The Charles Hotel. Germany, Munich

While most of the Rocco Forte Hotels are situated in historical old buildings, The Charles Hotel in Munich is a completely newly built hotel. When planning the hotel together with the renowned Munich architect Christoph Sattler, Sir Rocco Forte had the guests of today and their wishes already in mind. The Charles Hotel, which was named after Lord Charles Forte, the father of Sir Rocco Forte, and which was built on the site of the former university library for natural sciences at the Old Botanical Garden, tells with its interior design three different stories: one of the Forte Family, one of the Old Botanical Garden and one of Munich and its art heritage.

In The Charles Hotel one should feel the ambience and the discreet charm of travelling. The lobby, restaurant and terrace overlooking the Old Botanical Garden give a feeling of tranquillity and harmony in the middle of the busy city. Large windows and a glass dome in the middle as the heart of the hotel allow pleasant natural light in the floors, lobby and restaurant. Noble materials such as lime sandstone, stylish fur- nishings, cherry wood panelling, crystal chandeliers and selected home accessories convey elegant and simple comfort when entering the lobby.

Olga Polizzi, the sister of Sir Rocco Forte, together with her design team, the Agency Art Consult International from Mainz as well as the interior design studio Markus-Diedenhofen impress with soft decorations and friendly, muted colours. The lighting designer Mrs. von Kardorff from Berlin was responsible for the entire lighting project.

Themes from nature and especially botany are the leitmotifs throughout the hotel. Also the colour schemes of the rooms, with brown, violet and green are reminiscent of discrete earth colours. High quality natural products such as cotton and silk were preferably used.

A characteristic feature of all Rocco Forte Hotels is the fact that every hotel reflects its location. The Charles Hotel is no exception: Already the floors, which are unusually light-flooded due to the windows to an inner courtyard, shine white-sky blue, the typical Bavarian colour combination. The white room doors have been treated with clear varnish, normally not used in the hotel business.

In the rooms, large art photographs of Hubertus von Hohenlohe are an eye-catcher. The pictures show the artist against a background of Munich scenery. A further connection to Munich is the wall decoration in each bathroom — the architect Sattler had this especially made for the hotel in the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory. With Adam or Eve as theme, this also tells the story of creation — this time from a religious perspective.

In The Charles Spa the natural theme is continued in its interior design: The walls of the pool area are decorated with extensive, elaborately made coral mosaics from Bisazza. The nature theme connects with that of Munich: The members of the royal family Wittelsbach were passionate coral collectors and even used them in their coats of arms.