About Kempinski Hotels & Resorts Beirut (and vicinity)
Kempinski Hotels S.A. is a hotel group founded all the way back in 1897 in Berlin, Germany. It’s Europe’s oldest luxury hotel group, yet it continues to serve 75 five-star hotels and residences in over 30 countries. Their portfolio extends from Europe to the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The company originated from the foundation of the "Hotelbetriebs-Aktiengesellschaft" in Berlin. The renaming to Kempinski was from the original group’s acquisition of then parallel development of M. Kempinski & Co. originally owned by Berthold Kempinski. Kempinski’s family gained fame from their success in wine trade in 1862. Already knowledgeable with entrepreneurship, Kempinski was trusted by friend, Richard Unger, to take over his property business.
The consequences of the World War I led Unger to sell his products under Kempinski’s brand name. What seemed to be a merely practical move in Unger’s part became Kempinski’s ultimate prominence in the property business industry in Berlin. In 1918, Kempinski already started launching its first hotel. The only way was up for the family business since. In 1953, Richard Unger’s son, Dr. Friedrich Unger sold his family’s shares and the name Kempinski to the "Hotelbetriebs-Aktiengesellschaft" as it was already running hotels such as the Baltic, the Bristol, and the Kaiserhof. In 1970, the long brand name changed into Kempinski S.A. (Rolaco S.A.) with the changes in shareholders. Fast forward to the 21st century, the hotel chain still emerges in the luxury accommodations scene and is scattered in different parts of the globe.
