Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten

On the Neuer Jungfernstieg, the row of facades along the western shore of the Binnenalster, a long hotel front looks across the water to the Ballindamm, the Jungfernstieg and the copper spires of the old town. In 1897 Friedrich Haerlin bought a small hotel here and named it Vier Jahreszeiten, the Four Seasons. Over more than a century it grew along the waterfront into the hotel most closely tied to the city's merchant society, and it now trades as the Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten.

History

Haerlin's purchase was modest: the original house had only a handful of rooms. He and his descendants bought neighbouring buildings and expanded room by room, and they collected the antiques, paintings and furniture that still give the interiors their character. The family ran the hotel for most of the twentieth century, through two world wars and the rebuilding of Hamburg, and the house became the natural meeting place for the city's shipping families and merchants.

The name has no link with the Canadian hotel company that later used the same idea in English; the Hamburg house took it decades earlier. After the family era the hotel changed owners, passed through the Raffles group and now operates under the Fairmont name.

Architecture and design

Behind the waterfront facade the hotel keeps the look of a private Hanseatic house rather than a palace hotel. The Wohnhalle, the panelled lounge off the lobby, is furnished with antiques and portraits and serves as the hotel's living room for tea and drinks. Corridors and suites are hung with paintings collected over generations, and successive renovations have kept the traditional style instead of replacing it with something fashionable.

Rooms and suites

There are 156 rooms and suites. The most sought after face the Binnenalster, with views of the Alster fountain and the white steamers crossing the lake; others look over the quieter streets behind the hotel.

Dining

Restaurant Haerlin, named after the founding family, holds two Michelin stars and looks out over the Binnenalster. The Jahreszeiten Grill keeps an Art Deco interior and serves classic grill dishes and Hamburg favourites. Doc Cheng's offers Euro-Asian cooking. Afternoon tea and drinks are served in the Wohnhalle.

Wellness

The hotel has a spa with treatment rooms and a fitness area.

Weddings and events

Banqueting rooms and salons, several of them overlooking the Alster, are used for weddings, dinners, receptions and meetings.

Location

This luxury hotel in Hamburg stands in the Neustadt, at the centre of the city. The Jungfernstieg, the Alsterarkaden and the Rathaus are close by, and Alster steamers leave from the Jungfernstieg pier for trips across the lakes and along the canals. The shopping streets of Neuer Wall and the Hanseviertel arcade are a short walk away, and the Elbphilharmonie in HafenCity is a short taxi ride. Jungfernstieg station serves U-Bahn and S-Bahn lines, Hamburg Hauptbahnhof lies a little to the east, and Hamburg Airport is around twenty-five minutes away by car. The Aussenalster, the larger outer lake with its sailing clubs and lakeside paths, begins just beyond the Lombard and Kennedy bridges to the north. The Binnenalster itself owes its existence to the damming of the Alster in the Middle Ages, and in the warmer months the Alster fountain throws its jet high above the water. To the south-west, beyond the old town, rise the tower of St Michael's church and the red-brick warehouses of the Speicherstadt, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.