Boris Messmer on The Florentin and the Frankfurt We Thought We Knew
- Andrew C.
- Aug 5
- 15 min read
For decades, Frankfurt has occupied a singular position within Europe: defined by finance, movement and international exchange, it is one of the continent’s great crossroads. The world has long passed through Frankfurt, yet relatively few travelers have been encouraged to stop and look more closely.
Boris Messmer knew that perception well. Before moving to Frankfurt, he knew the airport, the banks and the familiar skyline. What he discovered after arriving was considerably more layered: a remarkably cosmopolitan community surrounded by some of Germany’s most celebrated wine regions, a centuries-old tradition of philanthropy, and an arts and cultural landscape whose ambition far exceeds Frankfurt’s relatively modest scale.
It is against this backdrop that The Florentin has arrived.
Occupying a restored 1902 villa in leafy Sachsenhausen, the hotel has been conceived as an urban retreat: deeply considered, globally minded and intended to become part of Frankfurt’s cultural life rather than simply another luxury address.
For Messmer, the project also marks a return. After fourteen years abroad and a career shaped by some of Europe’s most established luxury hotels, he came back to Germany to lead one of the country’s most ambitious recent openings. When the opportunity first arrived, his instinct echoed a question many travelers might still ask: Why Frankfurt? Then he saw the property.
Our conversation began there and soon moved beyond the making of a hotel.
We spoke about why Frankfurt may have underestimated its own appeal; why some of the most important details in hospitality should barely be noticed; what happens behind the scenes when 150 people come together to make a newly opened hotel feel effortless; and how two decades spent working across different cultures and generations have shaped Messmer’s approach to hospitality and leadership.
The conversation became personal as well, from his enduring affection for Corsica and pride in German wine to his belief that a hotel should never simply attempt to recreate home. As his own relationship with travel has evolved, so has his understanding of luxury, increasingly defined by time, discovery and the experiences we share with others.
At the center of it all is a larger question: can a hotel change the way we see a city—and can Frankfurt persuade travelers to stay a little longer?
Boris Messmer, General Manager of The Florentin in Frankfurt The courtyard garden at The Florentin in Frankfurt Boris Messmer, General Manager of The Florentin & Andrew Chen, Founder of My Inspire Project The Villa at The Florentin Inside The Florentin in Frankfurt Inside The Florentin in Frankfurt Inside The Florentin in Frankfurt
The Return
After fourteen years working outside Germany, returning home was not necessarily part of Boris Messmer’s plan.
His career had taken him through some of Europe’s most established luxury hotels, from London to the Côte d’Azur, where the codes of international hospitality were already deeply ingrained. Frankfurt presented a very different proposition. When the opportunity to lead The Florentin first reached him, his response was instinctive: he needed to see the property for himself.
What he found was still very much a work in progress. The historic villa had been stripped back, construction was underway, and much of what would eventually become The Florentin existed only through plans, samples, and imagination. Then he stepped into the courtyard.
“I walked into the courtyard and immediately felt connected to the property.”
Built around a villa dating to 1902, the architecture reminded Messmer less of a conventional German city hotel than of homes he had encountered south of the Alps. He spoke of Italy, Spain and Morocco, where an enclosed courtyard becomes the heart of the house: protected from the street, open to the sky and shaped around a more private rhythm of life.
That first encounter would eventually inform much of The Florentin’s identity. Beyond its walls, Frankfurt remains energetic and intensely connected; inside, the courtyard creates an immediate change of pace. Messmer saw in that contrast the possibility of a hotel with its own character—rooted in its surroundings while speaking naturally to an international traveler.
The project also appealed to something fundamental in his character. Messmer is drawn to beginnings: the process of taking a property from construction site to functioning hotel, and the opportunity to influence decisions guests may eventually experience without ever knowing they were made.
“Take a second look. Who’s going to Lyon? Who’s going to Frankfurt?”
At The Florentin, that involvement extended well beyond operations. Working alongside the design and development teams, he became closely involved with mock-up rooms, materials, practical details, and the sequence of the guest experience. It allowed him to consider the property both as the person responsible for operating it and as someone helping determine how it should feel.
After years spent leading established hotels, The Florentin offered a different challenge: the opportunity to help define one from the beginning.
Frankfurt’s Identity Problem
For a city of Frankfurt’s economic importance, its international image remains surprisingly narrow.
Banking, trade fairs and one of Europe’s busiest airports have long defined how much of the world encounters it. Frankfurt became exceptionally good at attracting people with a specific purpose—business, finance, a meeting, a connection—without necessarily convincing them to stay once that purpose had passed.
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