Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten

This impressive edifice has set the standard for luxury-hotel elegance in Hamburg since the late 19th century, a decade or so before the first Fairmont hotel was built. But in spite of the change of management, what’s now the Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten has sacrificed none of its classic character. The location couldn’t get much better: it’s on the shores of the Inner Alster Lake, on the waterfront that is Hamburg’s toniest district. The look is traditional, but not antique, exactly — the style is true to the hotel’s 19th-century roots, but full of subtle modern comforts to complement the more timeless luxuries. As for the cuisine, it’s also aimed at a timeless sort of elegance — from artful French-inspired fine dining at Restaurant Haerlin to the Japanese-Peruvian cuisine at NIKKEI NINE. There’s a capacious spa and a typically well-equipped fitness center, plus more conference space than you can shake a stick at — if you can get sent here on business, you’re in luck, but it’s perhaps the leisure guests who make the most of the hotel’s lakefront splendor.