Hotels with History | The Adlon, Berlin

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**Connor Boyle** (1:27)
Hello, I'm Head of Programming, Connor Boyle. Today, we're whisking you away with a handpicked episode of Armchair Escapism. After a standout first season, Hotels with History is back. Produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Perowne International, this new season sees hosts Jules Perowne and Richard E. Grant travel further than ever to some of the world's most storied hotels. This season, you can stroll along white sand to the Copacabana Palace, watch the 1918 German Revolution unfold from the windows of Berlin's Hotel Adlon, and of course, enjoy Richard's inimitable impersonations of Marlene Dietrich. In each episode, Richard and Jules check in to a different hotel, uncovering the unforgettable moments that took place within its walls and beyond its grounds, exploring how the tides of history transformed entire regions into the luxury destinations we know today. Now over to Jules and Richard for Hotels with History.

**Jules Perowne** (2:30)
Today, our story begins in a square. We are standing in the middle of Pariser Platz in Berlin. A square so important, it feels less like a piece of architecture and more like a stage set for history. And what does any stage need? It's players, diplomats, royals, celebrities, officers. All of them pass through. All of them are where they are being seen. To one side of this stage stands the Brandenburg Gate. It's winged chariot looming above the scene, traffic threading through its vast columns. And just opposite, Hotel Adlon.
For over a century, if you are ready to take your place on the world stage, the Adlon was the only place to go. After all, the most important part of any theatre is not the stage itself, but the dressing room. The place where alliances are formed, masks are adjusted and the real drama begins long before the curtain rises.
And from the Adlon in its original form, built on this mighty square, well, the performance could begin.

**Richard E. Grant** (3:49)
Welcome to Hotels with History.

**Jules Perowne** (3:51)
I'm Jills Perowne.

**Richard E. Grant** (3:52)
And I'm Richard E. Grant. We've been brought together by a shared fascination with what makes a legendary hotel and by the stories embedded in their walls.

**Jules Perowne** (4:02)
Because if you want to truly understand a city, you should start with its hotels.

**Richard E. Grant** (4:07)
In every episode, we'll take you inside some of the world's most iconic and storied hotels.

**Jules Perowne** (4:12)
In today's episode, we're checking in to Berlin's living room, more commonly known as Hotel Adlon Kempinski.

**Richard E. Grant** (4:21)
I don't know about you, Jules, but one thing I've learned from my travels is that no two nations do hospitality quite the same way.
We've been to Lake Como with its showstopping Italian grandeur, the Wall of Historia with that uniquely New York sense of lively pizazz. And now we find ourselves in Berlin at the Adlon, a hotel that has served generations of the city's most important guests to secure its place at the very heart of Berlin life. What exactly is German hospitality to you, Jules?

**Jules Perowne** (4:51)
Well, I think of impeccable order and a haven of innovation, a hotel experience that appears perfectly composed with just a hint of debauchery lurking beneath the surface. And above all, I think of privacy of discretion.

**Richard E. Grant** (5:09)