The World Design Organization has designated Frankfurt the 2026 World Design Capital, further thrusting it into the global zeitgeist. What’s more, the city has a swish new hotel catering to travelers who are here for pleasure more than business. Opened in December 2025, The Florentin, part of the Althoff Collection, is a 147-key boutique housed partially within a grand villa that dates back to 1901. The interiors are all about understated textural elegance (think hand-finished chestnut and oak, bronze detailing, and custom-crafted light fixtures with silk shades). Inside the villa itself are nine gorgeously appointed suites, each paying homage to a different piece of German history. There’s The Explorer, which nods to Frankfurt-born cartographer Ernst Georg Ravenstein, and The Jazz Musician, a tribute to bassist Günter Lenz. Capping it all off are a dreamy spa and a restaurant helmed by wunderkind Niclas Nussbaumer, who, at the age of 29 became one of the youngest chefs ever to score two Michelin stars.
“Close the laptop and enjoy life” is the message—an increasingly enticing proposition in the new Frankfurt.
This article appeared in the March 2026 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.