„More feeling at home? More feeling of good service! My business trip to the Sofitel Frankfurt Opera these days has refreshed me.” Kai Böcking
Sometimes, as a travel professional, you only realize how extremely relaxed a stay in a top city hotel really was when you listen to other guests. While waiting for my bill, I overhear the conversation at the counter next to me. A married couple checks out and says to the lady at the reception: “Please tell the whole team: It was great! From now on we have a new home here in Frankfurt. Thank you!”
What happened? Was five-star hospitality reinvented here? No Corona impact in terms of service quality?
None of the above, but quite simply, the almost perfect way to deal with service-hungry guests at this time.
But from the start! The Sofitel at the Frankfurt Opera is not easy to find if you come to Frankfurt by car. Because it is located directly on the square, opposite the opera. The navigation system goes a little crazy, because the curious guest only has to drive a few meters through a supposed pedestrian zone to the entrance. Then a young man takes the car and luggage into his care and promises to park them both quickly, the car in the (expensive) underground garage and the light luggage in the intended room. Meanwhile, for me it means: Mask on and into the bright, airy hotel lobby with a reduced design but a striking number of works of art! Très chic … and “Bonjour!” was the motto at the reception a little later. No trace of Corona frustration. This is no ordinary vacation rental.
Relaxed working everywhere
The room with a view of the small park on the other side of the lively Opera Square is bathed in light and beige tones. Classic, unobtrusive design and quite untouched by scratches, dents and signs of wear and tear. The bathroom can be separated from the living room by two mirrored doors. The floor is black stone, alongside much white and light marble. I like that! Charming and subtle is also the greeting of the management: besides the welcome mask of these days, and the disinfectant, also the card of the hotel director, served with macaroons and Frankfurt apple wine.
As a business traveler, you have to explore a little for sockets for all the devices you carry. But WLAN compensates for this with solid speed in the room and throughout the hotel – but also on the terraces, which are quickly becoming my favorite place to work. There is also free wifi. In addition, you can also write texts and make phone calls in the lobby, the lounge, or in the café and restaurant. Business travel is excellent here.
But I want to get out and explore during my Bleisure trip. The sun is shining, and the Sofitel has a large terrace right at my favorite spot in the city of Frankfurt, the Opernplatz. I order a wine spritzer from a young man and, despite an annoying mask, I see glittering eyes, friendly laugh lines and full attention for me as a guest: “Wine spritzer, gladly. What kind of wine do you like to drink? With ice?” A normal order quickly turns into a humorous dialogue about the variations of an actually banal drink. And this is exactly what I often experience during these two days – a personal service that I have been missing for quite some time in many top hotels.
Breakfast also in the afternoon at 3
The boss of the house is Steffen Opitz – young, widely travelled and with dignity, who is only a few months in office. “The guest and his wishes must again be more at the center of attention”, he encourages his young crew to overcome the distance of this time. He wants to be more flexible with check-out times, housekeeping and room service to make your business trip more fulfilling. Business travelers should be able to enjoy “extras” right now, such as visits to the Schirn Kunsthalle outside opening hours or exclusive excursions to surrounding wineries – work and leisure time combined in a contemporary way. “And those who have booked breakfast with us can also get it in their room at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Without extra charge.”
I’ll try that the next day. 11:30 am, the breakfast lounge restaurant Schönemann is closed, I order my breakfast to my room. 20 minutes later: everything of the finest and fresh, the foam on the cappuccino holds, and the offer to bring me another glass of champagne in 5 minutes, I accept. After all, it was a “late” breakfast. Merci!
And two other things I really liked, besides the service and the good, modern dishes in the restaurant. First: I can swim. And I really can, in a 25-meter pool in the adjacent Fitness First branch, which is free for hotel guests.
And second – of course, the small, very nice roof terrace with a view over the Opernplatz and the main Frankfurt skyline. It has long since ceased to be an insiders’ tip, so be sure to arrive early, there is also a guest limit here because of Corona.
And another delicious tip around the corner of the hotel. The “Hi Ge Matsu” in Meisengasse is not one of the many hip sushi palaces in the banking city, but a small, winding Japanese restaurant with predominantly Asian guests. For me still a sign that you are at the right (eating) place.
Kai Böcking …
was surprised and delighted by the charm of the Sofitel Frankfurt Opera and can more than understand the couple he overheard checking out. This was exactly what he had missing for a long time in many a five-star location: that real second home feeling in luxury hotel business.
At a glance
Getting there: Frankfurt is an important German traffic junction and can be reached by plane, train and car. The hotel is centrally located at the Opernplatz.
Hotel: The Sofitel Frankfurt Opera is designed in the style of a Parisian townhouse with many living elements such as the lobby or the restaurant Schönemann. The rooms are 30 to 45 square meters, the suites 50 to 120 square meters. The Presidential Suite has its own roof terrace – as well as Lili’s Bar for all guests with a view of the skyline and the Alte Oper. In addition to the rooms and suites, a boardroom and three modular conference rooms allow for undisturbed meetings with business partners. In the hotel itself there is a small spa with sauna, massage and beauty treatments as well as small fitness offers. For hotel guests, the neighboring branch of “Fitness First” is also available.
Workplaces in the hotel: in the room, in the lobby, the lounge, and in the café and restaurant, on the terrace on the Opernplatz and on the roof terrace. It is perfect for business travel and all forms of business trip.
Internet speed:
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Fitness offer:
at the hotel:
✓ Treadmills
✓ Stepper
✓ Weights
free access “Fitness First” with direct access from the hotel:
✓ 3,300 square meters of training area
✓ Cardio- and strength area
✓ Freestyle area
✓ Climbing und bouldering wall
✓ Pool (25 meters long)
✓ Saunas, steam bath, solariums
✓ Relaxation room and separate area for women
✓ Children’s area
✓ extensive course offer and individual personal training
Address: Sofitel Frankfurt Opera, Opernplatz 16, D-60313 Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland, +49 69 2566950
Photos: © Abaca Corporate Vangelis Paterakis (Lobby), Francis Amiand (Restaurant Schönemann), Peter Krausgrill (rooftop terrace), Böcking
