Hotel am Steinplatz

Opened in 1913, Berlin’s Hotel Am Steinplatz has always had a glamorous reputation, counting Vladimir Nabokov and Brigitte Bardot (separately, unless there’s a great story we don’t know about) among its famous guests. One hundred years later, the Art Nouveau landmark reopened as a boutique hotel with corporate backing — it’s the first German hotel to be included in Marriott’s Autograph Collection. The sleek twenties-inspired hotel is one of a few properties prompting visitors to venture outside the Mitte and book a room in a comparatively residential but up-and-coming West Berlin neighborhood like Charlottenburg.

Comprising six carefully restored floors, the Hotel Am Steinplatz has 84 guest rooms and three suites. They come with all the standard amenities, from free wi-fi and flat-screen TVs to soundproof windows and iPod docks, but they also have a lot more character than you’d expect — the shiny dark wood paneling, curved walls, and fanciful vanities call to mind the hotel’s original heyday. The floor-to-ceiling drapery and deep soaking tubs feel fit for a French movie star. Well, at least one that doesn’t come with a full entourage: the top-of-the-line suites are huge and elegantly appointed, but devoid of over-the-top extras.

Downstairs, the lobby, with its elegant piano and marble fireplace, evokes gentler days gone by. But up on the top floor, the stylish spa and fitness center is another story entirely: you’re not likely to be confused about what decade it is when you’re jogging on a high-tech treadmill and looking out over the city’s contemporary skyline.

It’s not just an ordinary hotel restaurant at the Hotel Am Steinplatz: the menu, featuring modern takes on classic Berlin dishes and fresh herbs grown in the hotel’s garden, was put together by Michelin-starred chef Stefan Hartmann. The adjacent bar specializes in classic cocktails, many made with locally produced spirits. Altogether, between the historic renown and the stylish updates, it’s enough to make you wonder what you might expect from the Marriott group in other parts of the world.