Hotel de Rome

It doesn’t get much heavier than the Hotel de Rome, a converted 19th-century bank building off the Bebelplatz in old East Berlin — its stone walls and neoclassical architecture are a perfect match for the high seriousness of the Rocco Forte house style. This hotel is set to become the lodging of choice for business-class visitors, and may well see more deals done as a hotel than it did during its tenure as the GDR’s central bank.

Serious though it may be, the Hotel de Rome doesn’t lack for style; magisterial reds and blues liven a palette of stone neutrals, and the pool and spa down in the vault, fittingly, are decked out in green and gold. In-room appointments are first-class, and for this audience nothing less would suffice: flat-panel HDTV televisions, sound systems (even in the vast mosaic marble bathrooms) and wired internet access, this last just the price you pay for those heavy old stone walls.

This is a hotel that clearly knows its market; with many guests traveling on the company dime, no expense is spared, and as a result the services (and the service) are impeccable. What’s rare is that the Hotel de Rome manages all this without feeling stuffy — it’s a fine line between serious and uptight, but it’s a line that, here, doesn’t get crossed.