The fitness center of Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Hamburg, Germany, is surely unique. As gym enthusiasts know, the typical fitness room may, if it is lucky, have a good view. It may even have doors that allow users to venture outside for some deep breaths of fresh air. Those enthusiasts also know, however, that all too often fitness centers can be situated in the basement and windowless.
Ingo Peters, the general manager of the Hamburg Fairmont and regional vice president at FRHI, a division of AccorHotels, is, as a runner, only too aware of ambience. The fitness center on the fifth floor of the 1897-vintage hotel is more like a SoHo loft. Its relax area has brick walls, really comfortable leather seating, books, apples and an icebox filled with complimentary ice water. Walls by the gym equipment bear pictures of old ships. Next to Pilates balls and free weights are fresh white orchid plants and numbered traveling trunks, as used by sailors past, a reminder that Hamburg is still one of the world’s most important maritime destinations.
“The additional cost in making the fitness center appealing was minimal and the return is noticeable. With only 157 rooms and suites, the hotel is too small to allow outsiders to use the facilities, but many hotel guests comment favorably, and it honestly does fill bedrooms as it attracts business, especially millennial bankers and consultants, from the competition,” Peters said.