Hospitality Design - October 2024 - 53

A red-tiled bar anchors the dining room at Chicago
Williams restaurant in Gekko House, Frankfurt
The Red room at the Roomers Munich unfolds
beneath an illuminated coffered ceiling
The lobby at Provocateur Hotel in Berlin evokes a moody
drawing room with low lighting and plush blue seating
Red velvet sofas create a burlesque-like
atmosphere at Provocateur Bar
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.
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.
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.
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. "
hospitalitydesign.com October 2024
053
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Hospitality Design - October 2024

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