(from left to right) Andrea Bauer, General Manager, Leonardo Berlin Mitte; Judith Baumgardt from Leonardo Royal Berlin Alexanderplatz; Simone Leonhardt, Cluster General Manager East; Anna Solovev, Operations Manager Leonardo Berlin and Vice President and Chairman of the Hotel Industry Section Philip Ibrahim © DEHOGA Berlin
Triple anniversary: Leonardo Hotels in Berlin celebrate a joint total of 40 years in business
Looking back at 40 collective years. The Leonardo Berlin Mitte is marking its 10th anniversary whilst the Leonardo Royal Berlin Alexanderplatz and the Leonardo Berlin have both reached their 15th birthday.
Berlin, 26 September 2024. No fewer than three Leonardo Hotels have been celebrating their birthdays together. A major party featuring live music, cool drinks and tasty treats was staged at three separate locations on 25 September 2024.
Tradition meets design – the Leonardo Royal Berlin Alexanderplatz
When the Leonardo Royal Berlin Alexanderplatz welcomed its first guests in 2009, it was one of the pioneering hotels of a group which was both unknown and small at the time. It opened in a building steeped in history which had originally been constructed in 1957 to serve as offices for 1,200 staff. Located on Otto-Braun-Straße right next to Friedrichshain Park, this was the venue at which all major power stations in East Germany were planned. The German Federal Border Guard moved in after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The three-winged building was taken back to brick and entirely refurbished when it was converted into a hotel, although the sandstone façade, the prestigious entrance hall complete with natural stone flooring, the Art Deco lights and the staircase were all retained.
Even at this date, the Leonardo Royal Berlin Alexanderplatz was considered to be a high-end hotel in a very good location. However, it entered a new design era following its complete renovation in 2021. The new look, which still boasts many Art Deco elements, has created a spatial experience in which business guests, city travellers and Berlin residents are all able to encounter a new sense of lightness. The most striking characteristic is a 6.50-metre high open lobby which directly adjoins the hotel’s bar area and restaurant. Shades of red and saffron yellow with gold highlights generate an inimitable atmosphere which pays due respect to the historical architecture whilst also reimagining it. This theme continues into the “Vitruv” Restaurant, which offers a lovely terrace in an inner courtyard and is also open to locals wishing to savour the Levantine cuisine which Head Chef Markus Silbernagel has brought to Berlin. The 346 rooms and suites and eleven conference rooms available at the Leonardo Royal Berlin Alexanderplatz make it one of the German capital’s largest business hotels.
Set in the heart of old West Berlin – the Leonardo Berlin
The Leonardo Berlin in Wilmersdorfer Straße in Charlottenburg also opened its doors for business in 2009, following a three-year construction phase during which a 1980s office block was transformed into a Three Star Superior Hotel with all mod cons. The hotel’s 274 rooms and suites were developed under the lead management of renowned interior designer Andreas Neudahm, and their contrasting colour scheme in mustard and Bordeaux radiates a warm and cosy charm. A feel-good atmosphere also prevails in the lobby and bar, where variable seating areas provide an inviting space in which to relax. The position of the Leonardo Berlin in the west of the city makes it ideal for trade fair visitors, business guests and city travellers alike. The popular Wilmersdorfer Straße shopping area and an underground railway station are right on the doorstep.
Spirit of the circus and theatre – the Leonardo Berlin Mitte
The Leonardo Berlin Mitte opened in 2014 on a site which was once home to a circus. The award-winning French architect Philippe Starck came up with the idea for a ten-storey structure with plenty of glass and metal which is futuristic and yet slightly playful. The Four Star Hotel itself was developed in a prime location on the banks of the River Spree and in one of Berlin’s most historically significant city squares. The Leonardo Berlin Mitte is situated adjacent to the Berliner Ensemble and within the immediate vicinity of Friedrichstadt Palace, the German Theatre and the Admiralspalast. It provides an extravagant and stylish living experience which reflects the artistic history and present of the area. The “Circus” Bar also pays homage to the theatrical nature of the surrounding environment by displaying pictures from the world of the varieté. The hotel offers 309 rooms, some of which are furnished with highly colourful decorative elements. There are also three conference rooms, a health and beauty spa with a sauna and a gym area.
Six Leonardo Hotels in Berlin
The three hotels celebrating anniversaries are not the group’s only representatives in Berlin. The Leonardo Berlin KU‘DAMM, the Leonardo Boutique Berlin City South and the HOTEL BERLIN KÖPENICK by Leonardo Hotels bring its total presence in the city to six. Leonardo Hotels is a rapidly growing company which currently operates 64 hotels in Germany, and the trend is very much upwards.