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Hotel Bogota is one of our favorite Berlin hotels. Refurbished in 1967, the Bogota has been maintained in a funky late 1960s style ever since. The gregarious family currently running the hotel has owned the place for almost three decades and clearly takes a real interest in established a friendly and accommodating vibe.
The Bogota was first opened as a hotel in 1964, but the history of the building stretches back long before this. Originally constructed in 1911, it was used as a studio by photographer Else Simon in the late 1930s. Simon, who trained Helmut Newton at her studio, was murdered by the Nazis in 1942. After Simon was pushed out, the Nazi Chamber of Culture moved in. The building teems with Berlin history.
Hotel Bogota is arranged around a court, which gives the hotel a feeling of openness. Rooms, 122 in all, are cute and simple. With beige walls, framed photos and prints on walls and snappy ‘60s bedside telephones, they are comfortable if not stunning. While many have a modern feel, others feature antique bedframes, oriental carpets, and paisleyesque curtains. About half of the rooms have private bathrooms. Fifty rooms have washbasins and 10 rooms have showers only.
The ground floor telephone and reading salon is our favorite space in the hotel. Its green-and-gold striped wallpaper is refined and gorgeous. We can imagine curling up with a book in the small salon just to absorb the room’s dark beauty. Each of the hotel’s four floors feature sitting rooms.
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