The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin

Berlin may be something of a byword for avant-garde international hipsterdom, but this is a city that can do stately and traditional with the best of them — and the Ritz-Carlton, Berlin is as emphatic example as you could ask for. The setting, in a skyscraper at the newly thriving Potsdamer Platz, makes it something of an emblem for the post-reunification era, but once you’re through its doors you’re struck by the timeless sensation that the Ritz-Carlton hotels so successfully create.

The lobby, all marble columns and ornate chandeliers, could be a century and a half old; it’s all in the service of making a grand and distinguished impression. The atmosphere in the rooms and suites, however, is decidedly more low-key, and more contemporary — still classic, still stylistically conservative, but prizing tactile comforts and a calming residential look over the opulence of the public spaces. That said, these rooms are state-of-the art, and you’ll be at pains to imagine a luxury that’s unaccounted for.

Nor do the luxuries end at the room’s threshold. There’s no wellness center quite like a German luxury hotel’s wellness center, and this one covers everything from saunas to spa treatments and a remarkably well-equipped fitness center. There’s also every imaginable business amenity, from meeting rooms to notaries and translators. Brasserie Desbrosses is the hotel’s flagship restaurant, serving more than just French fare, all of it impeccably locally sourced; it’s accompanies by the Curtain Club lounge and the Fragrances cocktail bar, as well as a tremendous old-fashioned tea service in the lobby.