Kempinski Hotels S.A., commonly known as Kempinski, is a German luxury hotel management company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1862, making Kempinski the oldest hospitality company in the world, but the brand opened its first hotel at Berlin in 1897, as the Hotelbetriebs-Aktiengesellschaft, the group currently operates 75 five-star hotels and residences in 38 countries.
History
Kempinski is the oldest hospitality company in the world, the first hotel brand ever. Also, Kempinski Hotels claims to be Europe's oldest luxury hotel group. Its history began in 1897 with the foundation of the "Hotelbetriebs-Aktiengesellschaft" in Berlin. A parallel development was that of M. Kempinski & Co, founded by Berthold Kempinski, which was acquired by the "Hotelbetriebs-Aktiengesellschaft" in 1953.
Berthold Kempinski was born on 10 October 1843 in Posen (then a German province, and now Poland). The Kempinski family was already successfully active in the wine trade from 1862. In 1872 it extended its company to Berlin, where Berthold Kempinski opened a wine merchant's business under his name in the Friedrichstraße. In 1889 he opened a restaurant, the biggest in Berlin, in the Leipziger Straße.
Since Berthold Kempinski and his wife Helena had no son, they invited their son-in-law Richard Unger (1866–1947) to join the business. Berthold Kempinski finally transferred the firm to his son-in-law on condition that he kept the name Kempinski. Berthold Kempinski died on March 14, 1910.
Alongside his wine and restaurant activities, Richard Unger developed his property business up to the start of World War I. After a short period of stagnation during the War, he sold products of his own manufacture under the brand name Kempinski. The business in Berlin flourished so that in 1918, a Kempinski hotel dependency was established at 27 Kurfürstendamm, where the Kempinski Hotel Bristol now stands. Ten years later, M. Kempinski & Co. took over the "Haus Vaterland" on the Potsdamer Platz, where the firm exploited a concept that was unique in Berlin for a long time and is still known as "event gastronomy" ("Erlebnisgastronomie").
To escape the events of World War II, Richard Unger and his family emigrated to the United States and the firm M. Kempinski & Co (Mister Kempinski & Co) became part of Aschinger AG.
The Restaurant at 27 Kurfürstendamm was destroyed by fire shortly before the end of the War, and the other properties fell victim to bombing raids. After the end of the conflict, Richard Unger's son and Berthold Kempinski's grandson, Friedrich Unger, returned to Germany. In 1951 construction started on a hotel on the site of the ruined restaurant at 27 Kurfürstendamm, and it opened a year later under the name Hotel Kempinski. For 20 years the modern, progressive five-star hotel enjoyed the undisputed status of the sole luxury hotel in Berlin.
In 1953 Friedrich Unger sold his shares and the name Kempinski to the "Hotelbetriebs-Aktiengesellschaft", which already ran hotels such as the Baltic, the Bristol and the Kaiserhof. The name Bristol was adopted and is still used at the Kempinski Hotel at 27 Kurfürstendamm. In subsequent years, the "Hotelbetriebs-Aktiengesellschaft" took over the management of several famous hotels. In 1957 it acquired the luxurious Hotel Atlantic in Hamburg.
In 1970 the General Assembly of the "Hotelbetriebs-Aktiengesellschaft" voted to change its name to "Kempinski Hotelbetriebs-Aktiengesellschaft". In the same year, a long-lasting partnership was established with Lufthansa in the form of a 50-per cent participation in the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Munich, in which Lufthansa already had a holding. In 1977 the hotel company received its present name as "Kempinski Aktiengesellschaft (AG)". At the same time, the Kempinski Hotel Frankfurt Gravenbruch was added to the group's portfolio as its fourth German hotel.
In 1985, Lufthansa acquired shares in Kempinski AG and thereby enabled the hotel company to operate Kempinski hotels abroad too. A year later, Kempinski AG, Lufthansa and the finance company Rolaco S.A. founded Kempinski Hotels S.A., with its head office in Geneva. In 1993 Kempinski AG acquired all the shares in Kempinski S.A.
The Bangkok-based Dusit Sindhorn Company Ltd took over Kempinski in November 1994, when it acquired a 52% stake."Kempinski Hotels – 100 years of a grand tradition", hurriyetdailynews. 1 June 1997."Lufthansa Sale Of Hotels Due". The New York Times, 29 November 1994. The 50:50 joint venture between Dusit Thani Group, and the Siam Commercial Bank eventually accumulated an 83% stake in the group, and Dusit Thani exited from the joint venture in 1998 when it sold out to its partner.Spritzer, Dinah A. (12 March 1998). "Dusit Thani Sells Its Share of Kempinski". Travel Weekly.
In February 2017, the two existing shareholders of Kempinski AG formalized previous plans for an equity transfer between them. The majority shares of Kempinski AG are held by the existing Bahraini shareholder, Khalifa bin Salman Al KhalifaSpecial Broadcasting Service of Australia, "Questions raised over Thailand and Bahrain's 'close ties' as Hakeem Al-Araibi's detention continues" while the shareholder from Thailand holds a minority. In the same month, Kempinski announced the opening of its first luxury hotel in Cuba.
In 2024, Kempinski acquired two hotels previously managed by Emaar, formerly known as Address Boulevard and Address Dubai Mall. These hotels are now known as Kempinski The Boulevard and Kempinski Central Avenue Dubai, doubling Kempinski's presence in Dubai to four.
Kempinski Hotels worldwide Kempinski Hotels' portfolio currently comprises 79 hotels and residences worldwide. With the exception of the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski in Munich, which belongs to the group, and two hotels with leasing contracts, Kempinski Hotels operates its luxury hotels and residences under management contracts.
Europe No. Name Location Country Opening Year1Barbaros Reserve Bodrum Residences, Managed by KempinskiBodrumTurkey20232Çırağan Palace Kempinski IstanbulIstanbulTurkey19913Frutt Mountain Resort, Managed by KempinskiKernsSwitzerland20204Grand Hotel des Bains Kempinski St. MoritzSt. MoritzSwitzerland20025Grand Hotel Kempinski High TatrasŠtrbské PlesoSlovakia20096Grand Hotel Kempinski RigaRigaLatvia20177Grand Hotel Kempinski VilniusVilniusLithuania20128Hotel Adlon Kempinski BerlinBerlinGermany19979Hotel Baltschug Kempinski MoscowMoscowRussia199210Hotel Bristol BerlinBerlinGermany195211Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski DresdenDresdenGermany199512Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski MunichMunichGermany197013Kempinski Hotel Adriatic Istria CroatiaSavudrijaCroatia200914Kempinski Hotel Bahía MarbellaEsteponaSpain199915Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay BodrumBodrumTurkey200516Kempinski Hotel BerchtesgadenBerchtesgadenGermany200517Kempinski Hotel Corvinus BudapestBudapestHungary199218Kempinski Hotel Das Tirol Kitzbühel AlpsJochbergAustria201119Kempinski Hotel Frankfurt GravenbruchFrankfurtGermany197720Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena BanskoBanskoBulgaria200521Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz Gozo MaltaGozoMalta200122Kempinski Hotel The Dome BelekBelekTurkey200523Kempinski Palace EngelbergEngelbergSwitzerland202124Kempinski Palace Portorož SloveniaPortorožSlovenia200825Palais Hansen Kempinski ViennaViennaAustria201326San Clemente Palace Kempinski VeniceVeniceItaly2016
Asia-Pacific No. Name Location Country Opening Year1Beijing Yanqi Island PavilionBeijingChina20142Grand Kempinski Hotel ShanghaiShanghaiChina20133Hotel Indonesia Kempinski JakartaJakartaIndonesia20094Kempinski Hotel Beijing Yansha CenterBeijingChina19925Kempinski Hotel ChangshaChangshaChina20146Kempinski Hotel ChengduChengduChina20047Kempinski Hotel ChongqingChongqingChina20128Kempinski Hotel DalianDalianChina20059Kempinski Hotel FuzhouFuzhouChina201610Kempinski Hotel GuiyangGuiyangChina200911Kempinski Hotel HangzhouHangzhouChina201912Kempinski Hotel JinanJinanChina202113Kempinski Hotel Khan Palace UlaanbaatarUlaanbaatarMongolia200714Kempinski Hotel NanjingNanjingChina201915Kempinski Hotel ShenzhenShenzhenChina200616Kempinski Hotel SuzhouSuzhouChina200817Kempinski Hotel TaiyuanTaiyuanChina201318Kempinski Hotel XiamenXiamenChina201219Kempinski Hotel YinchuanYinchuanChina201020Kempinski Residences GuangzhouGuangzhouChina202021Kempinski The One Suites Hotel Shanghai DowntownShanghaiChina201222Siam Kempinski Hotel BangkokBangkokThailand201023Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel BangkokBangkokThailand202024Sunrise Kempinski Hotel BeijingBeijingChina201425The Apurva Kempinski BaliNusa DuaIndonesia201926The Capitol Kempinski Hotel SingaporeSingaporeSingapore201827Yanqi Hotel, Managed by KempinskiBeijingChina2014
Middle East & Africa No. Name Location Country Opening Year1Bristoria Hotel ErbilErbilIraq20222Djibouti Palace KempinskiDjibouti CityDjibouti20063Kempinski Al Othman Hotel Al KhobarAl KhobarSaudi Arabia20164Kempinski Central Avenue DubaiDubaiUnited Arab Emirates20245Kempinski Hotel & Residences Palm JumeirahPalm JumeirahUnited Arab Emirates20116Kempinski Hotel AmmanAmmanJordan20057Kempinski Hotel Aqaba Red SeaAqabaJordan20098Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City AccraAccraGhana20159Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead SeaSweimehJordan200610Kempinski Hotel Mall of the EmiratesDubaiUnited Arab Emirates200611Kempinski Hotel MuscatMuscatOman201812Kempinski Hotel Soma BaySoma BayEgypt200813Kempinski Nile Hotel CairoCairoEgypt201014Kempinski Residences and Suites DohaDohaQatar201015Kempinski Seychelles ResortMahéSeychelles201216Kempinski Summerland Hotel & Resort BeirutBeirutLebanon201617Kempinski The Boulevard DubaiDubaiUnited Arab Emirates202418Marsa Malaz Kempinski, The Pearl - DohaThe Pearl IslandQatar201519Olare Mara Kempinski Masai MaraMaasai MaraKenya201320Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski CairoNew CairoEgypt201521The David Kempinski Tel AvivTel AvivIsrael202222Villa Rosa Kempinski NairobiNairobiKenya2013
Americas No. Name Location Country Opening Year1Cayo Guillermo Resort Kempinski CubaCayo GuillermoCuba20202Gran Hotel Bristol La HabanaHavanaCuba20203Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La HabanaHavanaCuba20174Kempinski Hotel CancúnCancúnMexico2022
Former Properties Emirates Palace Kempinski Abu Dhabi until 30 December 2019.
Global Hotel Alliance Kempinski is a founding member of the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) which was founded in Geneva in 2004. Members of GHA's DISCOVERY loyalty programme receive recognition and rewards across more than 570 hotels, resorts, palaces and spas in 35 brands of hotels across 85 countries.
References
Further reading "Second Swiss opening for Kempinski." Caterer and Hotelkeeper. 23 January 2003. Volume 192, Issue 4257, p. 8. Available at EBSCOHost.
External links