The Best Hotels in Berlin, by the Record
The best hotels in Berlin, by the professional record: Forbes Travel Guide and Michelin Guide have both weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin comes out on top.
Das Stue and Patrick Hellmann Schlosshotel hold the next two places. Forbes Travel Guide shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with Michelin Guide close behind.
-
The marble lobby, with its columns and chandeliers, looks like it has been there for 150 years, even though Potsdamer Platz itself barely predates smartphones. This luxury hotel holds a Michelin 2 Keys distinction and a Forbes Four Star rating, and sits walking distance from the Brandenburg Gate and the Tiergarten. Rooms trade the lobby's grandeur for something calmer and residential, and the spa takes the German wellness tradition very seriously indeed.
-
A 1930s Danish embassy building tucked beside the Tiergarten, now a Forbes Four Star hotel with a Michelin Key. Patricia Urquiola's interiors mix Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs with animal sculptures and fashion photography, so the rooms feel more Copenhagen than Berlin, until you look out the window at the zoo. The Susanne Kaufmann spa leans clinical and holistic in equal measure, which is a very German way to relax.
-
A former Prussian mansion tucked behind baroque gates in the residential Grunewald, this hotel blends so seamlessly with its stately neighbors that the luggage cart near the side door is practically the only giveaway. Karl Lagerfeld designed the interiors, and it shows: crimson damask, coffered ceilings, gold chandeliers, and velvet sofas that make the lobby feel less like a check-in and more like a very good party you weren't expecting to attend.
-
The tower above City West, nicknamed Zoofenster for its view over the zoo, is as much a landmark as a hotel. Rooms lean vibrant rather than the hushed beige you find at comparable addresses, and the Art Deco nods feel intentional rather than decorative. The fifth floor holds a full spa, and a Fritz Lang-named cocktail lounge suggests the team has read their local history. Forbes Four Star.
-
The lobby's golden free-standing pillars and green marble floors set the tone for this grand old hotel on the Kurfürstendamm, a thoroughfare that has seen Berlin reinvent itself several times over. The building has been around forever, and the 245 rooms and 58 suites have recently been updated into something sleeker without losing the traditional-luxe atmosphere. The pool and sauna area apparently delights, and the restaurants pull their weight too.