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"Who are we? What do we want to be?" Those were the two questions that renowned entrepreneur Wolfgang Kiessling asked himself about the future of the Hotel Botánico & The Oriental Spa Garden when the Covid-19 pandemic came to a halt. Kiessling, one of the greatest fortunes in Spain thanks to tourist emblems such as Loro Parque and Siam Park, doubted how to focus the future of an establishment to which he has always felt intimately linked. He acquired it in 1995, when he was on the verge of bankruptcy, in order to give accommodation to his friends and guests and ended up making it a benchmark – it is the first hotel in the Canary Islands that became part of The Leading Hotels of the World, a hotel consortium that has more than 400 luxury hotels and resorts in more than 80 countries – which has welcomed personalities such as Michael Jackson, Julio Iglesias, Sylvester Stallone, Queen Sirikit of Thailand or Bill Clinton.

Precisely, the former president of the United States has a suite in his name. Decorated with delicate fabrics such as Thai silk, carpets from the Royal Tapestry Factory of Madrid and unique pieces of art and antiques, it perfectly reflects the spirit of the establishment: tranquility, luxury and comfort, provided in this case by three bedrooms, dining room for ten people, kitchen and a large private terrace of 160 square meters overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

The spa features a Thai pagoda for outdoor oriental massages.

The emblem of the hotel, a subtropical garden of 25,000 square meters, remains pristine, with its more than 200 species of plants and trees, its bonsai forest, its lake with Koi carp, swans, ducks and turtles. "It turns out that you look for paradises and you have them here nearby," Alejandro Sanz wrote in the hotel's golden book after getting lost in its vegetation and letting himself be carried away by the award-winning Best Hotel Spa in Europe and the Mediterranean. They are 3,500 square meters focused on the harmony of the five elements: space, water, air, fire and earth.

Its thermal circuit is indoor and outdoor, and has heated and hydromassage pools, Japanese sauna, laconium, Turkish bath, aromatherapy room, ice grotto, sensation showers, bubble water beds, solarium and even a Thai pagoda for outdoor oriental massages. They also offer multiple programs of between two and seven days to cover any need of the visitor. The Detox Program, for example, includes body scrub, seaweed and sea mud bath and wrapping, lymphatic drainage and Udvartana, Slim and Pinda Sweda massages.

But time passes for everyone. If the Hotel Botánico wanted to maintain its status as "paradise on earth", it had to adapt to the new times. After acquiring it in the mid-90s, Kiessling, who says he feels "more Canarian than German", turned to its decoration with his wife Brigitte: hence the incomparable mixture of masterpieces by Canarian painters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries -case of Óscar Domínguez and César Manrique- and with Chinese vases and Thai engravings. The businessman continues to supervise all the changes, although this leads him to confront Kika Luczak, commercial director and in charge of giving a new air to the mythical establishment.

A sculptural lamp with more than 800 sheets of glass in suspension decorate the new hall.

"

We have to let the light in," was Luczak's motto as soon as he accepted office. Versed in dealing with bosses "with character" – she worked for five years as regional sales director of Be Live & Luabay Hotels, the Globalia hotel chain of Juan José Hidalgo – she catalogs the experience of collaborating with someone so "with the great dedication" of Kiessling as an "interesting and exciting" experience.

The logos of the brand have changed, leaving behind the rococo for something more sober, that "lets breathe" to the letters. At the entrance it went from terracotta to white, with a new steel canopy with a glass roof. It did not manage to eliminate the signage of the restaurants, but it did unify them. The carpets and curtains have ceased to have prominence, and the hall is more diaphanous, with a sculptural lamp with more than 800 sheets of glass suspended on an amethyst druse in whose selection Kiessling actively participated. Pieces from Uruguay, Switzerland, Argentina... until a 450-kilo one from Brazil was found.

The hotel has 252 rooms and suites.

Taking advantage of the 17 months that the hotel remained closed due to the pandemic, Luczak opted for a powerful technological investment to adapt to new technological needs, changing televisions for 48 and 52-inch Smart TVs, a better Wi-Fi connection and "triple the number of plugs" in each of the 252 rooms and suites. Now, he looks forward to the completion of the preparation of a "pilot room" in order to increase their comfort and luxury.

Since its inauguration in 1974, the Tenerife hotel has become an international benchmark in Central Europe for winter holidays. Kiessling, owner of Loro Parque and Siam Park, two authentic machines to attract tourists, dominates this market like no one else. He was born in Gera, a city he left when it was taken by the Russians in 1945. It ended up in Cologne, where it maintains its time fence, responsible for giving the temperature of Tenerife in real time and which boasts of being "the busiest in Europe", with 378,000 people. Now, the hotel's goal is to "create different expectations to bring in new visitors without neglecting the longtime customer," Luczak says.

The Oriental restaurant, specializing in Thai haute cuisine.

Getting the coveted Michelin star for one of its restaurants is another goal. The gastronomic changes are being undertaken gradually and affect all the dining rooms of the hotel. Il Pappagallo, located where the long-awaited El Coto nightclub once stood, is commanded by chef Giorgio Girolimini and seeks to give visitors an all'italiana experience with pastas, pizzas and rice cooked live and a limoncello made from the lemons of "the boss". There are island winks in its menu -Canarian tomato soup with basil oil, organic black potatoes with mojo palmero and cilantro from the garden-, but it is La Parrilla that presents in its crockery the revered Millenary Drago of Icod de los Vinos, who watches over a menu with main dishes ranging from Octopus to grill on sweet potato puree with its two mojos and pretty potatoes to turbot grilled a the Donostiarra ore l beef steak matured with roasted pepper and straw potatoes.

At The Oriental, everything changes. It is accessed after passing through the aquarium that hosts the harmonious dance of a dozen jellyfish and that leads to a fully Asian atmosphere, obtained with valuable antiques. Its menu is described as "a temple of Thai haute cuisine" but there are also Cambodian, Indonesian, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese influences.

The Palmera Real, located in the shade of the palm grove and with a terrace next to the renovated pool, is the only one that offers lunches: a Mediterranean cuisine with an Atlantic accent with the Cherne a la bilbaína with wrinkled potatoes as the star dish. In it you can also have breakfast, although doing it inside allows you to enjoy the immense aviary in which parrots, starlings, turacos and even a golden pheasant play. There are details to improve, but it is compensated by an unparalleled environment and a service focused on the visitor.

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  • Tourism
  • Canary Islands
  • Tenerife

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