Kempinski Hotels is celebrating its 125th birthday this year, which is a major milestone in the company’s history. After its humble beginnings as a family-run wine merchant and restaurant business in 1897, Kempinski is today proud to manage a collection of 80 elegant hotels, resorts and residences in 34 countries around the world, with another 26 projects under development from Brazil to Beijing.
To commemorate the occasion, the company launched a dedicated website, ‘kempinski-125.com’ on April 5, 2022, that will introduce the 125 Anniversary Special: a collection of generous offers that include discounts of up to 25 per cent on hotel stays until September 30, 2022, with a flexible cancellation policy. The website will also shine a light on some of the key chapters in the Kempinski story and introduce the cast of characters who continue to write it today.
“Ever since our earliest beginnings, Kempinski has had a reputation for excellence. After 125 years in the hospitality business, this reputation shines through in all our people, who come from more than 130 nationalities and tirelessly deliver the highest service quality,” says Bernold Schroeder, Chief Executive Officer of Kempinski Group and Chairman of the Management Board of Kempinski AG. “It is thanks to these dedicated individuals that we are able to continue creating beautiful performances for our guests, and it is their passion that will define our story for another 125 years.”
Kempinski: A Brief History
When the company was founded in 1897, wine merchant and restaurateur Berthold Kempinski was already committed to delivering exemplary customer service. His restaurants in Berlin were among the most popular in the city and when the company entered the hotel business, the Kempinski name already carried a reputation for excellence.
Kempinski grew steadily over the next few decades, firstly in Germany with new hotels in Munich, Hamburg and Frankfurt, and then onward into key European destinations. In 1992, the company achieved several significant signings further afield and opened its first hotel in China, Kempinski Hotel Beijing Lufthansa Center. Since then, the company has grown rapidly in China, where its European heritage and reputation for first-class service and quality helped secure management agreements for some of the most iconic properties in the country, including two hotels at the recently opened Universal Beijing Resort.
At the same time, Kempinski has grown steadily in the wider Asia-Pacific region, Africa and the Middle East, where it was among the first international companies to open hotels in key destinations. In 2017, Kempinski made its debut in the Americas with the first luxury five-star hotel in Cuba, Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana, and has since expanded with a second resort in Cuba and one in Dominica. The recent signing of Kempinski Laje de Pedra Hotel & Residences, a landmark property in Brazil scheduled to open in 2024, indicates the company’s long-term commitment to the region.
“Our constellation of beautiful havens continues to grow. Over the last six months alone we signed 10 new management agreements for hotels and residences in destinations such as Lombok, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Istanbul, which demonstrates the appetite among owners to tap into our long history of management expertise. We are proud to note that the Kempinski name is so highly esteemed around the world,” says Schroeder. “For our guests, Kempinski today offers a reassuring combination of modern elegance and classic European
luxury, embellished with local touches in each of the destinations we call home. As we continue to grow around the world, the focus will always be on quality over quantity. We strive to make sure that each new opportunity that comes our way is a good fit for the Kempinski family: one in which we can uphold the values that have come to define the brand after 125 years of excellence.”
In 1897, Berthold Kempinski delighted his customers with innovations not seen before in the hospitality industry: small touches such as serving wine by the glass and offering half-portions and fixed-price menus. Today, his legacy lives on as Kempinski continues to innovate around the world.
The relaunch of the Kempinski Discovery loyalty programme in collaboration with the Global Hotel Alliance as well as recent initiatives such as the introduction of Kempinski Fit-Room or the new Titan Tikes Kids’ Club demonstrate that the company has never stopped innovating.
