Photos: Checking into 25Hours HafenCity, Hamburg

While recently in Hamburg for the Social Travel Summit as well as the #JoinGermanTradition campaign, I stayed at 25Hours hotel in the revitalized neighborhood of HafenCity. Part of the 25Hours group of Design Hotels with sister locations in Berlin, Frankfurt, Vienna, and Zurich, what struck me immediately wasn’t just its attention to detail. It was the way it elegantly carried its nautical theme, giving it a whimsical atmosphere while still appealing to a broad demographic of guests – hipsters, pensioners, travelers, digital nomads, millenials, and other labels .

The hotel feels like you’ve stepped into a seafarer’s saloon with 170 cabins, a private wharf, and its conference room which is a repurposed shipping container. Its resident restaurant, Heimat Kitchen + Bar, follows the trend of individual style – from stacks of Turkish rugs as makeshift seats to glass jars for serving cereal. It makes hearty meals using locally sourced produce and regional ingredients.

Every space within the hotel tells its own story – from large black and white portraits of fishermen which adorn its hallways to bicycles mounted as display art in the lobby. Wood, wire, mesh, anchors, rudders, leather, storage boxes, rope ladders, and other items you’d find in a typical fisherman’s shack are woven into the hotel’s maritime design – a pretty cool nod to Hamburg being one of Europe’s largest ports.

View more photos from Hamburg, Germany, in my image bank. You can read my other articles and photo essays from the #JoinGermanTradition campaign.