Noble address: the Hotel Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt
Image: Frank Röth
Lots of staff, famous guests, a bit of glamor in the cities. Luxury hotels are more than houses with rooms for people with money. Will they survive the pandemic and war? The first industry giants such as Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt are closing.
Ana midday in March, nothing is the same in downtown Frankfurt and everything is the same as ever. The shop windows of a number of shops are empty, the panes taped over, on the Liebfrauenberg, on the Zeil. Homeless people have set up camps in the shop entrances, and the few passers-by pass them by without paying attention. A crowd of tourists with cameras slung over their shoulders, rushed shoppers, young people in groups: Before the pandemic began, it would have been difficult not to get caught up in such a crowd. Nobody is threatened by this these days, there are no crowds, especially not in front of the door of the Jumeirah Hotel; however, it has never been different.
Opened in 2011 and at the time the newest of Frankfurt’s luxury hotels, it is housed in a high-rise building in the center and is hardly noticeable on the ground. The tower that rises behind the Palais Thurn & Taxis measures 96 meters, but the entrance is at most discreet, almost inconspicuous. The occupancy figures of the hotel during the coronavirus crisis also did not cause a stir, as with all large and posh hotels, they bobbed around around 20 percent, a tragedy. In two weeks, the hotel of the Arab chain Jumeirah, the first that it operated in Germany, will be history. On April 1st, new tenants will take over the property with a new brand.