I called Berlin “Europe’s most exciting capital” when I last visited in 2015, and I stand by that proclamation. It will, of course, always be heavy with history, but its creativity knows no bounds. With world-renowned nightlife, a food scene that keeps getting more inventive and over 170 museums, it thrums with a vibrancy few cities can match.

And it continues to improve upon itself. Since my last visit, the Neue Nationalgalerie reopened after a $164 million refurbishment; the Humboldt Forum, a resurrected baroque palace turned exhibit space and cultural complex, debuted on Museum Island; and the much-delayed Brandenburg Airport finally opened for operation. My traveling companion and I had four days in the capital, so we anonymously reviewed two hotels: a refined old favorite and a hip up-and-comer.

Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin

We missed King Charles III by a week. Like so many heads of state before him, he based himself at the Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin while on government business. But we also missed the inconveniences that come with a royal visit, according to an Adlon bartender who made small talk as he mixed my Manhattan.