The streets surrounding the central train station in Frankfurt were gritty and unpleasant in 2003, but that didn’t deter Micky Rosen and Alex Urseanu from bringing the Bristol Hotel to the neighborhood. “It was rundown at the time. But despite that challenge, we saw what hardly anyone else could see,” recalls Urseanu. “We were daring—or crazy—with our ideas to develop something exciting out of a dreary real estate location. We had a lot of skeptical observers when we got started, but that drove us even more.”
Rosen and Urseanu, who have known each other since they were children, felt the city needed a characterful hotel anchored by a buzzing bar that united guests and locals, and the Bristol (which the duo no longer owns) delivered.
A red-tiled bar anchors the dining room at Chicago Williams restaurant in Gekko House, Frankfurt
Buoyed by the feel-good energy permeating that property and drawing from their families’ own backgrounds in hospitality, a year later they founded Gekko Group, now comprising a collection of hotels, extended-stay residences, and restaurants, as well as the semi-private jet experience Travelcoup and the fashion and retail concept No Rooms. Gekko Group is also investing in like-minded European lifestyle startups via Gekko Capital Partners, its venture arm.
Providing accommodations that transcended comfort and quality to forge “a lifestyle and community dynamic was quite novel back then. We envisioned a Gekko family,” explains Rosen. Much of that family is centered in Frankfurt, “our common ground, our hometown, where we both grew up and where it all began. Every endeavor we’ve undertaken is rooted in this special place,” adds Urseanu.
Roomers, the luxury hotel brand for which Gekko Group is best known, was born in 2009 in Frankfurt. The 116-key flagship is the handiwork of Rosen Architekten, the local studio was also the mastermind behind Gekko Group’s the Pure hotel (both are part of Marriott’s Design Hotels portfolio), a pioneering 50-room property that made a splash with its sleek white interiors when it opened in a revamped textile factory in 2005.
The Red room at the Roomers Munich unfolds beneath an illuminated coffered ceiling
Launching a swish, hedonistic hotel in the middle of the financial crisis was a gamble, but “we stuck with our approach,” says Rosen. One of the reasons Roomers resonated then and continues to flourish is because there is “a soul behind it. Today, our guests travel to a Roomers for the moments that are created through and with our people.”
In 2016, the equally moody 130-key Roomers, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s Autograph Collection, arrived in southwestern Germany’s spa town Baden-Baden, flaunting a design by Lissoni & Partners. The Milan- and New York-based firm is also tackling the Roomers ParkView, slated to debut on Frankfurt’s Grüneburgpark at the end of 2025 with 136 guestrooms and a spa.
Amsterdam-based practice Concrete handled the 280-key Roomers in Munich, another Autograph Collection hotel, in 2017, the same year the Provocateur was unveiled. Gekko Group’s inaugural foray into Berlin, in partnership with Liran Wizman of the Sircle Collection, the 58-room property stands out for its 1920s-inspired guestrooms, courtesy of Amsterdam-based Saar Zafrir.
The lobby at Provocateur Hotel in Berlin evokes a moody drawing room with low lighting and plush blue seating
In 2020, local studio Morgen Interiors oversaw the 128-room Gekko House in Frankfurt. It stars an outpost of Chicago Williams, the Berlin barbecue favorite, reinforcing Gekko Group’s commitment to bringing in enticing gastronomy options across its hotels and beyond.
All this growth is organic. “We have never felt the need to expand at a speed that would compromise our outlook on life,” says Rosen. “To this day, we stay true to the lightness of being that we hope to personify.”
That shines through in the joyful ambiance elicited in Gekko Group establishments. “Luxury can, and should, be fun—not stiff and pretentious,” says Urseanu. “In German, there is a beautiful expression, Glücklichmacher, which means the makers of happiness. That will always be at the core of our hospitality philosophy.”
Red velvet sofas create a burlesque-like atmosphere at Provocateur Bar
This article originally appeared in HD’s October 2024 issue.
