The Old Classic
Located perfectly on the Ku'damm, the Bristol meets every requirement for a 5 star hotel with every imaginable service offered. Over 300 rooms, with 50 suites, along with bars, spas, gyms, an arcade of very upscale stores, and Berlin's first indoor hotel pool (1952). Berlin's undisputed premier hotel before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Bristol maintains an old world ambience. The plush low ceiling lobby with red leather seating, green marble floors and columns, stylish tables, and the famous Bristol Bar ( the bartender won best in Europe this year from Gault Millau) lead to an efficient desk with full-time concierge. The hallways are plush, the elevators modern, and the rooms small but soundproof with comfortable beds and adequate storage. The marble bathrooms are small as well and were undoubtedly state of the art 20 years ago. Some would call the hotel old-fashioned and reasonably stylish, but hardly distinguished. Of course, we also picked off a significantly discounted internet rate and certainly didn't warrant the best room in the house. Proserpina was less pleased, 5 stars or not - "dated". With the new hotels built in the Mitte district, this facility is no longer in the extreme upper echelon, so that significantly discounted rates off rack on the internet are easily available - search the internet and enjoy 5 stars for considerably less than many other similar class hotels.
The Kempinski family history goes back to 1862 with the establishment of a restaurant and wine store, expanding in the early 20th Century to hotel ownership. The properties were expropriated in 1939 and the family forced to emigrate. One of the very few family members who survived the war, Frederic Unger, opened this hotel in 1952 and the family has steadily increased their holdings of elite hotels over the intervening 55 years.
