Rocco Forte Hotel De Rome, Palace hotel in Bebelplatz, Berlin-Mitte, Germany

The Rocco Forte Hotel De Rome sits in a grand building at Bebelplatz featuring sandstone balustrades, stucco work, and golden mosaics on walls and ceilings. It offers a 20-meter pool, wellness facilities, and a rooftop terrace overlooking the city.

Built between 1887 and 1889 to plans by Ludwig Heim, the building housed the Dresdner Bank headquarters until 1945; Ludwig Hoffmann added three storeys in 1923. After war damage and decades of state use, the eastern part was sold in 2003 and converted into a hotel that opened in October 2006.

The hotel's name recalls the Grand Hotel de Rome, which stood about 400 metres away from 1912 until its destruction in 1943. Inside, the former teller hall now serves as a ballroom, and the names Dresden, Bremen, London and Berlin are set into its terrazzo floor as the bank's main branch offices. Oak-panelled offices of the bank directors are now suites.

The Bebelplatz location makes the hotel a practical starting point for visitors to the State Opera House and Berlin Cathedral. Parking and bus stops are nearby.

The spa occupies the bank's former vault: the 15-centimetre steel doors now open into a treatment room, and gold-leaf mosaics on the walls recall the gold reserves once stored here. The swimming pool sits in the old safe-deposit room.