Roomers Hotel Baden-Baden

Once upon a time Baden-Baden, the spa town in Germany’s Black Forest, would have been where you’d go for a bit of classic old-world hospitality. The opening of Roomers Baden-Baden, then, came as a bit of a shock — nothing could have prepared the local hotel scene for a brand-new modern building containing a boutique-style luxury hotel by the Milanese designer Piero Lissoni.

The interiors of the public spaces are about three parts impeccably composed modernist elegance to one part graphic-art whimsy, featuring street-art murals or faux-Elizabethan pop-culture portraits alongside Lissoni’s soberly stylish furniture and décor. And the rooms are inimitably Milanese modern-luxe, with everything perfectly in its place. With their king beds and their lavish bathrooms they lack for nothing when it comes to comfort, and the suites expand to palatial dimensions.

Moriki, the restaurant, similarly thwarts convention — this is an open-kitchen space with a pan-Asian menu, a million miles from typical German spa fare. And while the atmosphere is urbane, you’ll never quite forget your Black Forest setting — especially at the rooftop bar, with its expansive views and its outdoor pool. Safe to say you’ll never quite think of Baden-Baden the same way again.