Ketschauer - Hof Deidesheim

Situated on the edge of Deidesheim, at the heart of the Deutsche Weinstraße in south-western Germany, Ketschauer Hof is surrounded by the Riesling-planted vineyard slopes of the Basserman-Jordan estate that stretch towards the Rhine Valley. Cellars under the manor house and other estate buildings hold wines dating back to 1811, Napoleonic times. Within such an historical context, the surprise at the Ketschauer Hof is the cosmopolitan feel of the interiors – an interpretation that maintains a connection to the locale and mirrors the current renaissance of Riesling under a new generation of young winemakers.

Estate owner Achim Niederberger, who has significant other business interests including further top estates as classified by the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter – the Association of German Prädikat Wine estates – recognised that there is a special audience of conservative but sophisticated people who visit this historic wine-growing region. Located in the area of Germany with the highest proportion of millionaires, there is a very high expectation of culinary and hospitality experiences upon which the Ketschauer Hof delivers on both counts.

Niederberger knew of Bost Berlin’s other work such as the Michelin-starred restaurant, Falco that overlooks Leipzig from the top of the Westin Hotel, the suites at the Westin Grand Hotel Berlin, and the BASF Business Hotel René Bohn in Ludwigshafen. He was looking for “a modern experience that fitted the region” and this attracted Tassilo Bost, who says he took the job “because Niederberger did not want a conservative solution.” Potentially unsure of the reaction to something new, Niederberger first asked Bost to develop two restaurant concepts.
All the estate’s buildings are heavily architecturally protected by the ‘Denkmal Amt’ German heritage authorities. Even the former barn buildings that have been transformed into Freundstück, the hotel’s gourmet restaurant, and the adjacent Bassermännchen bistro, required considerable structural compromise. “There was a ‘no’ at every turn,” laments Bost of the battle of attrition with the authorities. The surface mounted air-conditioning and other technical interventions are therefore hidden behind a gold wire gauze that becomes an artistic feature under the barn’s arches.

The kitchen of Freundstück is a half-show kitchen. Through partially glazed stone arches diners get an impression of the active kitchen but not to the extent that it distracts them from their food. The kitchen design itself was the work of Alexander Hess, Chef and Manager of the Ketschauer Hof complex. Naturally, the produce of Niederberger’s estates adds to an enviable wine list. Both Freundstück and the Bassermännchen bistro open onto a terrace, a beautiful summer location beneath the courtyard of Mediterranean cedar, fig and gingko trees.

Bost moved onto the hotel on the other side of the courtyard. There are fourteen rooms in the main manor house plus a further four guestrooms in The Heumarkt, a separate building across a narrow street. The Heumarkt is also home to a cooking atelier, where master-chef cooking courses are held, and another dining room. Of the total guestrooms only five are double rooms, the rest are suites. All are spacious.
Bost has adopted an understated principle to the interior design, keeping the structure but editing the details. And it is this editing within the white-on-white interiors that produces an initial calmness that slowly reveals more of the thought processes that lie behind its conception. White gloss casework is inlaid with bright silver abstract patterning; a similar patterning glows through the border of backlit basin mirrors and is seen in the perfection of white Corian screens. Even the Loewe flat screen TV’s are one-off, all-white commissions.

Bost has introduced a number of bespoke elements to the hotel’s interiors. The partial-basement breakfast room, which receives natural daylight from the street level windows, is furnished with elegant carver chairs customised for Bost by Constantini Pietro. The deep purple velvet upholstery runs down the chair legs between the edges of the dark grainy lacquered wooden frame. Above, in the family’s former dining room, wine red velvet upholstered lounge chairs designed by Bost and manufactured by Walter Knoll sit on a dark purple rug. The room is now used as a guest reception room and includes an original, high-gloss, dark green ceramic-tiled oven called a Kachelofen. Beautifully patterned, original parquet flooring complements the decoratively beamed high ceiling and wood panelled walls. Large black dome-shaped lampshades bespoked by Artemide create a suitably clubby glow.

Bost has also worked in conjunction with Artemide to produced a wall lamp with a curved, flexible plastic diffuser patterned with highly pixellated sections of the image from one of Bassermann-Jordan’s wine labels. The same pattern is used on the glass door to the small reception area at the top of the stairs of the entrance to the hotel.
Bremen-based security suppliers Miditec equipped the guest rooms with access control readers that appear in bordeaux red glass plates, including illuminated room numbers, signals for Do-not-disturb and Make-up-room and a capacitive bell button.The chunky, transparent key cards have a heraldic pattern and show the copper coil of the circuitry. Such discrete patterning develops a subtle oenological linkage seen also in accent colours used throughout the hotel. From the glowing pink embrasure “windows” and the rose lampshades in Freundstück to the burgundy red and leafy green embroidered cushion details in guestrooms.

The editing of Bost cuts down on the extraneous. The luxury comes from the spaciousness and the quality of the materials and craftsmanship. The top floor guestrooms occupy eaves spaces and between the roof beams, covered in plasterwork for fireproofing reasons, over 12 tonnes of glass has been inserted to flood washes of light into the rooms and give great views of the surrounding vineyards. Rain sensors automatically close the dormer windows as required. Blinds by Rubelli, difficult to draw along the sloping beams, are controlled electronically. Other rooms have glass-enclosed bathrooms emphasising their spaciousness.

All bathrooms are lined in slab Travertine marble, under heated of course. Basins are supported by a terrazzo stand and the separate showers and WCs have mosaic for a non-slip surface. WC seats by Flamina have soft-close hinges whilst bedside tables have similarly dampened runners.

Pendant lamps of various sizes are hand-strung by Windfall with Swarovski crystal. The closets have movement sensitive lamps for the whole cupboard and also LEDs along the undersides of the hanging rail. Another neat touch is the night light option that delivers a gentle glow from LEDs recessed in the skirting board. The controls for all settings / options are intuitive.

The major structural intervention in the main house has been the insertion of the lift shaft within a ring of steel. The lift leads to a lobby, lit by a Ross Lovegrove Mercury suspension lamp, which gives on to both the basement breakfast room and the adjacent spa. A local operator runs the spa on an advanced reservation basis. Beneath the arched stone ceiling are a deep-blue glass steam room, a Klafs sauna with three tiers of seating, a relaxation room and a treatment room. All show clever use of what could have been a cramped space but one that has again been edited to produce calm.

“We had a lot of time in the planning phase to revisit problems and find better solutions,” explains Bost, “but all the time we kept closing the circle and never lost sight of the end goal.” In Ketschauer Hof, Bost Berlin have produced a gourmand’s paradise, with luxurious accommodation perfect for connoisseurs of wine and design alike.

Ketschauer Hof
Ketschauerhofstraße 1, 67146
Deidesheim, Germany
Tel: +49 63 26 70 000
www.ketschauer-hof.com

Rooms 18 guestrooms
Dining Freundstück Restaurant, Bassermännchen Bistro,
Heumarkt Cooking Atelier
Drinking Cigar Lounge
Leisure Spa
Facilities Rooftop terrace, 100m2 event space