Oetker Adds Lanesborough, A London Palace

It's precisely how slowly The Oetker Collection accumulates hotels that make you take special notice when it adds a property.

This year represents an absolute onslaught as two new properties were added, one in St. Barths and one in London. At a luncheon at New York City's Daniel on Wednesday, Didier Le Calvez, Oetker's senior vice president operations and sales & marketing, announced the latest addition, London's Lanesborough Hotel. It could only get more regal than that if they'd added Buckingham Palace.

A Knightsbridge institution, The Lanesborough's sits directly across from Hyde Park's Constitution Arch adjacent to the palace grounds. The Lanesborough recreates a palatial 18th century private residence. The latest members bring to nine, the number of properties within the brand, four owned and five managed. The Oetker Collection manages, in addition to The Lanesborough, Eden Rock - St. Barths, Fregate Island Private (Seychelles), Palais Namaskar (Marrakech), and L'Apogée Courchevel.

In 2008, with the introduction of its Masterpiece Collection, Oetker began adding properties to the brand beyond the four that it owned outright: Le Bristol Paris, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Chateau Saint-Martin & Spa and the original Oetker property Baden Baden's celebrated Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa, which they've owned since 1923.

As Oetker's first and only U.K. property, The Lanesborough is scheduled to reopen in the spring of 2015. The hotel has been closed since 2013 undergoing a massive renovation, led by the late interior designer Alberto Pinto. Don't worry, the new design will be in keeping with all of those traditions the neighborhood is known for.

"We wanted to maintain a strong British identity," said Le Calvez. "We wanted you to know you were in London."

The Lanesborough is the sort of property that has its devotees and they should be reassured by the news that Oetker ha kept Managing Director Geoffrey Gelardi, who has been with the Lanesborough since 1990. Gelardi has become as synonymous with the property, as Felix Biegler has with the Peninsula Hong Kong or Kurt Wachtveitl with Bangkok's Oriental.

In 2011 HOTELS Magazine named Gelardi "Hotelier of the World" in its annual poll. Gelardi seems excited about developments at the hotel, saying "After 18 months of complete renovation, our aim is to resume our premier position in the London market."

As in all Oetker Collection properties, fine dining is a key element in the appeal and the Lanesborough will have several high end eateries including Apsleys, the Withdrawing Room and the Library bar house, with its collection of vintage cognacs, some of which are over 200 years old. The Garden Room is the first cigar terrace in Knightsbridge. The Lanesborough also has seven individually designed private dining rooms, the largest accommodating 180 guests for a reception.

Oetker's nine hotels are distributed in some of the world's finest destinations, some well-known, but others less so. Le Bristol Paris, located on the rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, recently completed a $196 million renovation that took four years.

The Château Saint-Martin & Spa is set in a 35-acre park on the Riviera and is known for its spa, its cuisine and its extensive wine cellar.

L'Apogée Courchevel located in Le Jardin Alpin in the French Alps opened in 2013 as a luxury chalet with a family atmosphere offering the most desirable skiing experience at the top of Courchevel 1850 in the French Alps. The Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc is situated in a private park at the tip of the Cap d'Antibes.

The Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa is the centerpiece of Germany's classic spa town Baden Baden. The hotel will open the Villa Stéphanie in 2015, which will make it the largest spa hotel in Europe. The hotel has one of Germany's two Two-Star Michelin chefs.

No one would be shocked at the addresses of these European properties, they all share that regal bearing, but Oetker also brings its majestic feel in fresher settings. Eden Rock - St. Barths has the look of a fortress, built as it is, on a rocky promontory that's surrounded on one side by white powder sand and on the other by the Caribbean Sea. The Palais Namaskar offers a serene desert oasis in the Palmeraie in Marrakech.

Fregate Island Private, in the Seychelles is Le Calvez' words "a small Galapagos in the Indian Ocean." The island features abundant forest, wild fauna and the fine waters of the Seychelles. "It works really well for pre- or post- safari travelers," said Le Calvez.

According to Le Calvez, the Oetker Collection would like to over time grow to about 15 properties with New York City and Sao Paolo high on the wish list for new properties. "The brand has so many synergies and such a strong reputation with its guests, that we are seeing a clientele that stays in several properties," said Le Calvez. "We see in Fregate Island, guests who are giving the Seychelles a try because they know our standards. I've known some of these guests for 15 or 20 years."

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