Ku' Damm 101, Berlin, Germany

Perhaps it’s the high-gloss grey resin on the floor of the breakfast room of this Berlin design hotel that gives it an institutional air. Or maybe it’s the hospital-style trolleys laden with healthy breakfast food that cause NHS flashbacks. However, Ku’damm 101 manages to combine practical function with late 20th-century design in a successful pastiche.

All in all, another day in 1984. Perfect for the pragmatic business traveller interested in comfortable functionalism.

The facilities

The wide, soundless corridors of Ku’damm 101 are now adorned with larger-than-life 70s-style numbering and dim, emergency exit-like lighting in pink. All the pointers say design hotel but at some deep, internal level the public spaces suggest a futuristic airport or maybe even a secret, high-tech research lab. It’s even easy to imagine oneself on board a spaceship inside this 170-room behemoth. In fact, this is a disused office block, now reconceptualised. What a trick from the Swiss Design couple who have engineered this spacious, shining and standout conversion.

The rooms

The greyscale colour palette at work in this design hotel continues into the rooms with built in white tiled bathrooms. Lots of windows, shielded with sheer white drapes, soften the grey roller shutters that whir smoothly over the exterior, putting full daylight or complete darkness at your control. Crisp white linen with hypoallergenic pillows ensure you wake in the Ku’damm 101 fresh and alert for the next day. Splashes of pink, pastel green or violet blue make sensitive focal points in the room and guests are encouraged to move the furniture to configure the room for personal comfort.