Somehow, you smile more, you breathe more easily, you move more fluidly whenever you get to Thailand.

Taj celebrated its entry into Germany with a great party, 23 September, arranged by the hotel's own commercial director.

Taj Hessischer Hof promises, with justification, to be Frankfurt’s choice for serious business and no wonder the hotel’s GM Albert Mayr, on left above with his regional boss Spirodon Sarantopoulos, was so happy the night of the hotel’s opening party.

Girlahead’s stay at Taj Hessischer Hof Frankfurt it not only memorable for the omnipresent attention of GM Albert Mayr but the thoughtfulness of his lovely staff, including two who made a special impression, head housekeeper Sylvie and the top concierge Max Klinnert.

There was just and only just time in Frankfurt for Girlahead to rush over to what was Villa Kennedy and is now Villa Florentin, an Althoff Hotel.

Most men would be overwhelmed, but not José Ortiz Romero. He sits supremely in one of the four corner mega-sofas of the main lobby of Hotel de Rome in Berlin - he's a longtime Four Seasons guy, and his role at Hotel de Rome is to get it ready for rebranding.

Girlahead was considerably awed by the location of Berlin’s Hotel de Rome, at the west end of Behrenstrasse (see the hotel’s flags, above), Over a kilometre long, Behrenstrasse’s named for Johann Heinrich Behr, who helped plan Berlin’s Baroque expansion, Friedrichstadt.

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.

More colour at, or from, The Adlon.  The 2026 annual Festival of Lights runs 9–18 October, generally 7–11 pm nightly – the Brandenburg Gate is lit up other times (7th October 2026 it featured the Israeli flag, a poignant reminder that the sobering Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe usually simply called the Holocaust Memorial, is only five minutes’ walk from both the Gate and the hotel.)