The idea of a luxury hotel overlooking a lake in the gay zone of a top German city known for its harbour, shopping, arts culture and sex savvy should have you in the first sentence.
Hamburg’s Le Royal Méridien, built in 2003 with a playful wavy exterior, does not disappoint as an airy, breezy and modern-thinking getaway. Among its many bonuses is that it’s a mere four minute-walk from Hamburg’s gay catwalk, the Lange Reihe, where eating, drinking and cruising combine for optimum pleasure.
Away from the local gay buzz the hotel offers serene views of the expansive Alster lake, a spa in which to soothe yourself silly and a dark and otherworldly killer ground-floor bar with a certain Hollywood fabulousness. Not cheap, not grand and not for traditionalists, this hotel winks at you in its own frisky but sleek style.
Thanks to our friends at the Méridien.