History: on good tradition
Hotel Gates Novum Berlin · Knesebeckstrasse 8-9 · D-10623 Berlin · Fon: +49 30 311 060
"Hardly opened – already sold out" read the headlines in Berlin’s newspapers on the opening of Hotel Windsor in June 1957. In a record time of three months, it went from a former mansion and commercial building to an "international hotel for indulgent demands".
The founder and owner, Werner G. Lang, was honorary consul for Paraguay and an honorary citizen of numerous US states. His international reputation, and also his marriage to the acclaimed prima ballerina of the Berlin Opera, Gisela Deege, brought film stars, diplomats and politicians from around the world to this first-class hotel in Knesebeckstraße. He greeted international stars such as Claudia Cardinale, Marlon Brando, Harry Belafonte and Eddie Constantine at Hotel Windsor, as well as German idols Heinz Rühmann, Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, Uwe Seeler and Franz Beckenbauer. After 16 years of running the hotel successfully, Mr Lang retired in 1973. The new owner, Georg Sponholz, whose career at the hotel started with his role as a doorman, renamed the hotel "Hotel Consul" in memory of its history and in gratitude to Lang.
After reunification, real estate entrepreneur Abraham Rosenthal bought “Hotel Consul" in 1990 and renovated the hotel, which was looking tired, transforming it into a comfortable city hotel. The first step was the renovation of the foyer. The Berlin architect Armand Grüntuch designed a futuristic porch out of glass and steel, that deliberately contrasts with the listed Wilhelminian style facade. The remodelled reception is sleek with its modern design and leaves the eye free to focus on a slice of history: the staircase, which is also heritage protected. The blend of tradition and modernity was also the leitmotif for the most extensive alterations to the hotel since its formation.
At the end of November 2000, a fundamental renovation of the whole hotel began. The unique concept, focusing on the requirements of a modern information society – WLan in every room – sets the standard to this day. In May 2001, the freshly restored traditional hotel celebrated its re-opening with innovative concepts and a new name: Hotel Gates.
The increasing popularity of Europe’s first Internet hotel soon prompted us to expand. An extension was completed in the spring of 2004, making a total of 104 rooms now available.