Q&a / Oetker Collection CEO Timo Gruenert on masterpiece hotels: every historic property is on par with Dior haute couture or Michelangelo’s David – so where’s next?

Jan 30 , 2023

Picture of elegance: the Hotel La Palma from the Oetker Collection. Photo: Oetker Collection

From London’s Lanesborough hotel to The Woodward in Geneva, the properties in the Oetker Collection share only their values and a commitment to excellence, according to CEO Timo Gruenert

Rather than having a recognisable brand identity, its only remit is to be a masterpiece on par with haute couture or a Michelangelo artwork – next up, Palm Beach and Capri

Three years into his role as CEO of Oetker Collection, Timo Gruenert explains the luxury hotel group’s plans to enter the US market, and why they deliberately have no brand standards.

Among finest hotels in the world: Le Bristol Paris. Photo: Oetker Collection

What’s the biggest challenge in restoring the historic property, The Vineta, in the US?

We had been looking for some time to enter the US market but waited for the perfect opportunity that fulfilled our criteria. About 35 per cent of our guests within Oetker Collection come from North America, so in many respects it feels a bit like coming home.

Oetker Collection’s CEO Timo Gruenert. Photo: Oetker Collection

The building has great heritage, and the hotel was known and loved by guests and locals alike for almost 100 years. Transforming it into something new requires us to be very thoughtful and respectful to this heritage.

An old postcard showing the Vineta hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: Oetker Collection

New York, Beverly Hills and Aspen are other locations we have our sights on to eventually open in. We are fortunate, however, not to be in a rush to expand. We wait for the right opportunities to create masterpiece hotels, which as you can imagine are quite rare.

One of the rooms at Le Bristol in Paris. Photo: Oetker Collection

What defines an Oetker experience?

We do not see it as our mission to develop and operate luxury hotels, our aim is to create masterpieces. Think of the David sculpture by Michelangelo or an haute couture dress from Dior – examples of incredible craftsmanship, created with an almost obsessive attention to detail and in a class by themselves.