Review: Villa Rothschild Koenigstein, Marriott Autograph Collection (Cute!)

During our Good Morning Milan, Goodnight Moon trip, my dad and I spent two nights in Germany, near Frankfurt. We spent our first night at the 112-room Falkenstein Grand Koenigstein, Marriott Autograph Collection, which I reviewed in the previous installment. Then we spent a night at the 22-room Villa Rothschild, Marriott Autograph Collection, which I’m reviewing in this installment.

These are two sister properties that share amenities, and there’s an interesting backstory, as they both transitioned from German hotel group Kempinski to Marriott in 2021. Ever since, I’ve been intrigued by them, especially since Koenigstein is essentially a suburb of Frankfurt, so I wondered if this could be a fun stopover point if transiting Frankfurt.

As you can see in the previous installment, I had mixed feelings on Falkenstein Grand, and wasn’t exactly sure what to make of it. By comparison, I found Villa Rothschild to be a bit more charming. At just 22 rooms, it has to be one of the smallest Marriott properties in the world, and it feels more like staying in a huge private villa than in a hotel.

The catch with Villa Rothschild is that it lacks amenities. The hotel has a bar and restaurant (the bar is open daily, and breakfast is served daily, while the restaurant is only open for dinner select days of the week), but other than that, all the amenities are shared with Falkenstein Grand, so you’re shuttled over there.

I actually think we might’ve been the only guests at the hotel the night we stayed, since we didn’t see anyone else. However, with no restaurant open and the bar closing at 8PM, you really feel like you don’t have typical hotel amenities either.

With that long intro out of the way, let’s get into the review. Let me emphasize that I’d recommend first reading the Falkenstein Grand review, since this is sort of supplemental to that.

Booking Villa Rothschild Koenigstein

I paid cash for our stay at Villa Rothschild, and the rate was around €200 per room. This was almost identical to the rate at Falkenstein Grand, so I guess people should choose the property based on which vibe they prefer, rather than the cost. Sometimes the hotel gets even cheaper than the rate I paid.

If we had redeemed Bonvoy points for our stay, the cost would’ve been around 40,000 points per night. For what it’s worth, I value Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each, so redeeming points here really isn’t a great value.

Villa Rothschild Koenigstein location & history

Villa Rothschild is located in Koenigstein im Taunus, which is essentially a suburb of Frankfurt. I talked more about that in the previous post, so I’ll just mention that it’s located a roughly five-minute drive from Falkenstein Grand, and it’s also walking distance from town. So if you want to head into town, Villa Rothschild has an even more convenient location.

The hotel certainly makes quite the impression on arrival, as you drive through the gates and up the road to the hotel.

How cool-looking is this?!

The hotel’s house car is generally parked outside, and it’s a Land Rover Defender. Meanwhile the sister hotel has a Range Rover, so those cars can shuttle guests between the properties.

As you can tell from the outside of the property, this is a building with some history. It was initially built in 1894, as the summer residence of the Rothschild banking family. The story is that the first articles of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany were conceived and formulated here, under Konrad Adenauer.

Villa Rothschild Koenigstein lobby & check-in

We had been driven from Falkenstein Grand to Villa Rothschild, and the bellmen from the former hotel helped us with our bags at the new property, and brought us to reception, as there wasn’t otherwise much staffing at Villa Rothschild.

I was impressed by Villa Rothschild the second we walked in — what an incredible building, and especially when you consider the price point, this is a unique experience! As you enter, there’s first a small staircase, with lots of cool little details, and also plenty of seating.

Reception was located inside the entrance and to the left, and consisted of just a small desk.

I’d describe the check-in experience as curt. There was no “welcome” or anything along those lines, but instead just a very brief interaction. We were told our rooms weren’t quite ready yet, so we headed over to the bar for a drink while we waited (and so I could work for a bit).

The front desk associate didn’t have an estimate for how long it would take for our rooms to be ready. However, when I checked with her about an hour later, she told me the rooms were in fact ready, but she didn’t yet have time to tell us (which is just a bit odd, since I believe we were the only guests at the hotel, as stated above).

Villa Rothschild Koenigstein guest room

When our rooms were ready, we were given keys to two grand deluxe king garden rooms, next to one another on the first floor (one level above the ground floor — rooms 103 and 104). We could get to those rooms either via the grand staircase, or via the hotel’s one elevator.

At the top of the staircase we turned left, and then our rooms were right there.

The grand deluxe rooms are marketed as being 430 square feet (40 square meters) to 538 square feet (50 square meters), and I definitely got the sense that our rooms were on the larger end of that scale. I’d even describe the room more as a junior suite than any version of a deluxe room.

The main part of the room consisted of a king size bed (with two separate duvets — the traditional German way), a sitting area with a loveseat and two chairs, and a desk with a chair.

There was even an old fireplace, though I don’t believe it’s possible to use it.

The room then had a Nespresso machine, kettle with tea, and a small selection of drinks and snacks for purchase.

Waiting on the table was a welcome amenity, consisting of a bottle of still water, a non-alcohol apple wine, and some jelly.

While I thought the room was charming, there was definitely a good bit of wear and tear, as you can see in the above pictures, of the table.

The bathroom was in the back corner of the room, and was on the basic side — it had double sinks, a small walk-in shower, and a toilet.

Toiletries were in reusable containers, from L’Occitane.

The room did have a small balcony, but it wasn’t big enough for any seating.

The weather eventually cleared up, and I found the views to be nice, particularly of the Frankfurt skyline in the distance.

One thing I was less impressed by was how the balcony had a window flower box (or whatever you’d like to call it) with dozens of cigarette butts. You’d think that’s something that housekeeping would clean between stays, though perhaps not many people actually go out there.

Another thing worth mentioning is that this property doesn’t have air conditioning, so if that’s something you’re sensitive to, you may want to think twice about staying here in summer. Even in December I found the room to be a bit warm, so I kept the window open at night to get some cold air in.

All-in-all, I thought the room was lovely, as I appreciated how spacious and historic it was. This probably isn’t surprising for a building that’s 130+ years old, but the sound insulation here is almost non-existent. Fortunately the property was empty, but expect that you can hear just about anything in the hallway or in other rooms.

Shared amenities with Falkenstein Grand

Aside from a restaurant and bar, Villa Rothschild has virtually no amenities. There’s no gym, spa, pool, or anything else like that. However, guests can use all the amenities at the sister property, Falkenstein Grand. The hotel will happily shuttle you there on a complimentary basis, and the drive takes around five minutes.

So you have access to a lot of amenities, and you can read more about those in my review of that hotel.

Villa Rothschild Koenigstein restaurant & bar

When it comes to dining at Villa Rothschild, there are two venues:

• Restaurant Villa Rothschild Grill & Health is the hotel’s restaurant, and it’s where breakfast is served daily (from 7AM until 11AM), and dinner is served on Wednesdays through Saturdays (from 6PM until 11PM)
• Tizian’s Bar is the hotel’s bar and lounge, and it’s open daily in the afternoons and evenings (from 12PM until 8PM on Sundays through Tuesdays, and from 12PM until 12AM on Wednesdays through Saturdays)

We stayed at the hotel on a Monday night, so obviously that was pretty limiting. Breakfast was served from 7AM until 11AM, and the bar was open from 12PM until 8PM. As you can tell, the bar closes early and there’s no dinner in the restaurant.

The good news is that they’ll shuttle you to Falkenstein Grand (where the restaurant is open daily, and the bar is open later), or alternatively, it’s just a short walk into town. We ended up having dinner at an Italian restaurant just a short walk from the hotel, which was excellent (and very lively).

We spent a fair bit of time sitting in Tizian’s Bar, both upon arrival, and prior to dinner. It was a great place from which to work, and given that the hotel was basically empty, it felt like having a massive villa to yourself — how gorgeous is this bar area?!

I had an excellent cappuccino here. And while I didn’t indulge, the cake selection looked excellent.

Below is the bar snack menu, so this is the only real on-property food available (aside from breakfast) on the days where the restaurant is closed for dinner.

Restaurant Villa Rothschild Grill & Health is located on the ground floor, down the hall from reception. The restaurant consists primarily of one large, square room, with a bunch of tables along the exterior, and a fire pit acting as the center of the space.

There’s also a beautiful outdoor terrace, where drinks or a meal can be enjoyed, weather permitting.

I’m bummed the restaurant was closed for dinner the night we visited. I suspect the restaurant is excellent, given that we had an amazing meal at the sister property’s restaurant the night before, and it seems to be a similar concept. You can find the dinner menu here.

We did come here in the morning for breakfast, and I was curious to see what the setup would be like, given how empty the hotel was. Breakfast was included on account of my Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador status, with an interesting concept.

For one, there was a small but high quality buffet, with everything from fresh bread and pastries, to yogurt and veggies, to cold cuts, to whole fruit, to cereal, to juice and tea.

Beyond that, we were brought a tray upon sitting down, containing fruit, cheese, and cold cuts.

We were also served coffee by the very friendly restaurant worker, and I thought the coffee was excellent.

Lastly, we were given a menu with dishes that could be used to supplement the buffet.

I decided to order the pancakes, which were tasty and light.

All-in-all, I thought it was a great breakfast, though again. It’s not often you have a full restaurant and buffet to yourself!

Bottom line

I’m so happy I finally had the chance to check out the two Marriott Autograph Collection properties in Koenigstein, and in particular, that I could enjoy the experience with my dad, who appreciates this kind of stuff more than just about anyone.

Personally, I preferred Villa Rothschild to Falkenstein Grand. Staying in a charming, historic villa like this is great, and especially given the price point, it’s hard to argue with this. The hotel is cute, with a nice bar area, and an excellent breakfast.

The major catch is that this essentially operates as a supplemental property to the larger Falkenstein Grand, though you can be shuttled between the properties for free. So if you want to go to the gym, spa, or pool, or if you want to have a meal or drink when the facilities at Villa Rothschild are closed, that option is available to you.

If you have an overnight in Frankfurt Airport and are looking for a different kind of experience than going into the city, then I think this could be worth considering.

What do you make of Marriott’s Villa Rothschild?