Tea Time with...Ariel Schiff

The AMO has been Germany's first underground hotel since 2019. It was the brainchild of Ariel Schiff, 2019's Hotelier of the Year: together with his architects, the Managing Director of the AMANO Group hotel chain took the reception, bar and breakfast room underground. “The layout was not exciting enough for a hotel”, says the creative founder. The fact that the building was a listed building complicated the task, but it also led Schiff to a unique solution: “We simply dug out the large: inner courtyard and created a huge underground hotel area.” Although this isn't something that can just be accomplished overnight, Schiff never once lost faith in his idea. In the end, it took a year and a half to complete. "I love being an entrepreneur and being free to try out unusual things. Today when I watch guests step into the glass cube, walk down the stairs and come to a standstill in front of our reception with their eyes wide open, it is quite an experience for both them and me”, says Schiff.

For Schiff, every detail of the AMANO hotels should convey an unmitigated lifestyle and be its very own place to be. Take the famous hotel bars of the AMANO Group, for example. “Ten years ago, hotel bars were still considered bourgeois and boring People went there because they had nothing better to do. I wanted to make the hotel bar a fun place to be.” He therefore opened the GET Bar, Germany's first gin & tonic bar. “We didn't invent gin, but we made it something special by being the first bar to offer gin with matching tonics and special gin cocktails”, says the entrepreneur. Today Berlin's best bartenders serve drinks such as Butter Bean with lime, honey, Beurre Noisette and filtered milk or gin shots infused with tea. In addition, they welcome world-famous DJs who fill the air with trendy beats — such as the New Yorker Stimulus, discovered by music producer Mark Ronson himself. “We believe in fun above else”, says Schiff.

This fascination Schiff has for revolutionary bar concepts came from visiting the Hudson Hotel in New York Gity, USA. "| was 50 inspired by that hotel ~ New Yorkers would queue around the block and book a hotel room without hesitation just to gain entry to the bar", says Schiff enthusiastically. This is also where he got the inspiration for his rooftop bars, which are the flagship venues of the AMANO Group today. "figured if this wasnt a perfect fit in young, - it be?";The Tight: thousands of hotel guests larly enj was proven view of the city panorama. As a matter of fact, the idea for his own glass cube also cametohim in New York City — his inspiration was the glass entrance of an Apple store in Central Park.

“Where does Schiff unique flair for trends come from?" “Ask my parents”, he says with a laugh. He also inherited his fondness for lively locations from them. Schiff, who practically grew up in his parents’ club in southern Spain, founded the AMANO Group - which currently includes eight hotels -  in Berlin in 2009. Before that, he was working in the real estate industry when, as is typical of his approach, he promptly seized the opportunity to take over two vacant hotels through his old employer. “I never lost my connection to the hotel and catering trade”, says the businessman. But he also knows that not everything can always succeed immediately. Although he is not a fan of staying still, he is aware that you sometimes need a little patience. “I'm just saying: the worst thing is when we're not doing anything, while we are waiting to see how things develop — or not”.