Waldorf-Astoria Berlin
The Waldorf-Astoria Berlin is latest addition to the German capital’s ever-increasing list of five-star hotels. From the moment upon entering the hotel’s signature Peacock Alley, where a grandfather clock whispers the passing of time, guests will revel in the subtle statements of elegance and exquisite detail the hotel’s very name represents.
Nighty Night
At 119 meters (390 ft.), the Waldorf-Astoria soars over Berlin’s Breitscheid Platz—just minutes from the city’s celebrated, upscale shopping avenue: Kurfürstendamm, or simply Ku-damm to the locals. The luxury hotel boasts 232 deluxe and grande deluxe rooms and suites with warm tones of plush materials in the finest of art deco design. These posh accommodations also feature the latest in technological amenities, such as floor heating and a built-in television screen in the bathroom mirror.
For those with deep pockets, the presidential suite encompasses 280 square meters, or 3,000 square feet, of the entire 31st floor. Guests will have their own private entrance lobby, two en-suite bedrooms, Jacuzzi, a kitchenette, a grand piano to tickle the ivories and a fireplace to cozy up to on a winter’s night. All this plus a gorgeous 360° panorama of the vibrant German capital will cost a cool €12,000 euros ($9,181 USD) per night—and don’t let the bedbugs bite. While on holiday in Berlin, what better way to splurge than to indulge oneself in sensuous spa treatments from head to toe.
Satiating the Soul
Waldorf-Astoria Berlin, Junior Suite
The Waldorf-Astoria’s Guerlain Spa offers a motley of techniques to exhilarate the senses. Facials, reflexology or a traditional Chinese massage are just examples from an extensive menu that will surely invigorate the spirit. To bounce back from a spell of jet lag, take a dip in the swimming pool, relieve aching muscles in the Jacuzzi or have a quick work out in the gym. The Guerlain Spa also provides guests with consultations in make-up, fragrances and skin care. Whether for the working woman or the business man on-the-go, relish the sublime attention the soul desires.
After a day of sightseeing, shopping and some well-deserved pampering, begin the evening with an aperitif and conclude with a dinner to remember.
Delectable Delights and Cocktail Concoctions
Named after famed director and producer Fritz Lang, whose silent film Metropolis was the most expensive of its time on the silver screen in 1927, Lang Bar presents an open yet intimate and cozy ambiance for toasting to an evening in the German capital. The exclusive menu, 10 pages of which highlight a vast selection of prime whiskeys, will certainly leave patrons spoiled for choice.
For an experience in fine dining, Pierre Gagnaire has personally set the stage for a culinary production in his restaurant Les Solistes. The lauded chef’s traditional French cuisine will certainly tantalize the palate with a dexterous flair. Moreover, the sommelier will introduce dinner sojourners to an exposé of exquisite French and German varietals from the restaurant’s ample wine cellar collection. The restaurant also serves a buffet and à la carte breakfast to start the day and a mid-day lunch.
The aroma of freshly brewed java and the sight of scrumptious cakes lure passers-by to pop in for an afternoon nosh at the Romanisches Café. The name has a historical background as well, for it was there that Berlin’s intelligentsia regularly congregated in the early 1900s. However, during the rise of the Nazis, the artists’ haunt faced repeated violence for the liberal significance it stood for and later closed along with other comparable locations. In the end, Allied bombings reduced reduced the Café’s original address to rubble, and the current Europa Center shopping mall opposite the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche stands in its place.
What’s more…
Spiral staircase at the Waldorf-Astoria Berlin
The Waldorf-Astoria is also the latest in a series of new projects around Berlin’s Zoologischer Garten station. In the wake of the flurry of construction and investment in the former East Berlin, which has seemingly overshadowed western Berlin since reunification just over two decades ago, the area now increasingly referred to as ‘City West’ is currently receiving a breath of new life.
Further enterprises include the present conservation of the façade of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche, which stands opposite the luxury hotel, the refurbishment of the 1950’s Bikini House and adjacent Zoo Palast Cinema, the latter having always been an important venue during the city’s annual Berlinale Film Festival. The construction of yet another future skyscraper, called Upper West and slated to open in 2016, is also underway along side the Waldorf-Astoria. Once completed, it, too, will consist of hotel and office space with additional capacity for high-rise living.
When staying at the Waldorf-Astoria Berlin, guests will certainly appreciate the best of both worlds: experiencing the very sights and sounds of the dynamic German capital at their finger tips, all the while delighting in every aspect of luxury accommodations in the heart of a cosmopolitan city.
