What's New

Berlin

Accommodations: Rising 17 floors, the limestone exterior of Concorde Berlin (tel. 030/8009990) is a new entry on the skyline of western Berlin. With its understated elegance and minimalist decor, the new chain-run hotel is a major player among the first-class hotels of the city. It's located near the Kurfürstendamm, which was the city's main street in the Cold War days.

Restaurants: Emerging as one of Berlin's best trattorie, Arlecchino (tel. 030/8812563) is gaining more and more favorable press. It's also affordable in high-price Berlin, drawing both Berliners, homesick Italian expats, and visitors to its take on Mediterranean cuisine.

Attractions: At long last, the Bode Museum (tel. 030/266-3666), one of Europe's greatest museums, reopened on Museumsinel. Long closed for a major restoration, it has been greatly enlarged and better arranged. It's actually an array of many museums, the most celebrated of which is its Egyptian collections, including the huge sphinx of Hatsheput (1490 B.C.). Of eternal fascination is the Egyptian Burial Cult Room with its coffins and mummies. The Museum of Late Ancient and Byzantine Art alone is worth the trip here.

In a new location, the Berlinische Galerie (tel. 030/7890-2600) is more alluring than ever, with its exhibitions devoted to modern art, photography, and architectural models from 1870 to the present day. The collection of fine art alone comprises some 5,000 works, mostly paintings. Those grotesque portraits of Georg Grosz are only a small part of the vast array of exhibitions, including some 15,000 works of graphic art.

Also in a new location, Martin-Gropius-Brau (tel. 030/254860) is devoted to the architect Martin Gropius, uncle of the more famous Walter Gropius. This museum displays everything from Aztec sculptures to set designs from Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.

After Dark: One of the most famous of the old eastern Berlin nightclubs, Clärchens Ballhaus (tel. 030/282-9295), which opened in 1913, has come back to life. Miraculously, its building survived the massive Allied bombings of 1945. Today it's a venue for everything from live bands to tango dancers.

Potsdam

This city, a virtual suburb of Berlin, now has a grand Michelin-starred restaurant: Friedrich-Wilhelm (tel. 0331/55050) in the Hotel Bayrisches Haus. Its German and international cuisine is served in a romantic setting, and is cooked to precision with market-fresh ingredients.

Dresden

The Steigenberger hotel chain has moved into Dresden with the opening of Hotel de Saxe (tel. 0351/43860), which has risen on the site of a famous hotel that stood here in the 18th century. The deluxe bastion of luxury stands directly opposite the fabled Frauenkirche. Despite its old-fashioned architecture, its spacious bedrooms are among the most luxurious in town.

In other developments, Lesage (tel. 0351/4202-250) has opened in a Volkswagen factory. Serving a deluxe German and international cuisine, it dresses waiters in white lab jackets. The cuisine is wonderfully rich and inventive, and, if you wish, you can drive off after lunch or dinner in a new Phaeton.

Frankfurt

Accommodations: The latest bastion of luxury to open is Fleming's Deluxe Hotel (tel. 069/4272320), whose dramatic rooftop terrace is the most panoramic in the city. Top-quality materials and warm earth colors create a cozy nest with one of the best hotel health clubs in Frankfurt. On another front, Gubermühle (tel. 069/965-2290) has opened in a former romantic villa where Goethe pursued his first love. Bedrooms are individually decorated in a country-house style.

In the Eastend, Goldman 25hours Frankfurt (tel. 069/40586890) attracts artists and media. Filled with whimsy, it's also comfortable. Rooms are individually decorated and stylishly avant-garde.

Restaurants: King Kamehameha Suite (tel. 069/71035277) is the most sought after address among chic young people of Frankfurt. In a historic building across from the opera house, it's a lounge, bar, cafe, restaurant, and night club. Its international cuisine, prepared with market-fresh ingredients, is among the finest in the city.

In the courtyard of the Städel, Holbein's (tel. 069/66056666) is an elegant choice for carefully crafted international cuisine. Its dining room has been likened to a jewel box. The food is a Lucullan treat and often quite delicate.

A pocket of Little Italy has come to Frankfurt, Das Leben ist Schön (tel. 069/430570), lying in the once-unfashionable Eastend. Guests share wooden tables and select the day's special from a blackboard. Prices are reasonable, and the chefs turn out the best pizzas in Frankfurt, each one on a paper-thin crust.

Garmish-Partenkirchen

After media publicity, Waxenstein (tel. 08821/9840) is luring guests away from the center of the resort to the satellite village of Grainau, lying 2km (1 1/2 miles) away. Spacious and elegant bedrooms open onto panoramic sweeps of the Zugspitze, and the hotel is known for its hospitality and the excellent regional cookery of its Toedt's Restaurant.

Hamburg

A "city within a city" is growing up in the former docklands that extend for 3km (2 miles) along the Elbe River. Known as HafenCity, this district is expected to double the population of Hamburg. Tours are available for those wishing a sneak preview of coming attractions.

In the St. Pauli district a monument to the Beatles is being constructed where they first sang "Love Me Do" in 1962, launching their career some 45 years ago.

Accommodations: Between the harbor and the Hamburg city hall, the deluxe Sofitel Hamburg Alter Wall (tel. 040/369500) has opened overlooking the Alster Canal. It was created from a 19th-century building that originally housed a postal bank. The chain-run hotel is imbued with all the modern technology, creating extreme comfort.

Lying behind an evocative red-brick Hanseatic facade, Lindner Hotel Am Michel (tel. 040/3070670) offers elegantly furnished rooms and suites. In St. Pauli, the nightlife district, the hotel bedrooms are soundproof. Guests receive a free pass to a top-rated health club on the seventh floor.

The best budget deal is found at the new Superbude (tel. 040/3808780), in the up-and-coming St. Georg district. Rated only two stars by the government, it is simplicity itself, although well maintained and comfortable. The cheapest way to go is to book a bed in a dormitory-style room housing four guests.

Restaurants: Fashionistas and the media elite are flocking to Tarantella (tel. 040/65067790) to sample its German and international cuisine. The chefs are superb at grandmotherly old-fashioned cooking as well as imaginative and creative postmillennium style dishes.

Munich

Accommodations: In hotel news, Munich witnessed the opening of Charles Hotel (tel. 089/5445550), a luxurious hotel that's linked to the famous Rocco Forte chain of establishments. Rated five stars by the government, Charles stands in its own gardens. Its spacious and beautifully furnished bedrooms, which use natural materials and tasteful fabrics, open onto the Alps in the distance. Near the Hauptbahnhof, Sofitel Munich Bayerpost (tel. 089/599380) now graces the Munich skyline. It combines a state-of-the-art modernity with a lot of architectural overtures to yesterday, including Wilhelminian architecture.

Close to the grounds where Oktoberfest is celebrated, Brack (tel. 089/747255) is a restored hotel offering excellent, tastefully decorated, and affordable bedrooms. Its architecture is traditional, but its amenities are modern. It even offers the free use of bikes.

If you're not too demanding, one of the best values in Munich is found at Creatif Hotel Elephant (tel. 089/555-785) in the area of the main railway station. Its bedrooms are small, and to some it evokes a college dormitory, but it's fairly comfortable. Management also makes a deal for you to have half-price meals at a restaurant nearby.

Media exposure has led to the discovery of a gem of a hotel in the suburb of Nymphenburg, near the famous palace. It's the TOP Hotel Erzgiesserei Europe (tel. 089/126-820), a 5-minute U-Bahn ride from the center. It's a first-class hotel with sleekly modern and comfortable bedrooms, plus an on-site first-class restaurant where tables overflow into a garden courtyard in summer.

Restaurants: Seven Fish (tel. 089/2300-0219) has emerged as one of the best seafood restaurants of Munich, lying near the open-air market, Viktualienmarkt. Its menu is based on the best catches of the day. Two Greek brothers even offer sushi.

Bier- und Oktoberfest Museum (tel. 089/2423-1607) has opened as an offbeat choice for dining. You're given a tour, a Bavarian snack, and a glass of beer for only 4€ ($6.40). Or else you can stick around and enjoy one of the most authentic Bavarian dinners in town. The staff even serves Schmalz (chicken fat) to spread over your rye bread.

Stuttgart

Vincent Klink, operating Wielandshöhe (tel. 0711/6408848), is now acclaimed as one of the leading chefs of Germany. He runs the greenest restaurant in Stuttgart, focusing on food raised without pesticides or chemical additives. He's committed to changing the menu monthly, posting each new carte like a work of art.

Trier

A wine estate in a suburb of Trier (Olewig) has been turned into the Becker's Hotel (tel. 0651/938080). Individually decorated bedrooms overlooking the vineyards are available, but most guests drop in to drink the wine and enjoy the food. There's an expensive gourmet restaurant on-site, but you can also enjoy affordable food at an informal restaurant or in a wine cellar.