new level of individuality in the hotel and travel trade.” As he explains “this megatrend of affordable style was so powerful that we felt we should catch and ride the wave of oppor tunity together.” Taking as a preliminary template the f irst 25hours project – 25hours Hotel No. 1, created by Kai Hollmann in Hamburg – they channeled their distinctive characters and individual strengths into the enterprise, and in 2005 a new company was born. Ardi Goldman is their resident instigator, honing in on everything from real estate development to the f inest details of decor. Stephan Gerhard keeps his sharp Swabian eye on the numbers and is the group’s economic conscience. Kai Hollmann serves as the originator of the 25hours concept and, as the founders of 25hours would have it, grand seigneur of Hamburg’s hospitality industry. And Christoph Hoffmann claims the title of unwitting captain of this cunning crew. Eloquent, wry, and quick to laugh, the chestnut-brown-eyed, 45-year-old Hoffmann is also quick to emphasise that the inspiration and success of each 25hours hotel rest on the shoulders of every person involved, from the architects to the staff. There are currently three proper ties in Hamburg and Frankfur t, with more on the way in Hamburg’s HafenCity, Zurich, and Vienna. “Our humanistic philosophy inspires our team, which is both brave and empowered to make decisions,” Hoffmann says. “Each member feels
Each floor tells the tale of a single decade in
American history
his or her impact as a vital par t of the whole. We joke that I am the great Dictator over those who don’t give a damn [about my command] and simply do what they believe is right. By having this – let’s call it f ire – each of us feels responsible for and passionate about what we are doing.” Hoffmann developed his passion for hotels during his formative years when he visited the grand hotels of Manhattan and Switzerland. Guests, he believes, should be offered an expansive, well-considered experience. And these grand old institutions inspired him to bring back – or reinvent – not their pomp, but their pizzazz. “A hotel can simply be a functional building to sleep in or a place of discovery, people and secrets,” he says. “In the odd
hotels, the walls can tell the stories of what happened there. 25hours, not being a deluxe grand hotel, represents these emotions in a laid back way.” The company is fueled by the four founders’ common passion for experimentation and freedom, as well as the radical belief that form follows emotion rather than function. For Ardi Goldman, the company’s creative force, this belief is a driving force. “We try not to answer questions but to create them,” says Goldman. “They are ideas that can grow in a person’s mind. We aim to give people the possibility to think in a big way, or to think in a small way, but always to think. What is impor tant is how you create and tell a story. We like to tell stories.”
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