Issue:
July
2010
By Marian Betancourt
The Luxury Hotels of East Germany
In those Cold War movies East Berlin and indeed, all of East Germany looked grim, a region of blocky concrete Soviet-style buildings with not a hint of elegance or beauty. In the 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, this image has changed. Four lovely hotels in the former East speak volumes about what that means for today’s travelers. One is a hip and happening place in the center of the city, another is so warm and welcoming that you won’t want to leave. There is a landmark whose Old World elegance has been restored, and yet another is in a park surrounded by gardens.
The 5-star Westin Grand Berlin is a truly exciting place to stay. Located in the former Eastern sector, now the center of the city, the glamour begins with the broad open staircase that dominates the lobby. If you saw the “Bourne Supremacy,” you will remember Matt Damon rushing down these stairs to escape his pursuers. Overhead is a gorgeous pink glass dome shaped liked a flower. 
Pedestrians on the busy Freidrichstrasse often stop to look through the tall lobby windows at the orchid festooned tables to see who might be sipping tea or cocktails while a pianist plays romantic tunes.
With 400 rooms and 36 suites including the largest presidential suites of all the 5 star hotels in Berlin, the Grand attracts rock stars, Russian oligarchs, and so many journalists, it is known as a media hotel. From the upper rooms you have a view of the broad tree-lined Unter den Linden, Berlin’s Champs Elysees. You can walk to the Brandenburg Gate, the Guggenheim, the German Historical Museum, the elegant museum dedicated to The Kennedys, and stop for a glass of wine at Café Einstein. Freiderichstrasse is now lined with designer boutiques but Checkpoint Charlie, famous for the standoff between the United States and Soviets after World War II, still draws crowds.
Herrenkrug Park Hotel, Magdeburg
The Herrenkrug Park hotel is a spa-like retreat in a park that was famous in the 19th century for its flower gardens as well as its beer garden. The Victorian dining room with floor to ceiling glass windows surrounded by these gardens will put you into the mood of that earlier time. However, the food and wine reflects today’s tastes. The hotel itself is a modern addition to the original park structure. You
may miss the Westin’s Heavenly Bed for here you sleep on a slim mattress atop a low slat bed, a style more popular with Europeans than with Americans. This lovely hotel won a 1995 architecture prize and the park is protected as a national treasure. There’s an equestrian center, golf course, and plenty of garden paths to stroll.
Until the 1990s, Magdeburg had no tourism. This was an industrial city and headquarters for the Stasi, East Germany’s secret police. Today it boasts a race track, zoo, caberet, theatre, and restaurants. Two historic places to visit are the Magdeburg Cathedral, the first such gothic structure in Germany, and the Memorial Moritzplatz, a former prison where people were held for crimes against the state.
You can’t help but smile when you walk into the lobby of the Gothisches-haus in Wernigerode. The prominence of the color orange in the bright and airy lobby creates a feeling of walking into sunshine and friendliness; you want to stay here forever. One of the aptly-named Travel Charme hotels, the rooms here are modern and you will find the best hotel bathroom in Europe. The tub bottom has built in 
grips and liquid soap is in a clear vessel so you can see it. The shower door has an extension so you don’t get the room all wet trying to manipulate the hand-held showers behind the half-doors that Europeans favor. The lighting is perfect for makeup. No detail was left undone.
Wernigerode is on the north slope of the Harz Mountains, very close to the former border between East and West Germany. With its gothic buildings including a 1498 town hall with wood façade, this picturesque town inspires romance and is known as the wedding city. It is famous for the Harzer Schmalspur-Bahnen, a narrow gauge steam railway that travels up to Brocken atop the highest peak in Germany. Here Goethe was inspired to write Faust and a modern version is performed several times a year by a rock band. During the Cold War you could not get to Broken because the mountain was planted with land mines. Today bikers and hikers enjoy the mountain and they all stop to wave at the passing train.
The five-story Hotel Furstenhof, in the center of this lively city that names its parks for women and its streets for composers, is more than 200 years old. Once a private residence, it is the only place left that was built with Serpentine, known as marble of the Saxon kings. Now part of Starwood’s luxury collection, the Furstenhof’s 92 rooms have been completely restored to their Old World charm with modern amenities. Decorated with velvet drapes and fine wood furniture, the rooms feature spacious marble bathrooms. An elegant breakfast buffet is served
in the Restaurant Villers, an 18th century salon off the lobby with tall windows that allow you to watch the morning rush hour traffic and six lanes of trolley cars.
In its early years Leipzig was a major fur and leather trading center and as a result has the largest railroad station in the world. In more modern times, it was here at the church of St. Nickolas that 70,000 peaceful protesters began the candlelit procession that resulted in the fall of the Berlin wall four weeks later. Zeitgeschichtliche Forum, a permanent and free museum exhibition beautifully covers that story with objects, photographs and film. Leipzig, home to Bach, is still an arts center. The Spinnerei, once the largest cotton yarn spinning mill in Europe has been turned into a cutting edge international art scene.
This is only a sample of what you will find in East Germany, which is remaking itself as an important tourist destination. All of these hotels have pools, spas, fitness rooms, and the high end services expected of luxury hotels. And getting around on Germany’s superb transit system makes it easy to try them out.
© March 2009 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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