From Spy Station to Style Heaven

East Berlin's budding Mitte district — home to edgy boutiques and cool cafés — finally has a hotel to mirror its artsy ethos. Located in a row of whitewashed 18th century houses, Lux Eleven (lux-eleven.com) was once a key KGB listening post reporting directly to Moscow.

Today, following two years of painstaking refurbishment (which, according to its general manager, Thomas Tänzer, included the removal of an inordinate amount of cable and a smattering of furtive contraptions), this historic edifice has been artfully turned into 72 apartment-style rooms, outfitted in a pared-down combination of bleached wood and concrete. Designed by architects Guiliana Salmaso and Goetz Maximilian Keller, each of the rooms comes with an unusually well-appointed kitchenette, including such flourishes as champagne flutes and Asian-accented porcelain.

Living areas come stocked with seductive Linari room fragrances, gender-specific toiletries by La Bottega, flat-screen TVs, DVD players and DSL high-speed Internet access. The hotel also boasts an Aveda beauty salon, a "wellness center" and a restaurant-bar serving Italian-Asian fusion cuisine. Says Tänzer of the $14.6 million investment: "It's a declaration that the neighborhood has finally arrived." The transformation couldn't be more radical — or stylish.