by James Ruggia
Last updated: 9:00 PM ET, Wed December 24, 2014
PHOTO: The Element Frankfurt is the first Element branded hotel Starwood opened outside of North America. (Courtesy of Starwood)
As it celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Wall, Germany enjoyed an unprecedented popularity with travelers. In the first three quarters of 2014, German overnights were up 5 percent over a record setting 2013. U.S. overnights were up 4.8 percent. Hoteliers tend to heed a statistic like "overnight" and Germany recorded 58.8 million of them between January and September. Germany is adding hotels, upgrading hotels, diversifying hotel type and seeing companies invest in destinations that in the past they would have overlooked.
Jan. 15 can't come quickly enough for the Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa. On that day the Villa Stéphanie will open as a full destination spa offering treatments for beauty, detox and nutrition, emotional and medical care. The new 54,000 square foot spa will be housed on five floors in a villa that is adjacent to the hotel.
Built in 1890, Villa Stéphanie was created as a residence for royalty, named after Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Grand Duchess of Baden and adoptive daughter of Napoleon I. The villa will have a 5,382-square-foot sauna, plunge pool, private gym, hamam, and Ladies Sauna as well as 15 treatment rooms with private terraces overlooking the gardens and a salon. Twelve double rooms and three corner suites include facilities for overnight guests. Villa Stéphanie also connects to Haus Julius, a 18,300-square-foot property dedicated solely to Brenners Medical Care.
The Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa, the flagship of the Oetker Collection is a classic property located within a private park in Baden-Baden just off the Lichtentaler Allee, a tree-lined path that leads to the foothills of the country's largest National Park, the Black Forest. Baden Baden has served as an aristocratic retreat combining wellness and high culture since the early 19th century. Today it presents visitors with a Neoclassical and Beaux Art landscape where Sunday's day of rest never seems to end.
"Baden-Baden was one of the founders of the Spa movement in Europe, and Brenners is entwined within the heritage of this historic spa town," said Frank Marrenbach, managing director of Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa and CEO of Oetker Collection.
In the Bavarian Alps, Kempinski Hotels will assume the management of the 138-room Berchtesgaden International Resort from InterContinental, sometime in the first half of 2015. For Kempinski it's a chance to expand its already wide spread presence in Germany while enhancing its alpine resort portfolio. "There is also an ideal link between this hotel and the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski in Munich, given the short distance between the two properties," said Markus Semer, Kempinski's chief group development and corporate affairs officer.
Overlooking Salzburger Land and the Watzmann massif from its 3,000 feet above sea level perch near the Bavarian-Austrian border, 90 miles from Munich and 20 miles from Salzburg, the resort has a heliport, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool and a 1,400 square meter spa area among the hotel's facilities.
In Munich, Design Hotels unveiled its newest member, the 16-room Flushing Meadows Hotel & Bar in the city's hip Glockenbachviertel district, a youthful area with many bars, restaurants and galleries. The hotel takes its name from the fields surrounding it. The rooms include 11 loft studios individually created by an equal number of celebrity designers including Austrian actress and singer Birgit Minichmayr, musician Michi Beck, pro-surfer Quirin Rohleder, DJ Hell, and industrial furniture designer Norbert Wangen. The five Penthouse Studios were designed by the architecture firm of Arnold and Werner. Three of them feature private terrace access, and all have views over Munich or the Alps.
Neutral hues of wood, walls stretched with cooling grey canvas panels and copper details create a simple atmosphere, dotted with artwork by Berlin artist Maximan Rödel. The eco-cosmetic brand Walachei provides such in-room amenities as vegan and organic options. Rooms are outfitted with cable-free sound systems with Bluetooth connection, by Ultimate Ears.
In July, Vienna International (VI) acquired the four-star 105-key Arcadia Hotel Trier, VI's 13th German hotel. The hotel is located in central part of the old university town near the Imperial Baths. Though relatively small with a population of 100,000, Trier may be Germany's oldest city and has a history to reflect that with many well-preserved Roman and medieval structures, some of which have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, such as the Porta Nigra, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier.
The 133-room Element Frankfurt Airport opened in September as the first of Starwood's Element branded hotels outside of North America. The hotel was built in Gateway Gardens, Frankfurt's new business district, adjacent to the airport and near the global headquarters of Lufthansa, Condor and DB Schenker.
"The opening of Element Frankfurt Airport could not have come at a better time, with the rising number of savvy and environmentally conscious travelers and the Element brand's unprecedented global growth momentum," said Michael Wale, president, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Europe, Africa & Middle East. "We feel confident Element's entry into strategic European markets such as Frankfurt today and London in 2017 is just the beginning."
The hotel's 133 extended stay studios and one-bedroom suites use modular furniture, flat-screen televisions, and large desks with open shelving and custom-designed closets with ironing boards. Every room comes with a fully equipped kitchen, bathrooms with rain showers. Laundry facilities with washers and dryers are available 24 hours per day. Free Wi-Fi is offered throughout the hotel has a 24-hour fitness center - Motion - plus a flexible meeting space and a business center.
Limónes, the all-day dining restaurant and bar, is open from 7 a.m. until midnight. tRestore, a 24/7 grab-and-go food pantry is also on site. Starwood currently has 25 hotels throughout Germany under six of its nine brands.
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