Grand opening of Das Stue Hotel in Berlin: A stage that Cary Grant would have loved (Germany)
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Grand opening of Das Stue Hotel in Berlin: A stage that Cary Grant would have loved (Germany)
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Category: Europe - Germany - Industry economy
- Hotel opening
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2012-12-19
Berlin is in the midst of a shift. The city is stepping away from the ultra-cool post-East hipness it has become so famous for and toward an effortless modern grandeur in the new, old west. Now there’s a new boutique hotel that reflects this movement: Das Stue.
Das Stue is the answer to an unspoken yearning for substance; a place for the established, and not just the emerging, to meet in an intimate setting.
The hotel’s name is Danish for “living room”. The owners see it not as a living room in the literal sense, but rather more a drawing room; the space in any well-appointed house where people relax, socialize, entertain, and discuss. “The name refers to two important aspects – what the drawing room really is, which is a place to withdraw in an intimate circle; and the idea of ‘drawing room plays’, a genre of theatrical productions and films whose plots are filled with elegance, wit and entertainment,” says General Manager Jean-Paul Dantil. “Think of Cary Grant, bar culture, real gentleman and ladies, cultivated conversations. It’s a celebration of socializing.” Das Stue indeed captures a modern ease and confidence as it hearkens back to an old-fashioned elegance.
Consisting of an historical portion and a new addition by Potsdam-based Axthelm Architects, the 80-room hotel is located in a traditional diplomatic district in the little-known district of Tiergarten, just off of Tiergarten Park and tucked into a section of the vast Berlin Zoo. The area’s past is laden with historical importance, influence, and power. The many grand embassy buildings surrounding the hotel are a testament to the district’s longstanding international orientation.
The hotel is, in fact, a rethink of Berlin’s former Danish embassy, a landmarked 1930s structure with its own story and great bones. A stately, slightly curved grey stone facade greets guests outdoors. Inside, an overhead wave of hundreds of tiny lights draws them into a grand entrance hall flanked by two sweeping staircases. Under the lights, a jaw-dropping sculpture of a crocodile’s head prompts visitors to decelerate, marvel, and transition into an environment that brilliantly melds the contemporary and traditional.
Behind the entrance is a long sight line creating a dramatic axis through the hotel. It leads first to a discreetly tucked-away concierge and reception area; the architecture then opens into the hotel’s modern addition, where angular volumes frame Das Stue’s very heart: the lounge, bar and outdoor terrace, with private access to the Berlin Zoo. The grande dame of interior design, Patricia Urquiola, created the look of all the hotel’s public areas. In the lounge, whimsical shapes and experimental use of colour, texture, and high-quality materials like copper abound. Many of the furnishings are her own designs; she curated other objects, like leather animals in the shape of rhinos, hippos and buffalos that humorously refer to the zoo (revellers in the bar might be surprised to see one of the ostriches looking right back at them). Behind the seating area, a trapezoidal bar has already become one of Berlin’s most elegant meeting points.
“This hotel is luxurious, but it’s not just luxe,” says Urquiola. “It simply has something you don’t see at first look. It runs deeper. I like to call it augmented reality.”
This is also obvious in the hotel’s two restaurants. Each has a distinctive ambiance and features the creative cuisine of Michelin-starred Spanish chef Paco Perez, of the acclaimed Restaurant Miramar on Spain’s Costa Brava. Just off the show kitchen (visible behind a set of tinted windows), an installation of Tom Dixon’s copper hanging lamps and copper kettles creates an eye catcher centring the fine dining experience of 5 (Cinco - five senses), which showcases Perez’s avant-garde molecular-leaning Mediterranean cuisine. In a second, sharply triangular space, slatted walls and skylights frame a more casual, all-day dining experience with a soft glow. Here, Perez presents his own inventive take on tapas. In the hotel’s rear, a third, more formally appointed dining room facing the zoo offers a luxurious space for private events. Das Stue is Perez’s first project outside Spain.
Urquiola’s aesthetic carries through Das Stue’s other public areas, like the interstitial spaces (each a generous landing off the stairway) comprising the three-level library in the front building. High ceilings, historical hardware, conversational furniture, and a selection of Taschen books invite guests to linger and read, or meet for intimate conversations. Urquiola also helped curate the vintage fashion photography on view throughout the buildings – all coming from the private collection of one of the hotel’s owners.
Back in the 80 guest rooms and suites, guests can retreat to the spatial clarity and muted palette of spaces conceived by the Spanish architectural office LVG arquitectura s.l.p. All furnishings are bespoke; splashes of colour show up on textile accessories and photographs on the walls (selected by the owners); many of the rooms feature sliding walls for extra privacy or, conversely, a more expansive atmosphere. The old building’s attic-level rooms enjoy oversize terraces with sweeping views of the Tiergarten Park. Even the standard rooms feel grand, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking parts of the zoo. Room rates range from 280 to 1040 Euros.
Additional highlights include the pool, sauna and spa, with treatments by wellness newcomer Susanne Kaufmann. Opening in February will be the Bel Etage (traditionally the most elegant representative rooms in any house or villa), here, a meeting space of four adjoining suites that can be connected for an array of private or public uses.
Behind Das Stue are three investor families from Andorra, Spain, and Panama, who prefer to remain anonymous. They specifically chose the German capital as a location for this hotel, taking their time in honing every detail to mirror their vision of the perfect drawing room; one that evokes modern grandeur as it invites an ever-evolving city to rest, meet, celebrate, and contemplate.
“Berlin is, at last, ready for this kind of hotel,” says Dantil. “Das Stue offers an atmosphere in which people can meet socially, formally, or intimately. It’s a place that combines Berlin’s old spirit with an international sophistication – a stage that Cary Grant would have loved.”
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