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.