Muhammad Ali, Klaus Kinski, Romy Schneider, the Dalai Lama, Thomas Mann, Gracia Patricia, Bruce Springsteen, Woody Allen, Bill Clinton, Queen Elizabeth and Pope Benedict are just a few. Every year, she and her 700-strong staff host the Munich Security Conference – a challenge that puts the 345-room hotel in a state of emergency for three days. And catapulted the Bayerischer Hof into all the media of the world. Following her grandfather’s advice, Innegrit Volkhardt does not live in a hotel, but on the family estate in Starnberg. This distance is important to her, because it is the only way for the grande dame of the world-famous luxury hotel to switch off. The best way to do this is to take care of her animal family members, the four donkeys and two cats, every morning. Without animals, Innegrit Volkhardt emphasizes, she simply can’t do it. A minimum distance that gives the hotelier the strength for the almost 24-hour mammoth job. A conversation about the chances of repeating this success, how she experiences personalities and reacts to the changes in the hotel industry.
Innegrit Volkhardt now manages the second hotel with the highest turnover in Germany. In the fourth generation, she is at the helm of the Bayerischer Hof in Munich.
Finally, a lot of work was done again. The palace hall was completely renovated by the internationally renowned interior designer, art collector and antique dealer Axel Vervoordt from Belgium. In addition to the Palaishalle, Axel Vervoordt is currently involved in another project in the house: a further 29 rooms, junior suites and a penthouse suite, which occupies the entire eighth floor and covers 350 square metres including the terrace. “Customer demands have risen steadily in recent years,” says Volkhardt. When she took over the hotel, it still had 442 rooms. There are now only 345. But in all imaginable variants and sizes. It is the balancing act between tradition and modernity that is existential for a hotel like the Bayerischer Hof. “You think carefully about what you want to modernize,” says Volkhardt. But she is aware that there must be changes in order to survive in the present. So far, it has succeeded well: In recent years, the Bayerischer Hof has been the hotel with the highest turnover in Germany, followed by the Berlin hotels Estrel and the Adlon. In addition to the Bayerischer Hof, the Hotel Zur Tenne in Kitzbühel and a wine shop in Munich also belong to the family business Gebrüder Volkhardt KG.
But even around an icon like Munich’s oldest grand hotel, the hotel landscape is in a state of upheaval: increasingly, private accommodation is being booked via providers such as Airbnb, hotel chains are building hotels out of the ground and so-called design hotels are gaining momentum. Experts believe that the three- and four-star category in particular is facing major changes. In the future, these could have significantly fewer employees, and voice robots could take over a large part of the tasks. The impersonal replaces the personal – imaginable?
Unthinkable! In this way, Bayerischer Hof is taking the opposite approach and sending a clear signal with its commitment to service. This is also what guests expect from a luxury hotel. The people who stay here want to have their wishes fulfilled. This is one of the reasons why the hotel has the largest concierge desk in Germany. There is hardly anything that he cannot get. From time to time, even a hotel manager can’t get tickets for a sold-out concert. Then the concierge jumps in to get hold of some through his network. “This usually only takes a few minutes,” says Volkhardt. All too often, she doesn’t allow herself a break anyway. She takes this on a few days a year. Mostly at Christmas and on her birthday. For a family hotel, it is important that the head is personally there for the guests. The company will remain family-owned in the future. It now has four shareholders. Innegrit Volkhardt, her sister and her two daughters have recently been transferred shares. It is not yet clear whether they will lead the hotel into the future at some point as shareholders or operationally. However, it will take some time before that happens. And we enjoy it on the roof terrace of the Hotel Bayerischer Hof with a view of the north tower of the Frauenkirche.
You can also read our article, the interview with General Manager Dominik G. Reiner about the Hotel Mandarin Oriental Munich.
Source: GO Sixt #46
Editor’s tip: the DUGGAN showroom – the top Poggenpohl dealer in Munich – is located directly behind the Bayerischer Hof.
