Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte
Beautiful and elegant features all around, together with its cozy room design, Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte is unique to other hotels in the Frankfurt City area. It is just a pity that it won’t be another viable accommodation option in the near future.
Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Frankfurt
Singapore Airlines Business Class: B77-300ER Business Class FRA-SIN
For my last 3 days in Frankfurt, I booked a unique accommodation that is under the Rocco Forte Hotels Group, which is more well-known in Europe but to a much lesser extent in Singapore. Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte was actually the first hotel that I planned to book for this trip, after seeing positive reviews and couldn’t help but marvel at its uniqueness. It also helped that there was a great Stay-3 Nights-Pay-2 Nights promotion at that point of time, which made me pull the trigger.
I felt even more fortunate when I heard that the hotel was closing its operations a few weeks after my stay, as I got to have a taste of this very unique hotel for the last time. So sad.
Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte: Booking
I saw a great promotion for QX travel for this hotel under the Rocco Forte Knights rate, and I snapped up a base-level Deluxe Room at 640EUR nett for 3 nights. It included the following:
Complimentary breakfast
Complimentary Room Upgrade
75EUR hotel credit
Welcome amenity
Late check-out of 4pm
The net damage was 575EUR (after deducting hotel credit), which was about 192EUR (S$270) per night. Not bad for a hotel which cost about minimum S$400 a night at that period of time!
Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte: Arrival and Check-In
As mentioned in my previous post, I reached the hotel through taking an Uber from Hilton Frankfurt City Centre, and reached in about 15-20 mins. When the driver first drove in, I thought I had entered into private property, as it was located in an area with rows of terrace houses. An elegant lobby greeted me as I went to the reception area, and I have to say that this is the most unique lobby among the hotels stayed in Frankfurt (or even in other countries) so far. It felt like entering an ancient library or museum, with its classical design and ornaments, yet somehow felt modern with some of its furniture.
The room was already ready during my check-in at 2pm, and procedures were completed swiftly in about 5-10 minutes. I was also bried that due to its impending closure, the main dining restaurant (JFK Bar) and Spa (which has the swimming pool) are closed and only the gym was available.
Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte: Room
I was upgraded to the newly-renovated (as emphasized by the reception staff) Superior Deluxe Room, which is two levels higher then the base room. It looked pretty spacious, and the decor was very cozy. The decor of the king-size bed was also similar, with fanciful cushions and great pillows adorning it. I have to say that the bed was very nice to sleep in, however one issue is its location with relevance to the TV, which I will get to later.
The views by the window are not super great but has the feel of late winter and spring just arriving. Sometimes you may even catch glimpses of magpies flying around the courtyard.
Facing the bed is an elegant lounge area, with a nice L-shaped sofa and small tea table. This will be where I spent most of the time, mainly due to its proximity near the TV, and with my in-room dining meals been served here.
On the table is where the welcome amenity was placed, a house-branded “Villa Kennedy Cuvee Edition III”, which was really nice! A pity that I could not bring back to Singapore to savor. I tried my best to finish the whole bottle during my 3 nights stay.
Behind the lounge area is a very functional working desk, which was large enough to get work stuff done, and would have been approved by the missus.
Inside a drawer is also a cute map showing the Villa Kennedy area and locations of the main attractions.
There was a nicely-sized HD TV located beside a small bookshelf with some classics for the novel lovers, and this was where I felt that there was something amiss about the design, as technically you have to lie on the width of the bed in order to watch it. Perhaps another feature that does not advocate guests watching TV during sleep?
Below the TV are some snacks, and needless to say that they are chargeable as expected of hotel prices. I was tempted to get the house-branded almonds though.
Another positive to note is that still and sparkling water is actually complimentary, in which I was cautious about as the signs were not very clear (and the mini bar did state the price). I only got to know when housekeeping replenished it with ample quantities. How good was that!
There was also a Lavazza coffee machine, in which after drinking I would say I still preferred Nespresso ones.
The body-length wardrobe was really spacious and could easily fit all your clothings from your luggage.
On to the bathroom, which was right at the room entrance. Although the bathroom was not super spacious, it was of decent size and had nice designs. It had a bathtub, a rain-shower equivalent faucet (which worked just fine with nice water pressure and temperature), and a normal toilet seat with a separate manual bidet, as per most European hotels.
Bathroom amenities were house-branded, and I do like their prickly pear scent which had a refreshing smell to it.
Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte: Facilities
After checking in, I took a walk around the hotel grounds, and went past the now-closed JFK Bar, which was their signature restaurant. A pity that I did not get the chance to experience their dining options. The restaurant also has nice loungers facing the courtyard outside the restaurant, which would have been great for a nice cup of coffee or wine.
There was even a Nespresso machine at one of the corners, in which I was not sure whether it was working, as I did not ask the lobby staff.
The Villa Spa was located at the basement, just above the JFK Bar. As mentioned, it was permanently closed during my stay. There was a gym but I did not visit it during my stay.
Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte: In-Room Dining and Breakfast
Despite being restricted to in-room dining services only, one of the main highlights of this hotel has to be the food. Above are the menus for the in-room dining and breakfast.
For one, the in-room dining pricing was reasonable, considering the large portions provided, together with bread! It took quite an effort to use up all of the 75 EUR dining credits.
For the in-room dining, I had the Villa Currywurst (with French Fries included), Maishanchenbrust (Chicken), Aglio E Olio and Korean Crispy Burger (photo not shown). I would recommend all of them except for the Chicken, which was a bit too tough for my liking (but I think sort of expected as it is baked).
As the JFK Bar was closed, only in-room dining was provided for breakfast, and you have to make your orders on the order form provided, and hang it outside your door the night before.
I made a mistake of ordering a sparkling water on the first day breakfast thinking it was complimentary (not stated explicitly on the form), and ended up being charged for it. (even more regret when I knew about the complimentary sparkling water top up by housekeeping).
Breakfast was served with a large bowl of bread assortment and fruit salad, and overall the breakfast was very delicious! I did not even need to have lunch as I could just continue to eat the bread basket which was definitely not possible to finish within one breakfast. The omelette was made to perfection, while the pancakes were very fluffy.
Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte: Service
The service was exceptional, from the start of the stay. For a start, the hotel reception staff brought me directly to the room and gave a room tour, which was nice of them and rare to see in hotels. The in-room dining and breakfast service was prompt, and always within reasonable amount of time. It tells you about the service when 2 staff serves you the in-room dining and even sets up the decorations in a restaurant-like way on your table!
Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte: Hotel Grounds
Taking a walk around the hotel grounds was a delight, and was a highlight of the trip itself. The courtyard was especially beautiful, surrounded by its Neo-Classical hotel façade. I let the pictures speak for themselves.
There are also nice places to hang out in the lobby, with its unique ornaments and furniture, together with the courtyard as the backdrop
I checked out of the hotel with a heavy heart, and was a bit sad that I had to check out earlier to catch my flight back to Singapore.
Conclusion
Overall, Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte was a great stay, and provided a memorable ending to my Frankfurt trip. I hope that Rocco Forte will re-open another hotel of this calibre in Frankfurt in the near future!
I am now also excited to try out the hotels under their profile in the near future, especially those in Europe.
The Travel Duckie
An aspiring, ordinary individual (or bird) who yearns and enjoys travelling, while juggling full-time work. He is also a travel hacker who flies (not literally) way out of his obligations to uncover the best strategies and deals to maximise cost-effectiveness (or rather “cheapskate-ness”) to the maximum.
He hopes to document his journey through words, while maybe inspiring others to follow the path, and ultimately aims to be able to do this as a full-time passion.
-”Journey before destination. Enjoy the journey” - Brian Sanderson.
