Dr Timo Gruenert has been CEO of Oetker Collection, headquartered in Baden-Baden, for less than two months but this humble gentleman is truly versed not only in luxury but in the brand. For well over a decade he was climbing the professional ladder of the multitude of Oetker companies. Asked to help Frank Marrenbach bundle the company’s hotels into a marketable Collection, he became so enamoured of hospitality that he moved over, first as CFO of the hotel portfolio and, in May 2020, promotion to the top seat.
“Oetker Collection is not too large, but at the same time it is big enough to concentrate on serious competency”, he says. Expect the new Gruenert regime to provide evolution, with the kindness and customer-thoughtfulness for which he, and the Collection, has always been respected.
Oetker Collection’s Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc re-opens this comingWednesday 1st July 2020 – and, says the gal (shown above on its South-facing steps) it will trumpet its 150th Summer season. Hidden away on 25 acres of Cap d’Antibes, near Cannes and Nice, this legendary place has played host to some of the greatest names in art, cinema, literature, politics and business, and it remains beloved the world over by generations of families who return year on year. The grand dame has withstood the test of time and evolved gracefully, ever since Queen Victoria first visited the area in 1882 drawn by warmer winters and took with her a steady stream of English aristocrats, thereby sealing the Riviera’s reputation for years to come.
You will have full access to Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc’s iconic saltwater swimming pool, water activities, tennis courts and fitness centre, as well as spa treatments in outdoor cabanas or the gazebo. A private limousine transfer service is available, as is the ‘Meet & Greet’ service to expedite arrivals into Nice Côte d’Azur airport. The hotel’s private seaside cabanas – part of the mythical Riviera experience since the 1930s – can be booked for full days to experience private, peaceful al fresco lunches while enjoying uninterrupted views over the Mediterranean in an intimate setting, sanctuaries between pine groves and the sea that were created for sunbathing while listening to the sound of the water lapping against the rocks (they are equally chic for private lunches or romantic dinners). Eden-Roc Grill – the quintessential symbol of summer with the Mediterranean as its backdrop – is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Expect, too, within the next few weeks ‘new look’ social areas and restaurants. Hotel MD Philippe Perd is himself a graduate of the Inchbald School of Design, and now he is working with Brazilian designer Patricia Anastassiadis is currently upgrading piano-bar La Rotonde as well as lunchtime’s Eden-Roc Restaurant, which transforms into Louroc Restaurant for dinner. Girlahead last stayed at this magnificent 118-room resort in suite 333, directly above the 20 steps shown above and perfect for views of the ocean. Built in 1870 by Le Figaro founder Auguste de Villemessant as Villa Soleil, a retreat for writers, Antoine Sella converted it to a hotel 17 years later. After serving as a military hospital during WWII, it was owned by the Irondelle family, until, in 1968, Dr Rudolf Oetker and his wife Maja were sailing by, fell in love with it and bought it.
