Kempinski Hotels Enters Luxury Lifestyle Space

Kempinski Hotels, the oldest luxury hotel group in Europe, is launching a luxury lifestyle product in partnership with 12.18. Investment Management.

The two partners have named the new brand 7Pines Kempinski. They plan to grow its portfolio to 20 new hotels and resorts by 2020, and have earmarked 500 million euros in investment capital.

12.18. is expanding its portfolio outside of Europe for the first time in the company’s 122-year history, with the acquisition of the San Carlos Hotel in New York City. Following thorough renovations, the San Carlos Hotel will reopen as the 7Pines Kempinski Manhattan at the end of 2020. It will join the company’s flagship 7Pines Resort on the west coast of Ibiza, which will reopen in spring 2020 under the name 7Pines Kempinski Ibiza; followed by another resort in Sardinia.

There are 15 more hotel projects are currently under negotiation, including Schloss Roxburghe in Scotland and Schloss Fleesensee in Germany.

7Pines Resort Ibiza

“New York has always been a desirable destination for the Kempinski hotels, and this important partnership will make it a reality,” said Martin Smura, CEO and chairman of Kempinski Hotels, who took role July 1 of this year, overseeing the group’s 78 five-star hotels and residences in 34 countries. 

7Pines Kempinski will benefit from access to the international network and the extensive distribution channels of Kempinski Hotels. To promote the expansion, 7Pines Hotel Management Gmbh has been founded and is based in Düsseldorf. In addition to Kai Richter, Markus Lück, general manager of the 7Pines Resort Ibiza for many years, will act as managing director.

Focusing on international expansion
The German hotel group also announced this week that it expects to have more than 100 luxury hotels in operation around the globe by 2021.

In the next 12 months alone, nine new hotels with a total of 1,961 rooms and suites will open their doors: three of them in the Caribbean and one hotel in Tel Aviv, Tbilisi, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Brazzaville, and Almaty, respectively.

That includes the highly anticipated opening of the 160-room Cabrits Resort & Spa Kempinski Dominica this month, along with two more properties opening later this year in Cuba: Cayo Guillermo Resort Kempinski Cuba and Gran Hotel Bristol, Havana, Cuba.

Seven more hotels with 2,404 rooms are currently under construction.

Cabrits Resort & Spa Kempinski Dominica

Kempinski Group’s expansion in the future will not only be based on management contracts, the company said, but the acquisition of hotel properties is also planned. In particular, properties that may be extensively renovated and then repositioned under the group’s own brands.

“By acquiring real estate, we benefit from the increase in value instead of paying money for management contracts,” said Smura. “We have set ourselves ambitious goals to expand the portfolio of Kempinski Hotels with additional flagship hotels.”