Stuart Forster writes a review of the Park Hyatt Hamburg hotel, a five-star property with a spa in central Hamburg, Germany.
The Park Hyatt Hamburg is a luxury hotel in central Hamburg. Moenckerbergerstasse, the main shopping street of Germany’s second city, runs by the front of the Levantehaus, the brickwork building that houses this hotel with 252 guestrooms and 31 apartments.
The Park Hyatt Hamburg opened in 1998 but the Levanthaus was built back in 1912 as the headquarters of the German-Levant shipping line. It predates the Chilehaus and other Modernist office buildings of the city’s nearby Kontorhaus district that, along with the Neo-Gothic warehouses of the Speicherstadt area, were awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2015. Looking up at the Levantehaus’s atrium, which has a stained glass skylight in its cupola and is decorated with stucco animal figures, provided my first view into this five-star hotel.
Global leaders and A-list stars
Both the building and the service within the hotel impress. No wonder the Park Hyatt Hamburg counts world leaders and A-list movie stars among its guests. As I was heading out for the evening, a lift opened. Among burly security guards with wires curling down their necks stood a sporty-looking Justin Trudeau. The Canadian Prime Minister had, I was told, just been for a run around the nearly Alster Lake — certainly not something you would guess from his flawlessly presented hair. The following day an excited fellow guest mentioned spotting Keira Knightly at the hotel.
The warm, neutrally coloured décor plays upon Hamburg’s maritime heritage. Black and white photos, displayed in the corridors, show scenes from around the city. They include Aale Dieter, a fishmonger whose marketplace banter is one of the reasons that makes rising early and heading to Sunday morning’s market, at Altona, worth sacrificing the comfort of the Park Hyatt’s beds. Bands play live music and beer flows at the fish market.
A city centre base
Despite this being bang in the heart of the city centre, I was impressed by how quiet my spacious bedroom proved. The sizable wood-topped desk proved a good place to work. The wi-fi was fast, enabling me to quickly transfer hi-res photos of the Elbphilharmonie’s interiors.
After a busy day on my feet, I appreciated kicking off my shoes and socks and walking on the thick carpet of my guestroom.
I remembered to bring adaptors to charge my electronic devices (something that isn’t always the case) but noticed that the room had a variety of international and USB sockets, so was able to plug straight in. That’s worth knowing for future trips to Hamburg.
A bathrobe was hanging in the bathroom, which had a bathtub and a separate shower. Two entrances, around a wardrobe with a safe large enough to store a laptop, emphasised the large size of my guestroom and provided a sense of flow.
Dinner at Apples restaurant
Park Lounge is known as the living room of the hotel and it’s there that afternoon tea is served. While I was there people sat around chatting next to the fireplace, creating a convivial atmosphere.
Cocktails are mixed by Alberto Costa, the hotel’s chief bartender. If you enjoy the drinks he serves it’s possible to learn how to make them at the cocktail classes that he runs within the Park Hyatt Hamburg.
Apples, the hotel’s highly rated restaurant, serves breakfast from 7.00 am until noon each day, with warm dishes prepared to order in the open kitchen. After grabbing chopped fruit from the buffet I ordered egg benedict with smoked salmon.
I returned in the evening to dine at the chef’s table, tucking into dishes prepared primarily with produce from the region by Max Hohlfeld and his team.
This hotel is popular with business travellers, meaning reasonable weekend room rates if you’re looking for a city break in Hamburg with an upscale base.
Further information
The Park Hyatt Hamburg (Bugenhagenstrasse 8, 20095 Hamburg; tel. +49 (0) 40 3332 1234) also has eight flexible, naturally lit meeting rooms which can cater for up to 250 people. The executive boardroom can hold meetings with up to 12 participants. Valet parking, 24-hour in-room dining, complimentary shoe shines and babysitting count among the services available to guests.
There’s a sauna and steam room within the hotel’s Club Olympus Spa and Fitness area, which has a swimming pool plus a gym with cardiovascular equipment and weights.
The hotel is a 25-minute taxi ride from Hamburg Airport. The city’s central railway station, with U- and S-Bahn connections, is a three-minute walk from the hotel.
If you’ve read this review of the Park Hyatt Hamburg hotel ahead of visiting Germany’s second city, you may be interested in this look at the Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg’s waterfront icon and an article about things to do during a weekend in Hamburg.
See the Hamburg Marketing website for more ideas about things to see and do in the city. They include visits to the public plaza and concerts at the Elbphilharmonie. The German National Tourist Board website is a source of ideas for activities in Hamburg and elsewhere in the country.
Photos illustrating this post are by Why Eye Photography.
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