A coworking space in Terminus Nord in Paris recalls a colorful African bazaar
Christoph Hoffmann learned how to fish, courtesy of his father, on the French Riviera at the posh La Réserve de Beaulieu Hôtel & Spa. “I didn’t like to take [the fish] off the hook after we caught them. It caused me pain, but then the chef appeared and asked if he could prepare them for me for dinner. It was a magical moment,” says the CEO and partner at Hamburg-based 25hours Hotel Company. “Since then, I believed in creating magical moments in hospitality. ”
A native of Germany, Hoffmann was a lucky kid, treated to the grand, old European hotels in Switzerland and France that inspired him to forge a career in hospitality, first in travel sales and later at luxury hotels. He always had a zany, independent streak, and when he struck out on his own, it manifested in the Hotel Fox (now the SP34) in Copenhagen. A joint venture with Volkswagen, he gathered a motley collection of 21 artists to design the contemporary rooms in a diverse mix of styles.
Over a wine-fueled dinner with his partners on that project—hotelier Kai Hollmann, Stephan Gerhard of consulting company Treugast Solutions Group, and real estate developer Ardi Goldman—the 25hours Hotel Company was born in 2005 as an expansion on Hollmann’s retro-inspired Hotel Number One in Hamburg’s Bahrenfeld district, which opened in 2003.
In the States, Ian Schrager and André Balazs were building “highly individualized hotels with a certain spirit and soul outside the classical luxury segment of the business,” Hoffmann points out, and he wanted 25hours to make a mark on Europe with its own one-of-a-kind hotels. There are now 13 properties in the collection across nine cities (Hamburg, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Vienna, Zurich, and Paris), all with lively food and drink venues as focal points.
Local firm Studio Aisslinger, for example, brought an urban jungle feel to a 1950s building near the zoo at Bikini Berlin, and Augsburg, Germany-based Dreimeta tapped into vintage circus life for MuseumsQuartier Vienna. A recent Frankfurt renovation has now spawned the Trip. Designed in tandem by local firm Morgen Interiors and artist Michael Dreher, the hotel pays homage to adventurous, around-the-world journeys.
The 10th-floor Neni Berlin at Bikini Berlin overlooks the Tiergarten
Monkey Bar crowns Bikini Berlin, offering panoramic city views from bleacher-like seating
For Bikini Berlin, Studio Aisslinger created an urban jungle in the middle of a 1950s-era building
The natural colors and materials of Bikini Berlin reference the nearby zoo
From the outset, 25hours didn’t follow a strategy. “We were merely driven to create something we liked and were proud of,” says Hoffmann. Luxury, a word he equates with generosity, has always shaped his approach. A benchmark for the company is legendary hotels where “great minds were wandering around, and wonderful or tragic moments took place,” he explains. “Bar Hemingway at the Ritz Paris, the elusive Parisian cat at Le Bristol, or the Algonquin Hotel in New York are more our archetype than the pseudo-smart hotels you find all over the place. That’s why I like to keep the analog, romantic things in hotels.”
Most projects for 25hours begin not with a script but a deep dive into the history of the building and the neighborhood. By collaborating with the in-house creative team (dubbed the Extra Hours Lab) and the emotionally intelligent and bold designers the company seeks out, the storyline organically develops for each property. “I see myself merely as the orchestrator who supports the process by making sure it is not about only design and beauty, but also concept and experience. If both of these worlds come together, good things will be created,” Hoffmann adds.
When Accor acquired a 30 percent stake in the company in 2016, the industry wondered if 25hours would tone down its madcap personality, but the partnership has only helped strengthen the brand’s spirited persona and international presence. In 2020, hotels in Florence and Dubai, designed by Paola Navone and Woods Bagot, respectively, will be followed the next year by one in Copenhagen from Martin Brudnizki. “We have to focus more on becoming a concept and brand shop rather than trying to control everything, including operations,” says Hoffmann. “We want to find people around the globe who can keep and further create the 25hours vibe.”
Below is a deep dive into two properties that exemplify the spirit of the brand and its ongoing mission to shake up the industry.
Das Tour
One partnership that has proven fruitful is with Gothenburg, Sweden-based Stylt Trampoli. “From a design perspective, 25hours is the hotel company that says yes to all the crazy ideas that others say no to,” says Erik Nissen Johansen, Stylt Trampoli’s creative director and founder. For Das Tour, which opened in Düsseldorf last year, Johansen was influenced by the city’s French culture, translating it into a surprising, layered design scheme. “It used to be a much-loved flea market bistro, so the concept was to pretend the new building was a love child between a Parisian artist father and German engineer mother, with all the super powers and confusion that brings,” he says. “One result is that half the rooms are French artist studios, and the rest [are conceived in] German Bauhaus style.”
La Cuisine meeting space in Das Tour nods to a French country kitchen
The Sky Gigantic rooms at Das Tour are inspired by French artist studios
Terminus Nord
For the just-opened Terminus Nord at Gare du Nord in Paris, longtime collaborator Dreimeta was brought on board once again. “Our studio was founded after we won the pitch for the first 25hours hotel. Ever since, a close friendship connects us to the brand,” says CEO Andrea Kraft-Hammerschall. “Creativity is always one of their top priorities. No idea is too daring.” To portray the culturally diverse 10th arrondissement where the property is located, the firm fashioned a colorful space, incorporating pendant lamps that are made from recycled PET plastic bottles and feature traditional weaving techniques from different countries, as well as custom wallpaper embellished with African patterns. “25hours manages to underline and live each concept,” she says. “Each hotel story is perceptible and turns into an [unforgettable] experience for guests.”
Sape Bar in Terminus Nord evokes a gentlemen’s club
