Hotel Gendarm Nouveau ★★★★

Sipping my morning coffee, I survey the view of the Gendarmenmarkt splayed out beneath my window; I’m not sure I can remember the last time I woke up in such a spectacular setting. I had arrived at the Hotel Gendarm Nouveau in the small hours of the night before, feeling utterly spent after my journey, and was too keen to collapse into my enormous nest of a bed to properly appreciate the views. Even though my cosy room, dressed in sumptuous orchard hues of raspberry and green apple, beckoned me to while away the morning in bed the views of Berlin were too tempting to resist!

With the hotel’s prime position in the centre of Berlin’s Mitte district, the question on my lips was not so much “what is there to do?” and more “how do I possibly cram it into 3 days?” Breakfast however was non-negotiable (how anyone can explore a city on an empty stomach I’ll never know) so every morning I paid a visit to the Sunflower Lounge, where a generous buffet spread of goodies awaited me, before setting out to discover the city.

It’s no secret that Berlin is bursting at the seams with extravagant bars and cafés, but the Gendarmen Bar felt like a hidden treasure all of my own. It exuded the Hotel Gendarm Nouveau ****’s distinctive boutique style, with eye-catching design quirks and plenty of irresistible, plush chairs to nestle into with a well-earned bottle of Bavarian beer or one of the chatty bartenders’ cocktail creations. The effortlessly cool yet intimate atmosphere always managed to lure me in as day melted into dusk, and was a perfect way to end the day – or begin the night – in this addictive city!