Excelsior Hotel Ernst

“Let’s leave the cathedral in Cologne, because that’s where it belongs,” runs the lyric of perhaps the best-known German Carnival song. Yet just as the cathedral is inseparable from the city, so too has the Excelsior Hotel Ernst graced this metropolis of more than a million souls since 1863. Much water has flowed down the Rhine since that time, yet the Excelsior Hotel Ernst has remained the sole five-star property in the city centre to this day. It is therefore little wonder that the property has long been regarded as a living hotel legend, cherished by the people of Cologne almost as deeply as their Kölsch breweries—although the ambience at the Excelsior Hotel Ernst is unmistakably more refined.

Culinary Delights

At the Excelsior Hotel Ernst, the guest is always the focal point. This dedication is especially evident in the culinary realm. The hotel’s culinary offerings are open to everyone—not just overnight guests. At the multi-award-winning Hanse Stube, Executive Chef Lars Wolf infuses French haute cuisine with Rhineland accents, turning every lunch and dinner into something special. It’s no coincidence that this gourmet restaurant is also known as “Cologne’s finest dining room.” Located in the basement is taku, a Michelin-starred East Asian restaurant. There, Mirko Gaul combines delicate fine dining with an uninhibited spirit of experimentation to create exciting, Asian-inspired compositions. He has been delighting the international gourmet scene for years—and has been awarded a Michelin star every year since 2011.

The Winter Garden is also particularly popular; here, everything revolves around the “art of the little things,” as they like to say at the Excelsior Hotel Ernst. The exquisite pastries by Executive Pastry Chef Pavel Tanev, as well as the “Excelsior Afternoon Tea,” are served to the sounds of Steinway pianist Robin Meloy Goldsby. During the summer months, a special highlight awaits you in the hotel’s inner courtyard: in-house florist Ali Pourkhalili transforms it into an enchanting Flower Café, where a floral-inspired afternoon tea—designed specifically for this occasion—is served. In the evening, summery cocktails invite you to linger there. Long known to Cologne locals, the hotel bar is a true insider’s tip worldwide. At the Charles Bar, named after hotel proprietor Charles Roulet, connoisseurs of craft cocktails, wine, or champagne gather and lose track of time for a moment. Because that’s precisely what it’s all about here: time and the opportunity to savour it.

A Restful Night’s Sleep

At Excelsior Hotel Ernst, however, guests can do more than simply feast on exquisite cuisine; they can also enjoy a wonderfully restful night’s sleep in a total of 133 luxuriously appointed rooms and suites featuring elegant marble bathrooms and a timelessly refined ambience. 
Many of these accommodations afford a view of the Domplatte directly across the street and what is arguably the world’s most famous cathedral. So “from the balcony,” you need never miss “the view of the cathedral! La la la lalalala...” Photos: Excelsior Hotel Ernst