Germany - 7
It’s emotional, returning to The Adlon Kempinski, and to meet up with MD Christian Hirt, above, and his wife Yulia and a couple of industry friends. It was as if the entire stage set had been personalized. Girlahead asks herself what is personalization and what is service? Personalization here at The Adlon is typified by arriving to find, waiting in suite 308, two properly printed cards, both created for this particular guest. One card accompanies a 111skin face mask and describes your Radiance ritual, a skincare boost, what to do to feel – even - better. The other card goes with beautiful snacks, Berlin Midnight Delicacies, created for this one, named, person by Jonas Zorner, chef at the hotel’s Michelin-starred Lorenz Adlon.
This is the 385-key hotel that’s the gathering spot for Berlin’s establishment (perhaps, like them, it’s not the newest but it’s the anchor, and the one that counts). The stunning lobby lounge, reached via a flower display of gargantuan proportions, is busy from early morning to early morning. Many obviously hold their meetings here, in full public view. What a thrill, too, for first-timers, to be brought the requested café au lait or Coco Lopez by a smiling-faced server in formal attire of The Adlon’s antiquity.
To be honest, the Jagdfeld Design’s room look for Suite 308, finished not quite in antiquity but not yester is not “wow” but the workmanship is flawless. There are lovely taupe carpet insets in the wood floors of both the bedroom and sitting room, which feel marvellous underfoot. The coordinating sofa and chairs have a curlique pattern that matches exactly across the seams—very clever and clearly very expensive. A darker feature wall complements the main walls, which are shades of cream and mole. A small office alcove lies just inside the entrance. Continue into the sitting room and turn left for the bedroom, with its impressive four-poster bed. Turn left again for a walk-in wardrobe with a shelf large enough for wheelie cases. From there, the bathroom has a normal-size bath, twin basins and good lighting, but the separate shower and toilet compartments are too tiny for sumo wrestlers. It is good to have freestanding Molton Brown toiletries as well as Diptyque products fixed to the walls. There is also a heated towel rail, although at least one conveniently positioned hook would make it possible to reach a towel when stepping out of the shower. There are no bedside power sockets or built-in USB ports, but one side of the bed has a device providing two USB ports. A drawer contains heating controls, but the temperature’s capped at 22°C.
A pharmacy is needed. Chat says one’s four minutes’ walk along Unter den Linden but it’s closed. For good. No worry, a concierge will have the necessary sent. It’ll take two hours. The delivery is, accordingly, later put prominently in the room, along with a collection of gold coins, aka foil-covered chocolates. Colourful and smile-evoking…
