How Stephan Bösch brought Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa back to life after its renovation
How do you breathe new life into a place where history lingers in every corner? Monocle sits down with Stephan Bösch – the new managing director of Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa in Baden-Baden, southwestern Germany – as the retreat emerges from the most extensive renovation in its 150-year history.
You first joined Brenners Park- Hotel & Spa 20 years ago, before moving to its sister property in London, The Lanesborough. Now you’re back in Baden-Baden. What made you return?
At the heart of it, it was my love of this house. It’s not just somewhere I once worked – it has become part of who I am. So when I was asked to help bring Brenners back to life after a renovation, it felt very much like coming full circle.
The renovation took two years but Brenners has finally reopened its doors. How much of the old house remains and what’s new?
We wanted the hotel to stay true to itself so guests could still recognise what they loved, even as a new generation makes it their own. The renovation began out of necessity: pipes, heating and wiring needed replacing. We stripped wallpaper, removed fittings and even let go of our marble bathrooms. For a while, you could see straight through four floors.
Parts of the hotel feel untouched. What guided that choice?
The danger of renewing everything is that you erase the soul that makes a place special, something that takes generations to grow. In the fireplace room, every piece of furniture still sits where it always has. Countess Bergit Douglas, who has guided every aspect of our interior design for more than 40 years, kept the changes subtle: fresher colours, new fabrics, modern lighting, alongside restored antiques. For the first time, we also replaced some of the oil paintings with contemporary works.
Have guests’ expectations changed over the years?
Yes. People tend to spend more time outdoors now – eating alfresco, relaxing by the spa – and dress codes have softened. A neat appearance still matters but ties at dinner are history. Rooms have evolved too. Guests used to want bed curtains for in-room breakfasts and televisions hidden in cabinets; today everything is more open and intuitive, and every room has a coffee machine.
Technology is everywhere in hospitality, yet Brenners feels refreshingly analogue. Why?
At The Lanesborough, everything was digital – the curtains and lights were controlled by tablets. Here, we wanted something simpler so we chose brass switches from Meljac for their tactile pleasure. Behind the scenes, everything is programmable but the experience for guests has stayed intuitive. We still need to make some adjustments, though, such as reprogramming the master switch, which doesn’t yet turn off the bathroom light. The designers were worried that one partner might leave the other in darkness but guests tell me they’d rather risk a blackout than argue over who gets out of bed at night.
