Do they have something to hide? Obviously yes! Anyone who unsuspectingly asks Rosewood these days whether they might be able to take a look at the new luxury hotel on Kardinal-Faulhaber-Strasse, which will be opening at the end of September, will initially be offered a kind of conspiratorial meeting. Not in the hotel. But around the corner at Marienplatz, in the Donisl.
Very carefully, one might say. But it’s not even about keeping something secret. “We’re in the final phase of the expansion,” says hotel manager Roland Dürr. “The opening is on September 29, and we’ll still be working hard until then. I also have to be careful every morning that I don’t stumble over anything.” And that’s why nobody is allowed into the house for safety reasons. The first inspection is therefore from the outside and only extends to the facade.
The Rosewood is one of the two most spectacular new hotel developments in the city, along with the Königshof am Stachus. Right from the start we started with a healthy self-confidence. “We base the room prices on the respective top competitors in the city,” said the then President of the Rosewood Group, Radha Arora, in 2017 at the presentation of the Munich project, “we have the most expensive rooms everywhere.” Which of course means nothing other than: We offer the highest level of luxury, you can rely on that. And according to the website, the cheapest room currently costs 2440 euros. Not per month, but per night.
A room in the Rosewood Hotel Munich on Kardinal Faulhaber Strasse.
(Photo: Davide Lovatti)
In the case of the Rosewood Munich, the group’s first house on German soil, they have joined forces with the Schörghuber Group’s Bayerische Hausbau. The building on Kardinal-Faulhaber-Strasse belongs to him. Strictly speaking, there are even two buildings: the Gründerzeit palace of the former Bayerische Staatsbank, and around the corner in Prannerstraße the historic Palais Neuhaus-Preysing from 1740, of which only the facade remained after the Second World War.
132 rooms on 20,000 square meters
Bayerische Hausbau invested more than 100 million euros in the conversion based on plans by Hilmar Sattler Architects Ahlers Albrecht; and the construction project is just as opulent as the name of the architect’s office. On 20,000 square meters there are now 132 rooms on five floors, including 59 suites between 40 and 200 square meters, rightly called “Houses” in Rosewood jargon. The historic palace will then be used as a conference and banquet area with a ballroom for 400 people. Already lush. And nothing is left to chance, even the books in the rooms are curated, i.e. selected by experts. On the photos on the homepage you can see the Oktoberfest photo book by Volker Derlath and the Helmut Dietl biography by Claudius Seidl, which reveals a lot of expertise and good taste.
Nothing is left to chance at the Rosewood Hotel, even the books in the rooms are curated.
(Photo: Davide Lovatti)
“We want all of our locations to have a close connection to the city,” says Roland Dürr, who previously worked as hotel manager at Rosewood London for four years and then at Rosewood Abu Dhabi for six years. “Our goal is to become part of urban society become.” Which is why the restaurant, the bar and the 1300 square meter spa area (with pool) of the house will be open to the public, each with separate entrances.
The local claim is not only noticeable in the naming of the gastronomic facilities. “Cuvilliés”, after the two famous Munich rococo master builders, is the name of the restaurant on the right side of the house, according to Dürr an “alpine brasserie” with almost 140 seats. On the left you will find the fairly classic and Munich piano bar with live jazz on the grand piano for up to 150 guests. It will be called “Montez”, named after the dashing Lola, who was chased out of the city by the people of Munich in 1848.
But that doesn’t have to be a bad omen, because the managerial staff of the bar and restaurant already know the city very well and know how to win over customers. The bar is managed by Gabriel Pötschke (previously head of the Ory Bar in the Mandarin Oriental), and Caspar Bork, who also worked in the Munich Mandarin Oriental and before that in the Berlin Adlon and in Kitzbühel, is responsible for the kitchen. Pâtissier Shinas Shahida is responsible for the sweet bits. He is currently still employed at the Andaz at Schwabinger Tor and previously worked at the famous Berlin dessert restaurant Coda.
The Königshof am Stachus is largely free of scaffolding
Becoming part of the city is certainly not as easy for a hotel group from Hong Kong based on the Virgin Islands as Rosewood is, as it is for a hotel that has been based at Stachus for ages. The Königshof, until the pandemic the flagship of Munich’s Geisel private hotels, is a new building, but there has been a hotel here since 1866 directly opposite the representative roundabout, which to this day represents the entrance to Munich’s old town.
The Geisels had to sell the new building they had initiated to the real estate company Inka in October 2021 due to the effects of the corona virus; it belongs to the Hans Inselkammer family – a branch of the old Ayinger brewing dynasty and one of the largest property owners in the city centre. The modern hotel building designed by the Spanish architects Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano has now largely been freed from the scaffolding and thanks to the striking deep incision in the middle, the construction continues inside, in the atrium, from the ground floor up to the ninth floor – already a real eye-catcher.
Inside, however, there is still a lot to do. “We will probably open next spring,” says Tina Haller from Inka Holding, “the construction was much more complex than expected.” Originally, the plan was to start this year, but when you walk around the construction site, you can see straight away that something is still missing. This also has to do with the fact that the concept has been carefully adapted. The hostages had planned a few areas a little differently. Now, for example, retail space with exclusive shops from the luxury segment can be found on the ground floor; there is also a smaller “Medical Spa to go” in the basement, which will offer medical and wellness treatments.
The restaurant in the Hotel Königshof is on the ninth floor, with a view over Karlsplatz and Sonnenstrasse, but also to the Palace of Justice.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
The actual hotel begins at the reception on the third floor. There is also a bar that stretches over two floors with a view of the Stachus. “It’s already my favorite room,” says Haller, and that’s saying something. Because there is, for example, the presidential suite on the eighth floor or the restaurant on the ninth, with a unique view of Karlsplatz and Sonnenstraße, but also of the Palace of Justice. “It will be a normal restaurant for everyone in Munich,” says Tina Haller, “not a fine dining or starred restaurant like in the old Königshof. It just doesn’t pay off here.”
Of course, the Inka Holding does not take care of the occupancy of the 106 rooms itself. The operating company Munich Hotel Partner is responsible for this, which in turn works for the luxury hotel brand JW Marriott of the international group. You can tell that he has a hand in the show room on the eighth floor, which promises dignified luxury in an international style.
The Munich Marriott Hotel City West wants to open in time for the Oktoberfest
Model rooms are used to show a specialist and marketing audience what the whole hotel will look like later. And it’s probably no coincidence that the standard room in the Königshof is a bit reminiscent of another model room a few kilometers to the west. That’s where the Munich Marriott Hotel City West is, right on Landsberger Strasse, just before the Friedenheimer Bridge. The building with its 398 rooms is to be opened in time for the Oktoberfest.
Not much is missing anymore, security is more or less guaranteed, and that’s why the General Manager of the new hotel, René Mooren, is happy to show you around the house. No, you don’t want to compare yourself to a luxury hotel in the upper category. Probably not because the five stars that are required for this meanwhile discourage corporate customers, who are vital for the survival of such a hotel. Because upscale luxury does not fit at all with the so-called compliance rules, which also require a certain modesty from the better-off workforce in the top echelons.
This is what the entrance area of the Hotel Mariott City West on Landsberger Straße looks like.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
That doesn’t mean you have to starve in any way at the new Marriott City West. After all, the standard rooms here cost between 220 and 509 euros per night, depending on the season. You can expect a lot in return – for example a heated toilet seat. And then there are also twelve suites, the largest of which is 143 square meters. The design is high-quality, reminiscent of a cross between Art Deco, New Objectivity and Bauhaus, the basic shade of moss green prevails. There is a large fitness area, a club lounge, the Italian restaurant Assoluto on site and everything you need for meetings of all kinds. Not much can be heard from either Landsberger Strasse or the train tracks on the other side of the long building. Mooren: “All windows are quadruple glazed, they let almost no sound through.”
The director’s particular pride is the huge ballroom for up to 800 guests with the latest event technology and daylight on 1000 square meters, without a single pillar: “A technology was used that is otherwise only used in bridge construction.” The second highlight of the house is actually high up, namely on the sixth floor: the largest roof terrace of all Munich hotels, approved for up to 400 people. In the south you can see up to the mountains, in the north to the Olympic area. It will be rented out primarily for events and used “together with partners from the city”.
One can imagine that the accommodation in the new hotel is in demand for the Oktoberfest. But what about the luxury segment? The Rosewood doesn’t open until the end of September. “We recorded the first reservations on the very first day that we opened our booking system,” says Roland Dürr. Among them were Rosewood regulars, but also new bookers. And he was especially happy about the first guest from northern Germany. That’s how he is, the Munich man himself: Always friendly to the Prussians!