group, a Balinese-styled, eco-certified hotel in Mitte.
Hotel Q! · Charlottenburg
Q! opened in 2004, designed by the Berlin studio GRAFT. It is known for its flowing open-plan rooms, with sunken beds and tubs set right into the bedroom floor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these hotels ranked?
No. The groups sort them by character, and the order within each group carries no meaning.
What made a hotel interesting enough for this list?
A story. Every entry was a bank, a bathhouse, a prison, a department store, or a hotel built on an unusual idea. Comfort alone did not qualify a hotel.
Why are there no prices?
Rates change daily and a priced list goes stale in a month. Every hotel name links to its own site, where the rate is current and you book direct.
Which hotel puts me closest to the day trips on this site?
Most day trips from Berlin leave by train from the Hauptbahnhof. The Mitte hotels — the Adlon, the de Rome, the Arte Luise — sit closest.
Do the small hotels book out faster than the grand ones?
Usually. The small and offbeat ones — the Hüttenpalast, Wilmina — hold few rooms and fill first. Book those well ahead.