In Conversation with CEO, Timo Gruenert - Oetker Collection
Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc
Meet Dr. Timo Gruenert, CEO of Oetker Collection for a look back and ahead at this collection of masterpieces. A German native, Timo started his career as Assistant to the Managing Partner of Dr. August Oetker KG, the holding company of the Oetker Group, in 2005, after receiving his PhD from the University of Giessen with a thesis in Mergers & Acquisitions in corporate crisis. In 2009, he co-founded Oetker Collection based on what was back then a portfolio of four prestigious hotel properties owned by the Oetker Group. For the following almost eleven years, Timo held the position of Co-Managing Director and CFO of the hotel group. In May 2020, Timo was promoted to CEO of Oetker Collection.
You now have 12 masterpieces in the Oetker collection with more soon to open. Can you tell us about the company's beginnings?
The story began in 1964 when Rudolf August Oetker sailed past Cap d'Antibes with his new bride, Maja, when the legendary Hôtel du Cap came into view. Five years later, they learned the Sella family was looking to sell, but only to another family who would cherish the hotel the way they had. This acquisition ignited a desire to create a collection of truly exceptional hotels. The family already owned Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa, a storied high society retreat in Baden-Baden, which Rudolf’s grandmother was a long-standing guest and invested in during the 1920s. After Hotel du Cap, they set their sights on Le Bristol Paris, which was followed by the purchase of Château Saint-Martin & Spa in Vence.
Oetker Collection was then officially established in 2009 to operate these hotels and to thoughtfully expand the portfolio, both through new acquisitions and management on behalf of owner partners who share the ethos of the Oetker family, while upholding the very highest standards of hotelkeeping.
Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa
How has the brand evolved since its beginning?
What’s interesting is that the founding families of Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Le Bristol Paris and Brenners all chose the Oetker family to be the custodians of these celebrated hotels and respect their great traditions. When we first brought the concept of creating Oetker Collection to the family, they were very clear that we must always respect their values and their philosophy without ever compromising on quality. That promise has helped us finding our purpose – the creation of masterpieces.
Le Bristol Paris
Hotel La Palma
What is the common thread that runs throughout the brand and ties the collection together?
Think of masterpieces in art, architecture, or haute couture. They are – by definition – one of a kind. The result is a portfolio of hotels in which each property is truly unique, with its very own DNA and personality. But each and every one of them respects the ‘ingredients’ of a masterpiece hotel: the best location in town, splendid architecture, the highest quality of materials, and truly bespoke interior design. You can see or touch all these things. What you cannot see, but feel, are the values that we all share within Oetker Collection, from Courchevel to Sao Paulo and from Paris to St. Barths: family spirit, elegance, and genuine kindness.
Your repeat guest ratio must be exceptionally high. What do you think brings guests back over and over again?
It is ultimately this very rare combination of ‘masterpiece quality’ and attitude that creates the emotional bond between us, our hotels, and our guests. Our hotels are places that people really care about and that become a part of their lives. Think of what you feel when your family gathers from all around the world for a special occasion, like Thanksgiving or Christmas. The excitement that it is the air, the level of belongingness, the warmth , and the sense of relaxation. Our hoteliers make our guests feel that way, just in the most wonderful destinations in the world.
Hotel La Palma
What inspires the design of each property?
What is very important is that guests staying at Le Bristol Paris should absolutely feel like they are in Paris from the moment they go through the revolving door at Rue Faubourg St. Honoré to the moment they close their eyes at night. The same logic obviously applies for all our hotels. Apart from that, hotels of Oetker Collection should feel much more like a home of an affluent family than a hotel. Everything feels bespoke and eclectic, pieces of furniture and fabrics are of highest quality, pieces of art are handpicked. At La Palma Capri, our interior designer, Francis Sultana, designed almost everything from scratch, from the bronze faucets in the bathrooms to the chairs in the restaurants. We hate everything that feels corporate or conventional and we disguise design standards.
Hotel La Palma
Which of your hotel restaurants and bars would you tell our members not to miss?
All of them. I know that this sounds a bit bold, but it is really what I think. Our teams in all our hotels put so much passion into the creation of their restaurants, bars and lounges.
Well, that said, I name two: Le Bristol After Dark, the hotel bar, is one of the hottest nights out in the capital and the clientele is mainly Parisians. Chef Arnaud Faye is currently carving out an exciting new gastronomic era at the hotel, which is, of course, a long-standing beacon of French culinary excellence.
And Bianca, Hotel La Palma’s rooftop restaurant, which brings you to the very heart of Capri - you enter out onto the rooftop of the hotel and are immediately struck by the setting, overlooking the town, and the ambiance.
Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc
Where are your private villas and residences and which are the most remarkable from a size and design perspective?
We operate and market over 250 private villas and residences across our hotels in Europe and the Caribbean. They are located on the grounds of our hotels, in their neighbouring vicinity or in tucked-away hamlets. You are really spoilt for choice at Jumby Bay, our spectacular private island off Antigua, which has 21 private residences and 14 villas. Some of these residences are little masterpiece hotels in their own right, and this is no exaggeration. Eden Rock – St Barths’s Villa Rockstar is quite famous too – it’s been described as resembling ‘a two hundred-million-dollar yacht on land’. We have exquisite retreats at both our hotels in the South of France; Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc and Chateau Saint-Martin & Spa, both on and off property. There is a very special villa launching next year called Villa La Guettiere, which is a stone’s throw away from Hotel du Cap, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea from its 700 sq meters of grounds, and it can accommodate up to 18 guests. Fully serviced by the hotel, of course.
What are you most proud of during your leadership of this venerable collection?
In an industry in which everything seems to be about growth and rapid expansion, it’s a privilege to be able to focus on quality, values and personal relationships. We are fortunate to have owners who have a long-term vision and truly think in decades. There is a legacy to uphold and protect, and this represents a big part of my responsibility. But if there is one thing that I am really proud of: we have a team that truly lives our values of family spirit, elegance and genuine kindness – despite the fact that these teams run some of the most iconic hotels in the world. Our aim is to create masterpieces, but we have both feet on the ground and carry the challenge with humility, good will and grace.
Le Bristol Paris
What are you most excited about for 2025 and beyond?
There are so many things that will make 2025 a very special year for us. We will open our first property in the United States with The Vineta Palm Beach, we will celebrate Le Bristol Paris’s 100th anniversary, and we will re-launch Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa, the Grande Dame of European Hospitality, which is about to conclude the biggest modernization in its history. And we will probably announce where our path is leading us next.
Le Bristol Paris
What do you want the Four Hundred member to know about Oetker Collection?
The similarities between Four Hundred and Oetker Collection are extraordinary. Both companies have a loyal following who look to our brands for truly personalized services and experiences at the top end of the market. From my interactions with the team, I believe our company values, all centred around family spirit, elegance, and genuine kindness, ring true for the way in which Four Hundred does business and treats its members as well as partners. In a way you could see Oetker Collection as a club as well – as our guest you are in a sense part of a global unofficial club of people who understand and take deep pleasure in the hospitality for which we are renowned – an “if you know, you know” outlook. This is exquisite, perfectly executed hospitality, not overly “blingy”, but warm, thoughtful and cultured. And we obviously take extra good care of Four Hundred members.
Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa
Contributor — Four Hundred by Design