Roomers Baden-Baden, Autograph Collection – Germany
Piero Lissoni brings contemporary cool, rooftop cocktails and a little provocation to Germany’s grand old spa town
Why DNA Hotels Loves It
● Piero Lissoni’s interiors deliberately break with Baden-Baden tradition: pale sandstone, timber screens, smoked mirrors and low-slung furniture replace the expected grand-hotel opulence.
● The rooftop infinity pool and bar look straight across to the Black Forest, giving this famously genteel spa town a decidedly more seductive social scene.
● Roomers understands that wellness and nightlife aren’t mutually exclusive: spend the afternoon in the spa, eat pan-Asian at moriki and end the night with cocktails upstairs.
Baden-Baden, But Not as You Know It
Baden-Baden knows a thing or two about indulgence. For centuries, Europe’s aristocrats, artists and wealthy pleasure seekers have come here for thermal waters, grand hotels, casinos, concerts and the restorative air of the Black Forest. Then Roomers arrived. Opened in 2016 by Micky Rosen and Alex Urseanu’s Gekko Group, the hotel doesn’t attempt to reproduce Baden-Baden’s Belle Époque grandeur. Instead, its glassy contemporary architecture makes a deliberate break with the historic spa town surrounding it. It’s almost provocative. And that’s precisely why it works.
Enter Piero Lissoni
Local practice KHP Architekten developed the architectural design, while Italian architect and designer Piero Lissoni was responsible for the overall interior concept, façade and landscaping. His fingerprints are everywhere. Pale sandstone, timber screens, smoked mirrors, natural colours and low-slung furniture create broad, flowing spaces that feel simultaneously minimalist and sensual. Floor-to-ceiling glazing pulls the Black Forest landscape inside, while carefully controlled lighting prevents all that contemporary architecture from becoming cold. Then, at the entrance, comes the curveball: two enormous antique Spanish church portals, each 3.8 metres high. It’s exactly the kind of collision we like — centuries-old doors opening into an unapologetically contemporary hotel.
No Reception Desk Required
The lobby immediately signals that Roomers isn’t interested in conventional five-star choreography. There is no imposing reception counter establishing who’s serving whom. Check-in takes place more informally at tables among the furniture, making the ground floor feel closer to an urban living room than a traditional hotel lobby. That’s important because Roomers was conceived as much for Baden-Baden locals as for overnight guests. The hotel wants people coming through the doors for dinner, drinks and parties rather than disappearing upstairs after check-in. This is a social hotel in a spa town.
130 Rooms, Plenty of Space
The 130 rooms and suites are considerably lighter than the famously dark and seductive original Roomers in Frankfurt. Natural materials and neutral textiles form the backdrop, interrupted by occasional colour and Lissoni’s precise furniture and lighting choices. Full-height windows bring in daylight and views towards the surrounding hills. Even the entry-level rooms are generous at around 32 m². Move upwards and things become considerably more indulgent: Junior Suites run from 46 to 55 m², larger suites begin around 60 m², while the 100 m² Prestige Suite adds a huge rooftop terrace. At the top sits the 185 m² Master Suite, wrapped by its own terrace. Bathrooms come with both bathtubs and separate showers. Minimalism, yes. Monasticism, definitely not.
Baden-Baden Gets a Rooftop
The rooftop is where Roomers makes its most obvious intervention in the city’s social life. There’s an infinity pool overlooking the Black Forest, surrounded by oversized plants and contemporary furniture. During the day, it’s somewhere to swim, sunbathe and recover. As afternoon turns into evening, the mood changes. The Rooftop Bar becomes the place for aperitivo and sundowners, with DJs and occasional pool parties pushing Baden-Baden rather further from its traditional image of afternoon tea and thermal cures. The view hasn’t changed. The soundtrack certainly has.
From Sushi to Sundowners
Downstairs, moriki gives the hotel another reason to stay put. Created by restaurateur and chef The Duc Ngo, the restaurant serves modern pan-Asian cooking in an informal setting opening onto a large courtyard. Sushi and sashimi sit alongside dishes drawing on Japanese and wider East Asian flavours. The name combines mori, Japanese for forest, with ki, life energy — a slightly philosophical reference that makes rather more sense when you’re eating with the Black Forest almost outside the window. Then there are the bars. Roomers has always understood that a hotel bar should be more than somewhere guests wait for a taxi. The ground-floor Roomers Bar is conceived as one of the property’s social anchors, while upstairs the rooftop takes over when the weather cooperates.
Spa Town, Roomers Style
Building a lifestyle hotel in Baden-Baden without taking wellness seriously would be missing the point. The hotel’s 500 m² spa occupies the fourth floor, looking towards the forest and combining treatment rooms with hammam, steam facilities, jacuzzi, fitness and a private outdoor relaxation terrace. More recently, the wellness offering has been associated with Dr. Barbara Sturm, bringing a contemporary skincare angle to a city whose identity has revolved around bathing and wellbeing for centuries. You can therefore spend the afternoon being thoroughly virtuous before undoing some of the good work at the rooftop bar. We approve of balance.
Tradition Needed a Little Competition
Roomers isn’t trying to replace the Baden-Baden of the Friedrichsbad, Kurhaus and grand 19th-century hotels. It offers the alternative. Its location near the Festspielhaus puts the historic centre within walking distance, while the Black Forest remains constantly visible through all that glass. The ingredients that made Baden-Baden famous are still there; they’ve simply been reframed through Lissoni’s contemporary Italian eye and Roomers’ more playful approach to hospitality. Come for the spa town. Stay because Baden-Baden turns out to have a nightlife after all.
A Modern Provocateur in a Grand Old Spa Town
The clever thing about Roomers Baden-Baden is the contrast. Put this hotel in another contemporary European city and it would simply be a very polished lifestyle hotel. Put it among Baden-Baden’s historic villas, thermal baths and aristocratic architecture and suddenly Lissoni’s minimalism feels radical. Glass instead of ornament. Sushi instead of silver-service formality. An infinity pool instead of another chandeliered salon. DJs above one of Europe’s oldest spa destinations. Roomers doesn’t try to make Baden-Baden younger. It simply proves there was room for something different.
