The Ritz-Carlton

Best for marble, afternoon tea and Potsdamer Platz

Ambience: Given its proximity to the competitive architecture of Potsdamer Platz this modern building looks fairly nondescript from the outside. Inside, it is reassuringly a Ritz-Carlton: marble, vases and uniformed greeters, withelegant rugs, Chinoiserie and dark wooden panels muffling the clink of afternoon teas. The Curtain Club bar is kitted out like a British gentlemen's club.

Guestrooms: 303 spacious and well-appointed rooms and suites, with high-tech kit nestling among cherry wood. Large room windows provide views of either the Tiergarten or Potsdamer Platz. The beds are terrific and bathrooms are large and, inevitably, marble. The best rooms have access to the Club lounge, with its fireplace, computer and endless carousel of drinks and canapés.

Amenities: The open-all-day French Brasserie is the perfect breakfast room. The La Prairie Spa offers signature treatments and there is a small pool under a Disneyesque sparkling ceiling.

Fall of the Wall package: €245 (single) per night in a Superior room, breakfast buffet, welcome gift, authentic piece of the Wall, tickets to The Berlin Wall Museum, welcome cocktail.

ritzcarlton.com

The Regent

Best for old-fashioned glamour, two Michelin-star dining

Ambience: Inside its modern shell overlooking the Gendarmenmarkt, this is an orgy of French neoclassicism: expanses of shiny marble, winking chandeliers, leggy furniture and elaborate floral displays. Needless to say, guests are as well turned-out as the surroundings. The décor is somewhat different though on the first floor where the meeting rooms are modern, high-tech, and abstract art-filled.

Guestrooms: 156 rooms and 39 suites, all equipped with high-quality amenities, including multiple telephone lines, satellite television, DVD player, computer, and free high-speed internet access. Marble bathrooms have deep tubs and walk-in showers.

Amenities: Christian Lohse's take on classic French cuisine at the elegant Fischers Fritz restaurant has made it Berlin's only two Michelin-starred establishment. Drinks can be enjoyed in the small courtyard, and there is a small fitness area. More energetic guests can buy a day pass to the nearby Holmes Place health club for €20.

Fall of the Wall package: None

theregentberlin.com

Westin Grand

Best for big conferences and even bigger breakfasts

Ambience: If you like a lobby in which you could remake Ben Hur — complete with a staircase wide enough for a chariot race — you'll love The Westin, a 400-room, five-star hotel, which has covered most bases with its recent makeover. The hotel's enviable location, wide range of facilities and size means its lounges and bars are likely to be humming with leisure travellers, conference guests or well-heeled wedding parties.

Guestrooms: If you decide to pass on the 270m2 Presidential Suite or the effervescent Spa Suites, your room will be spacious, with a particularly comfortable bed, marble bathroom, and flat-screen TV and Wi-Fi. Some superior rooms come with a balcony overlooking the hotel's garden.

Amenities: Three buzzy restaurants, plus lobby bar and terrace, comprehensive spa treatments, good-sized (and pleasantly warm) indoor pool, fitness centre, landscaped garden area with lounge chairs.

Fall of the Wall package: Two nights, including breakfast, currywurst and champagne and... the chance to chisel out your own piece of the Wall. Rates per person: double Room from €199

starwoodhotels.com

Hotel de Rome

Best for high style

Ambience: Classical but with understated cool from designer Tommaso Ziffer, this renovation of the old Dresdner Bank HQ offers an authentic Berlin experience just off the eastern end of Unter den Linden, a stone's throw from the museums.

Guestrooms: 146 rooms of which 43 are suites, they offer massively high ceilings, bags of light and an extraordinary sense of space. Baths are double ended with mosaics of marble detailing, while walk in showers and desks offer utility.

Amenities: A Rocco Forte trademark, the pool is 20 metres long and spectacularly situated in the original bank vault, with lots of mesmeric ‘chill out beds', a star-spangled fake night sky and a fully blown spa: very Berlin and not to be missed. The rooftop garden has a brilliant view and its own mini Christmas food stand in December, while the glass-ceilinged Opera Court majors on high tea. There are five meeting rooms and a glass-ceilinged ballroom.

Fall of the Wall package: Two nights in a Deluxe room (from €730) or Junior Suite, breakfast, welcome gift, mineral water, free local calls, use of spa, a piece of the Wall, cocktails, bike tour.

hotelderome.com

Hotel Adlon Kempinski

Best for history, the Brandenburg Gate & spa

Ambience: The only hotel in Wirtschaftswoche's list of Germany's top 30 luxury brands, the Adlon only deals in superlatives, from the lobby fountain salvaged from the pre-war Adlon to the tinkling ivories and deco furniture. Opulent.

Guestrooms: There are 382 rooms and suites, all with desks and armchairs. The separate WCs and beautifully crafted, dark-wood bathrooms are a clever pastiche of cutting-edge function with retro deco chic, while bank vault doors have been crafted for 24/7 silence.

Amenities: A new day spa opened last year, while the Michelin-starred restaurant overlooks the Brandenburg Gate. Meanwhile, included in the room rate is a swimming pool, a decent fitness room, sauna and steam room. There are stacks of meeting rooms and a fabulous wintergarden. The breakfast buffet is a blockbuster (four kinds of museli and champagne on the side!) while the boutique shops are half-decent for a change.

Fall of the Wall package: A night in a junior suite, a five-course meal at the Lorenz Adlon and a personalised guided city tour costs €835 for two (available until Nov 9).

hotel-adlon.de