Hotel The Dude Berlin-Mitte

The Dude is a rare beast in Berlin — a hotel that’s a hotel first. Not an events space with rooms attached, not a DJ night with beds upstairs, but a proper, owner-operated lodging, one with warm, personal service, and, judging from the eclectic, somewhat bohemian design, a single, individual aesthetic personality to tie the whole thing together.

Say what you will about proprietor Alexander Schmidt-Vogel’s “indie” approach to hospitality — it may swim somewhat against the tide in today’s heavily branded design-hotel world, but at least it’s an ethos. This nineteenth-century building remains true to many of the contours of its original floor plan, which means many of the rooms depart from the typical L-shaped plan: the very affordable Junior Single rooms are little more than a cozy nook for a solo traveler, while the suites positively spread out on the upper floor, under the eaves. Meanwhile luxury comes in well-placed details, from the Molton Brown bath products to the complimentary Moleskine notebooks, The Dude’s low-tech version, presumably, of the usual tablet computer.

From a design point of view, antique pieces combine with bold modern gestures in an eclectic mix, and while there are visual surprises at every turn, you’ll never feel out of your element. The Brooklyn, the hotel's restaurant, is a warm, clubby, yet quite high-end steakhouse — the menu is determinedly bare-bones, while the cuts themselves are sublime. It’s another example of The Dude valuing uniqueness above all else. Trends come and go, in Berlin perhaps more quickly than anywhere else, and design hotels renovate, rethink and re-brand; if character, though, is what matters to you, then year after year The Dude abides.