FRANKFURT -- The hotel sits in the residential Sachsenhausen district, just south of the Main River here. Its neighbors include attractive large homes and, about a 10-minute walk away, the start of Frankfurt's riverside museum row.
It also sits on Kennedy Boulevard and near other busy traffic arteries, but you wouldn't know it once inside.
I refer to the upscale Florentin hotel, formerly known as the Villa Kennedy. The Villa Kennedy closed in 2022, then re-emerged late last year with a fresh identity, all-new trappings, even a different configuration to produce fewer and bigger rooms.
Germany's Althoff Hotels manages the 147-unit Florentin. A member of the Leading Hotels of the World, the Florentin also belongs to the subset of Althoff properties dubbed the Althoff Collection, a handful of five-stars defined by a focus on gourmet dining and high-quality beauty and spa treatments.
I was among invited press at the Florentin within two weeks of its Dec. 1 debut.
One of the nine signature suites, each designed to honor a group that influenced Frankfurt's history. The suite pictured honors composers, hence the piano in the sitting area. Photo Credit: Daniel Schaefer
A villa, a courtyard
Press materials rightly point to two defining features for the Florentin -- first, the oldest part of the complex, a landmark 1901 villa, and second, a courtyard at the center of the hotel.
With a 125-year-old villa as its anchor, the Florentin earns a unique cachet, but the airy and accessible courtyard is what will make this place for most guests.
About that villa: It was a private residence built for the Speyer banking family, then later home to research institutes. Its facade is a post-World War II restoration.
It had passed its 100th year before the newer sections were added. That expansion was substantial, too. The former Speyer mansion became the south side of the Garden Courtyard, which is surrounded on the other three sides by the newer construction.
The mansion, now named simply the Villa, accommodates several event sites and other public spaces plus the hotel's nine signature suites with private concierge services.
No two suites are alike; the largest is the three-bedroom Royal Suite, with kitchen, living/dining area, private sauna and workout room.
The newer extension, built in a style harmonious with the original mansion, accommodates more public areas, including restaurants, the spa, a cigar lounge and meetings spaces plus the other 138 units, 40 of which are suites.
The hotel's Garden restaurant and its Florentin Bar face the courtyard and, weather permitting, both provide outdoor service. The courtyard's name reflects the extensive use of greenery in that space. The hotel relies on the same theme for its name: Florentin is derived from the word "blooming."
Forty-two rooms and suites, including all terraces, overlook the architecturally stunning courtyard, and to my mind, these are the choicest rooms, regardless of category, especially for vacationers.
The Florentin's Garden restaurant, which faces the hotel's Garden Courtyard, offers outdoor service, weather permitting. Photo Credit: Daniel Schaefer
The leisure share
Although Frankfurt is well known as a financial center and, hence, a business destination, the Florentin defines itself as both a business and leisure property in a city where it is easier to fill rooms on weeknights than on weekends. As a result, Carmen Hackmann, the Florentin's director of sales and marketing, said, "we need to work on the leisure share."
She said the hotel "is in a leisure location" within a short walk of museums. There are 10 museums, a quarter of the city's entire inventory, on the Main River embarkment. The city's New Old Town Square, a historical center rebuilt after World War II, is a short drive away, or about a 30-minute walk.
Further, Hackmann said, the hotel is a "great starting or ending point for a longer trip into Germany."
Indeed, the hotel itself can be viewed as the destination, she said, because of its elegant interiors as well as on-site comforts and services centered on the spa and food.
Hackmann said the understated hotel interiors are meant to convey "quiet luxury" based on quality materials; muted, timeless colors; and clean lines. The public spaces in the villa are the exception, modernized but with an idiosyncratic decor and brighter color choices "meant to respect the building's history," she said.
Spa services cover the gamut, with five treatment rooms, 24-hour gym, saunas and steam bath, spa garden, hair salon and a 46-foot indoor swimming pool.
The Garden eatery and Florentin Bar are good for snacks, meals and afternoon tea, but the Florentin also boasts a "destination restaurant" styled in all lowercase as "the dune."
Designed using the imagery of a desert tent, this restaurant, open Tuesdays through Saturdays for dinners only, offers a fixed-price menu ($290, drinks extra) characterized by a tapas-like menu and eclectic food combinations. Consider caviar and cornflakes, which is among items the eatery's Michelin-starred chef, Niclas Nussbaumer, is offering now. It's amazing what works. Guests can choose a la carte dining, too.
The Florentin's nightly rates start at $578 per room and range up to $1,168, with differences determined by seasons and events in Frankfurt. Junior suites start at $1,040, and signature suites start at $2,664. Breakfasts are extra.
Hackmann said the Florentin has marketing agreements with a few host agencies in the U.S. and will apply to join Virtuoso.
The pool in the Florentin's spa. Photo Credit: Nadine Godwin
Arrivals, departures
For personalized services at Frankfurt Airport, the Florentin recommends a local provider, VIP-Services. The vendor operates two service areas, one for arrivals and departures, another for transit passengers. Services include private passport control, limo transfers, luggage handling, food and drink and exclusive use of lounges. VIP-Services' spaces include suites and conference rooms for meetings or other events. Email [email protected] for service and price details.