Lounging in style in Hotel Ellington’s 5055 Club, Berlin

As a dedicated follower of everything West Berlin, I feel obliged to be at least acquainted with each and every nightspot within a 2km radius of Fasanenplatz. Seeing as Lützow Bar and its neighbour Trompete are now somewhat outdated, I was really excited about the new Club 5055 in the Ellington Hotel and immediately acceoted the invite to check out the club in the bar of the hotel’s restaurant Duke.

As a fan and pretty much regular guest of anything and everything at the Ellington, I headed along with a couple of girlfriends and enjoyed the first warm spring evening of the year sipping tasty Prosecco in the courtyard. The outdoor lighting is striking, and atmospheric enough to let you forget you’re in the middle of the city – we’ll definitely be brunching here on summer Sundays! We arrived at 8 with hopeful ideas of an after work crowd, but apparently we were the only ones. Never mind, this meant having the opportunity for a tour of the hotel with Marie who unlocked the doors of the executive and tower suites whilst entertaining us with anecdotes on famous guests and the stories behind photographs on the walls. Emel and Holly (our hotel scout for the UK and France) found it fabulous and we had great fun testing the über-comfortable beds and sofa. We also ventured into the huge old safe in the basement which now houses an impressive selection of red wines and can be hired out for private parties.

Food (Asian fingerfood with melt-in-the-mouth raw salmon) and drinks were outstanding, my “Duke Spritz” reminiscent of the best cocktail I think I’ve ever had in the Campo Santa Margherita in Venice. Around 10, DJ Kalle Kuts took over from the loungey Jazz Radio music, and suddenly it was so packed in the bar I wished I hadn’t promised my babysitter an early night. Journalist Jackie A. was obviously just having a bad day when she recently wrote the club off in the Berlin city mag Tip… either that, or the East is just cooler, always will be, end of story…