Bedrooms and bathrooms are luxurious in the style of the ground floor public areas, and any changes to the style will need to be carefully balanced by Rezidor against the overall style they are seeking to establish for the brand in Europe. The bathrooms here are also very luxurious, with the welcome sight of bidets as well as separate showers marking this out as a five star bathroom.

My view is that the bathroom is a major area where luxury hotels need to set themselves apart from the home experience of many of their guests, and for me, a separate shower is now ‘de rigueur’ in a five star bathroom. The use of natural stones (granite, limestone, marble or slate) has also become one of the basic ingredients that spell out the quality at this level. The challenge designers face is to ensure that even in the older buildings that characterise many of the luxury level hotels in Europe, they achive the standards that say 'five star' and enable these hotels to remain competitive in the face of newer developments such as this in Berlin.

In an era where the management contract rather than building ownership is the driver for hotel brand profitability, the brand differentiation provides the challenge for designer and brand owner alike. The Regent Berlin poses these questions for Rezidor and their designers.