As of: March 28, 2024, 5:08 p.m
By: Sandra Sedlmaier
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Opening again soon: the Hotel Residence in Feldafing, although probably without wellness in the future. The property is leased to the Châteauform group from France, which wants to hold conferences there. © Andrea Jaksch
The Hotel Residence in Feldafing has a new tenant. The Châteauform Group, which operates conference hotels in six European countries, has taken over the area.
Feldafing
– The district and especially the community of Feldafing have been waiting for this news for a long time: The Hotel Residence, which has been closed for over a year, is under new management and will reopen as a hotel. The Paris-based Châteauform Group has taken over the hotel on Possenhofener Straße, which currently has around 100 rooms on around 20,000 square meters of land. The owner, the insurance group “Die Bayerische”, confirmed this at the request of Starnberger Merkur.
This means that the “Residence” or whatever it will be called in the future, returns to its origins. The hotel was originally purely a conference facility, but in its final years until it closed at the end of 2022, there were more and more individual tourists there. So now conferences again: Châteauform is an operator of high-quality conference hotels in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Switzerland. What is striking is that the hotels are mainly located in castles, palaces or country estates. Châteauform's concept, as presented on its website, does not cater for individual tourists.
What Mayor Bernhard Sontheim particularly welcomes about the development is that there will continue to be a hotel business at the location. “That was important to the local council, regardless of whether it was a hotel for general tourism or a conference hotel,” he said when asked. “Châteauform is a very renowned company and operates internationally, organizing conferences and seminars.” The target group is the boards of DAX companies.
gwt sees advertising effect through conference operations
On its website, the company advertises its exclusive premises in the same location. “Events in magical places that are reminiscent of short vacations, relaxation and a break from everyday life are often far more effective and have long-term positive effects on the working atmosphere,” it says. “Châteauform offers a number of exceptional conference hotels in attractive German areas that make conferences and meetings an experience.” The exclusive location of the “Residence” in Feldafing not far from Lake Starnberg certainly fits in with this, but the property itself is less so. The construction dates back to the 1990s. “It may not be a castle, but it's not a windy shed either, but a high-quality hotel property,” emphasizes Mayor Sontheim and reports on the planned renovation work. Among other things, the swimming pool is to be converted into a conference room. The spokeswoman for “Bayerische”, Felicitas Eckert, said: “Some structural measures are being carried out inside that the tenant considers necessary for the operation of the seminar center. Our building is in good condition due to our vacancy management.”
For the head of the district's own company for economic and tourism development (gwt), Christoph Winkelkötter, the Châteauform offer fits very well into the district's tourism portfolio. “We are a conference region and there is a lot of demand for us that we cannot always meet.” Even though it would have been nice to have a hotel for all types of tourists, Winkelkötter admits. As reported, there is currently no hotel operation in Feldafing: The “Linde” in Wieling no longer offers rooms, the “Kaiserin Elisabeth” has been rented to Siemens for a long time. Winkelkötter assumes that one or two conference participants will return to Lake Starnberg as tourists.
It is unclear when the new conference hotel will open. The responsible Châteauform spokesman could not be reached. According to reports, the target is autumn this year.
In any case, the French company's commitment is long-term, as Mayor Sontheim and the spokeswoman for “Bayerische” assure. “Our property is rented long-term to Chateauform Deutschland as a seminar and event center with overnight accommodation and catering,” the insurance group said in a statement.