In 2022, my favorite hotel in Frankfurt closed. At the time, the plan was for the property to no longer be used as a hotel. Fortunately the owners backtracked in 2023, and announced that this would in fact once again welcome guests.
Continue reading: Villa Kennedy Frankfurt Reopening In 2025 As “The Florentin”
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Will the breakfast menu include eggs florentin? Maybe a steak florentin for dinner?
Thank God they are updating the rooms. The look of the rooms was the hotel's weakest selling point.
I've never understood your thinking on Rocco Forte being taken over. They have a small portfolio and they do what they do very well. They are true to their focus, with a few other (great) hotels mixed in. It's not like the family needs the money, so I have no idea why they would sell.
One of the reasons for the difficulties luxury hotels are facing in Germany is the German mentality of not valuing or rather being willing to pay for quality. That mentality was captured and shaped by a marketing campaign of consumer electronics retailer Saturn dating back to ca. 2002 with the tagline “Geiz ist geil” (stinginess is cool). This very much describes the situation in Germany very well and unfortunately has a long lasting effect.
For some reason the Althoff group is successful nevertheless. So I have some hopes that they will be more successful than Rocco Forte.
Ben, I agree on your comments on the hotel and the name. Villa Kennedy was my favorite hotel in Frankfurt and I like the name much more than Florentine.
I just hope they fix the issue with water pressure in the shower which I experienced more than once when staying there.
Hi Ben, while a bit further outside, have you ever stayed at Schlosshotel Kronberg? Lovely grounds. And it's only 20 mins from FRA airport.
Rocco Forte also c50% owned by the KSA Public Investment Fund who are putting in substantial backing for expansion so no real driver for them to exit.
I’m from Frankfurt but moved to Southern California 30 years ago. Our family had stayed at Villa Kennedy every time we visited, about 2-3 times annually. To us staying there always felt like coming home mostly because of the wonderfully caring employees who are scattered amongst the Sofitel Alte Oper and JW Marriott now. Visitors and (I mean how many do we really get in FFM?) tourists just aren’t willing to spend as much money on hotels in Frankfurt as they are in Munich or Berlin for example. The Charles hotel in Munich which also belongs to the RF group isn’t anywhere near as nice a hotel as Villa Kennedy but the prices are much higher - it’s Munich after all. It would have been great if a big hotel chain with some upscale hotels had taken over the property but we will certainly return to the remodeled house next summer to give it a try. Ich hätte mir sehr gewünscht, dass die Althoff Gruppe den Namen Villa Kennedy übernommen hätte….Florentin ist etwas gewöhnungsbeduerftig.