Toronto-based hotel group that became Fairmont Raffles Hotels International after a merger deal with Raffles hotels last May, has gained a property in Hamburg. Having operated as a Raffles hotel since 1997, the property is to be run by Fairmont from April 30, 2007.
Its rather cumbersome name ” Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, Hamburg ” is necessary to differentiate it from the 32 other Vier Jahreszeiten, or ”four seasons”-named hotels in Germany, none of which bears any relation to the Four Seasons group.
A Fairmont spokesperson revealed to ABTN that the change of name was due to ”careful assessment of the two brands” different attributes, which concluded with the decision that the Hamburg property was more suited to Fairmont.”
Some of the deciding factors included Fairmont”s history of operating hotels with ”local authenticity, which are often icons in their surrounding locations.” The spokesperson also revealed that the brand is often associated with older properties, fitting well with the Hamburg property which has operated as a hotel for 110 years.
Located on the western side of the Inner Alster Lake shore of the Binnenalster, the hotel has 157 individually decorated rooms and suites, a spa and fitness centre and 6,700sq ft (2,050sq m) of function space. It is within close reach of the business and commercial districts, as well as the State Opera and Congress Centre.
The hotel did not begin life with such extensive facilities, however, as when founded in 1897 by Friedrich Haerlin, it had just 11 rooms. Haerlin then bought one house after another until he owned the entire block, which forms a stately presence in the city.
