The Fontenay

The Fontenay

Ancient trees line the bank of the Alster where The Fontenay sits, close enough to Stephansplatz and the Inner Alster Lake that guests can walk to the shops and museums of central Hamburg. The building holds just 130 rooms across five floors, part of the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts portfolio. What sets it apart from the city's other address hotels is the room categories built around spa access: several of its king, queen and double rooms come labeled with spa access included, alongside a section with both an indoor and an outdoor pool, a sauna, a steam room, a massage room and an on-call doctor, more wellness infrastructure than most boutique properties fit under one roof. A library and a gym sit down the corridor for anyone who wants quiet instead of cardio. Staff switch between English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Arabic without missing a beat, and the concierge desk handles transfers, tour arrangements, laundry and dry cleaning. Business travelers get a conference hall and meeting rooms, and parents get a playroom for children, though the hotel is not built around them: the deposit of 150 euros per guest per night and the overall pace suit couples and solo travelers more than families with young kids. Parking runs 28 euros a day, worth knowing before arrival. What lands, in the end, is the site itself, a five-storey house on the water with the pace of a private residence and the systems of a large hotel behind it. The Fontenay sits on the Alster's tree-lined bank, a five-floor, 130-room house with an indoor and outdoor pool, sauna and several room categories built around spa access. Business travelers and couples fit its pace better than families with young children.