Travel: Hotel de Rome, Berlin

The former headquarters of the Dresdner Bank on the Bebelplatz square is grand and stylish, and rubs shoulders with some of the most august institutions of the city. There’s the State Opera House, Humboldt University buildings, St Hedwig’s Cathedral, the first Catholic church built in Prussia after the Reformation, and most affecting of all in its subtlety, a memorial to the book burning that took place in Bebelplatz in 1933. A simple window cut out in the cobbles looks down into a chamber of white shelves and anonymous, untitled, blank white books.

Back in the hotel, there are words aplenty, including the neon art by Olivia Steele in the public rooms, declaring things like “If less is more I would rather have nothing”. The building has been renovated to create 108 rooms and 37 suites and the grandeur remains, with the jewel vault turned spa holding a 20-metre indoor pool, steam room and gym, and the cashier’s hall now the ballroom. There is an Italian restaurant, La Banca, and a separate bar overlooking the square and Unter den Linden.

BUDGET OR BOUTIQUE?

There’s nothing budget or boutique in this hotel, everything here is five star, a perfect marriage of Italian style and Teutonic order.

ROOM SERVICE

For me the view was the best bit, with the green dome of St Hedwig’s looming up towards the window. That’s not to say our junior suite didn’t come a close second in agreeable greige tones, with a comfortable bed made up in astronomical thread count sheets, and wall-mounted TV opposite. The large en-suite bathroom had a shower and bath, underfloor heating and was full of REN toiletries.

WINING AND DINING

We didn’t have an evening meal, but I can vouch for the breakfast where we were served hot dishes and helped ourselves to an extensive buffet. The teapots were silver and the table decorations were bonsai trees. You get the picture.

In summer you can sit outside in the courtyard, but when we visited it was so cold you could taste your fillings. All the better to revel in the cosy interiors of the bedrooms or stylish bar, which is an upmarket destination for expensively dressed metropolitan types.

If it’s traditional German fare you’re after, head for Augustiner am Gendarmenmarkt (www.augustiner-braeu-berlin.de), which has a fantastic menu of traditional staples like käsespätzle (melted cheese and noodles), rindergulasch (beef stew) and roast pork knuckle.

WORTH GETTING OUT OF BED FOR

You’re on hand for the city centre sights and if you arm yourself with a Berlin Pass, which provides entry to more than 50 attractions and experiences, as well as free public transport in certain zones (¤79pp for two days, visit www.berlinpass.com), you’ll get a discount. The Berlin Welcome Card also gives free travel and discounts (¤19.50pp for two days). If you want to walk the spiral that curves around the dome of the Reichstag, book in advance. I failed to do this, but made up for it by promenading around the roof of the Berliner Dom, the city’s largest church, under the gaze of the stone angels. At the Neues Museum I gawped at Queen Nefertiti’s head and the Neanderthal skull, and the German History Museum is a must, but I still barely dented the cultural/historic offerings, including the DDR Museum. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a field of concrete blocks commemorating those murdered by the Nazis is powerful and moving. Then it was off to the East Side Gallery to see the longest surviving section of the Berlin Wall.

LITTLE EXTRAS

The Banca bar has its own signature drink, the Berlin Mule, made with vodka produced in Berlin, if you need a little kick.

GUESTBOOK COMMENTS

If you have cash to splash, this former bank serves up the style and comfort.

@JanetChristie2

Room rates start from ¤270 (exclusive breakfast). Rocco Forte Hotel de Rome, Behrenstrasse 37, 10117 Berlin (www.roccofortehotels.com)