Hotel Zoo Berlin

In a way, the phrase “a new spin on an old classic” sums up just about everything that’s cool in Berlin. Not that that’s a criticism. They’ve got such great raw material to work with, there’s no sense beginning from a blank slate. Any hotelier, for example, would be thrilled to have something as monumental as Hotel Zoo to work with. A nineteenth-century mansion converted into a luxury hotel in 1911, it played host to many of the twentieth century’s leading lights, before beginning a slow fade into obscurity.

Needless to say, it’s back. A very thorough renovation at the hands of the American designers Dayna Lee and Ted Berner leaves the Zoo looking better than ever. The façade and the basic structure have been lovingly restored, and the interiors have been completely re-imagined. Modern fixtures and electronics exist side-by-side with classically inspired furnishings and décor that explicitly recalls the golden age of the Twenties, the time of the hotel’s birth (with some Old Hollywood and prewar Manhattan influences thrown in for good measure).

The location, right on the Ku’Damm, means it’s absolutely central, at least for City West, the old West Berlin. As such it’s something of a crossroads — you can be sure that locals and guests alike number among the patrons in the carriage-house restaurant, the central winter garden, and the hotel’s bar and lounge spaces. After all, what’s Berlin without a classic-yet-contemporary nightlife and dining scene?