The lobby is the heart of the hotel. In the incomparable ambience of the Wilhelminian style, the lobby is an oasis of tranquility. Crackling open fire and a breathtaking view over the Inner Alster Lake offer a spectacular framework for the classic "afternoon tea".

As soon as you enter the great venerable lobby, you are overcome with a feeling of nostalgia. You get a realistic experience of history. There is barely a guest, who entering the hall, doesn't pause for a moment - in regard of the elegance, the warmth and the peace the lobby emanates. David Copperfield for example, took his camera even before checking in and took a private snapshot of the lobby. Only after that he wanted to be led to his room. During his stay, Al Jarreau enjoyed the enormous armchairs very often. He felt completely at home.

Every Ambience creates its own rules, especially the lobby. On the tables you can find small signs with a discreet note, that talking to cell phones is not desired. As a matter of course, one can observe people hectically seeking for the right buttons when a vociferous ring tone "Torero" from "Carmen" blusters through the venerable lobby.

The lobby is the heart, the origin of the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten. Here, everything started. In February 1897 Friedrich Haerlin purchased the "Hotel zu den Vier Jahreszeiten" by auction. The present-day lobby used to be the entrance hall, and later the hotel's "prince's residence". In 1912, new competitors and his continuous desire to offer something extraordinary and new to his sophisticated guests, made the hotel founder raise a sort of "society hall" with a view over the Alster Lake. This could be realized by buying the houses to the left and right of the original "Vier Jahreszeiten".

The magazine "Innen Dekoration" appreciated the new premises in the issue of April 1912. "The emphasis of the creation concentrates on the hall, on the lounge that - according to the increasing social culture and the naturalization of the hall in the aristocratic dwelling, becomes a center of the hotel and builds a framework for the exclusive conviviality of an international audience... The art of furnishing consists in transforming spaciousness in absolute comfort. Rich oak wood planking and stucco ceilings with opulent sculptures, a marble floor with grey and black intarsia ... an open fireplace made of French sandstone and soft carpets bestow the room with a sonorous chord."

Already in 1912, the fireplace made of French sandstone used to be the center of the lobby. As well as the paintings of Prince Heinrich and Princess Irene, who had stayed many times in the Vier Jahreszeiten, had had already the prominent position left and right from the fireplace. The Hamburg city arms have been sitting enthroned above the fireplace ever since.

During every building alteration, Friedrich Haerlin, his ancestors or subsequent owners of the hotel carried out, the lobby was always considered to be inviolable. In the eighties, a representative chandelier was installed in the middle of the hall. In 1998, with a great effort and under the management of Raffles International, the lobby has been air-conditioned. Today, the lobby is land marked.

Tea Time

Among other things, the lobby is well known and likewise loved for its tea ceremony. Here you may find hot water pouring out of a grand golden samovar and the guests can determine how long the tea is allowed to brew. Alongside all classical types of tea, premium teas are provided such as "Morning Dew Tea", "Nurbong" and "Jungpana". Yet two times, the lobby has been awarded with the "Golden Teacup", which is a decoration of the "Teekulturkreis 5000" for the best tea comprehension of a region in the upscale gastronomic sector.

It's not just any tea. It's "a nice cup of tea" - the classic and very British "afternoon tea", which is celebrated perfectly in the lobby. Immaculate snow-white table napkins stand around the silver étagère. Classic English sandwiches with cream cheese, eggs, cucumbers or salmon, cut in delicate hand-sized pieces are placed royally upon it as well as the sweet additions like scones, biscuits and shortbread. Behind that scenery, the grand golden samovar brews with boiling tea water.

Andreas Winkels - Lobby manager

Since 1990, Andreas Winkels is manager of the lobby and furthermore an exceptionally gifted adept of the tea scene. In 2003 he graduated in "Tea Master in Gold". The title "Tea Master" is comparable to the title of a sommelier. "Tea is very similar to wine, the world of taste is nearly unendingly versatile", says Winkels. A heavy chocolate cake doesn't go well with green tea. The sweetness of the cake swallows the light aroma of the green tea. In the morning, Winkels would suggest an energetic Assam or Ceylon tea, in the evening a decaffeinated Roibosh tea with several flower additives. Certainly he meets a lot of real tea connoisseurs and then nobody can stop him being euphoric. If time would allow, he would philosophize for hours about tea.

Advent season is the most beautiful season one can experience in the lobby. The candlelight from the tables is reflected in the shiny balls on the Christmas tree. Light Christmas melodies from the piano, waving through the room and the crackling of the burning logs, make you ease off into your soft and cozy armchair. From time to time it may happen, that guests dispute in hot-tempered crosstalk about the seats. Andreas Winkels and his team resolve the little conflicts with a lot of charm and diplomacy. "Christmas time in the lobby means staying calm" says the 42 year old, "but nevertheless, I age at least 9 years every time".

The Lobby

Monday to Sunday: 8.00 a.m. to midnight

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