Berlin
Check into the past: Berlin's time-warp hotels
Image credit: askanischer-hof.de
With their chintzy furnishings, floral wallpaper, crocheted tablecloths and vintage 'mod cons', these old-school hotels offer a flamboyant glimpse of bygone times.
Planning a Berlin holiday? Ditch the bland, identikit accommodation and opt instead for digs you'll never forget.
Askanischer Hof
Image credits: askanischer-hof.de
The Askanischer Hof is the real retro deal: a 'stately' Kurfürstendamm guesthouse that's been welcoming visitors since the 1920s.
Hailing from an era when less certainly didn't equal more, black and white photographs in the amply furnished breakfast room recall the many famous faces who have passed through its doors.
Askanischer Hof: Kurfürstendamm 53, 10707 Berlin
All rooms equipped with individual bathrooms.
Nürnberger Eck
Image credits: nuernberger-eck.de
Also dating from the '20s, this Charlottenburg B&B offers a riotously-patterned jaunt through time.
It's said that Berlin's Weimar-era bohemians once gathered here to party, but even if the frills, florals and Bakelite radios are more reminiscent of the 1950s, this family-run Pension provides an unmistakeable echo of Berlin's fabled past.
Nürnberger Eck: Nürnberger Straße 24A, 10789 Berlin
Five rooms equipped with individual bathrooms, three with washbasin and shared bathroom facilities.
Hotel-Pension Funk
Image credit:s hotel-pensionfunk.de
This old-style guesthouse was once the home of silent movie star Asta Nielsen, and it's easy to imagine that little has changed since.
Period furnishings, embroidered cushions and net curtains provide over-the-top glamour; vintage bedside telephones complete the sense of time-warp nostalgia.
Hotel-Pension Funk: Fasanenstraße 69, 10719 Berlin
Several rooms with individual bathrooms, others with washbasin/shower and shared bathroom facilities.
Further facts
If you love the look of these vintage hotels, you're certainly not alone.
Famous photographer (and ex Berlin resident) Nan Goldin used both the Askanischer Hof and Nürnberger Eck as locations for iconic images (Wedding Bed, Pension Nürnberger Eck, Berlin 1996 and Joey and Andres in bed, Hotel Askanischer Hof, Berlin, 1992).
David Bowie stayed in the Askanischer Hof in 1982, while the Pension Funk has welcomed models such as Kate Moss and Claudia Schiffer for fashion mag photoshoots.
See also:
Berlin's retro bowling alleys
Phone flirting in a vintage ballroom
Berlin's most unusual places to stay
Coffee and cake with Granny
