When Michael Jackson dangled his baby from the balcony of his room at the Hotel Adlon in 2002, Berliners probably wished this famous old institution had returned to the stage with a little more dignity. Formerly a byword for glamour and sophistication, it wasn't the best international comeback for the hotel either.
From its opening in 1907, the Adlon was as stately a grand hotel as any in Europe and a magnet for the glitterati of the day. Its fortunes rose and fell with those of Berlin but, remarkably, it almost survived the second world war unscathed until a fire gutted it at the end of the conflict.
One remaining wing limped into the cold war era but the hotel found itself on the east side of the city when the Berlin wall went up. It closed for good in the 1970s but a member of the Adlon family signed the name and site over to the Kempinski chain in the hope it might one day be resurrected. After the wall came down, the hotel was rebuilt on its original site and reopened in 1997 in an event heavily symbolic of a city reborn.
Arriving at the Adlon, the first thing I saw as I stepped out of my taxi was the Brandenburg Gate looming imposingly a mere 50 metres away. I couldn't have chosen a better establishment to give me a flavour of the city's past. In the year the Adlon celebrates its centenary (slightly tenuously given the twenty odd years of hiatus) whether it had anything to tell me about its future was less clear. In the decade since it reopened, the concept of the boutique hotel has entered the tourist lexicon and Berlin has emerged as an uber-hip, youth-orientated destination.
As I stood in the elegant lobby, following more or less in the footsteps of Garbo, Dietrich and Einstein, it dawned on me that I might not have been the best person to size up the Adlon's five-star credentials. My previous experience of overnight accommodation was limited to flea-ridden hostels, beige travel taverns and prissy B&B establishments and I felt a little like Eliza Doolittle when confronted by the refinement on offer in my room.
The room ticked three boxes that, in my ignorant eyes, equalled luxury, namely a massive bed, an even bigger bathroom and a minibar. Everything within the room, from the unobtrusive colour scheme to the furnishings and stylish bathroom fixtures, had a reassuringly understated glamour. After suppressing my initial inferiority complex I decided allowing a commoner like me to feel at home was the mark of a truly class establishment.
After realising that five-star accommodation and I were going to get on famously, I made for the window to inspect the view, being careful to leave behind anything that a passer-by might mistake for a baby. An interesting vista should be included on the inventory of all this hotel's rooms as you're virtually guaranteed one. Most of them will feature the Brandenburg Gate but as my room looked out from the back of the hotel, I was treated to an unobstructed view of Peter Eisenman's controversial and labyrinthine Holocaust memorial.
The centenary celebrations mean it's history that takes centre stage throughout the hotel. An exhibition of photographs on the balcony circling the lobby charts the galaxy of stars that have checked in since 1907. The wilderness years clearly did little to detract from the Adlon's pulling power. Nelson Mandela, Condoleeza Rice and the Queen herself have all stayed here in recent years. The discerning choice for the modern day VIP is the hotel's new presidential suite, built at a cost of £2.7m. A cross between Versailles and Fort Knox, the suite is an opulent combination of Persian carpets, 18th-century French antiques, exquisite Chinese laquerwork, bulletproof glass and bomb-proof, steel-reinforced walls. It's apparently the safest hotel suite in Germany and is available to mere mortals for a cool £8,000 a night.
In the lobby the deliberate evocation of the Adlon's heyday seems strongest. A roster of distinguished but indistinguishable pianists fill the air with dinner jazz long into the small hours. It has a timeless quality where, if you sink into the depths of a sofa cradling a drink and close your eyes, the music, clinking glasses and low murmur of conversation swirls around and blends woozily together until it becomes easy to forget which decade you're in, never mind what time of day it is. You can't escape the feeling you're taking part in a living exhibit in a 1920s theme park.
The time travelling continues in the Michelin-starred restaurant, the Lorenz Adlon, where, on the first Thursday of every month, diners can feast upon a centennial banquet, featuring culinary highlights from past decades for around £68 (€100) a head. A further £68 buys you a glass of wine to accompany each of the five courses, also taken from the hotel's past wine lists.
The devastating fire that destroyed most of the hotel in 1945 is said to have been caused by cigarettes discarded by Soviet troops who'd got stuck into the contents of the cellar. They obviously weren't great fans of the 1907 Madeira which accompanies the dessert, given there was still enough left over for me to inexpertly quaff in 2007. I was sadly unable to tell if an extra 62 years had done the Madeira any favours but I did find myself thinking I'd need another 100 years or so to recover from the excesses of the banquet.
Nevertheless, as I gingerly picked at fruit and cereal at breakfast in the hotel's main restaurant, the Quarre, the next day, I was still able to admire the cornucopia of cold cuts and seafood laid out before me. Also cheering was the number of guests who were heartily knocking back champagne at nine in the morning. Undoubtedly, I thought as I worried away at my kiwi fruit, another sign of a truly class establishment.
This hotel unashamedly presents itself as a seamless continuation of its illustrious legacy. But there is nothing kitsch or ironic about this - the genteel evening ambience with its ever-present tinkling ivories simply is the Adlon. It's fair to say there's not much that's edgy, dynamic or innovative but if you're the kind of person whose favourite film is Cabaret, and The Great Gatsby your favourite novel, then its old-fashioned elegance will suit you down to the ground.
· The Adlon Kempinski has a special centenary rate of €100 per room per night (based on two people sharing). The price includes taxes, but not breakfast and there is a minimum stay of two nights. It is bookable now and valid for July and August. For reservations visit kempinski.com or call toll free on 00 800 426 313 55.
