Hamburg, September 13, 2010: Three years of building work in the exclusive Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten are almost complete. On Monday, September 13, 2010 the restaurant furniture for the Euro-Asian restaurant Doc Cheng's is being delivered. From tomorrow everything will be in its usual place again.

Almost three years of renovation commenced on the 5th floor of the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten. With this step the creation of a new centerpiece for the hotel was begun and the so-called bel etage was born. The term bel etage refers to the favored floor in the 19th century, usually the first floor above ground level in a noble or upper-middle class house. In the “Vier Jahreszeiten” the term bel etage also had its usual meaning 100 years ago. It referred to the generous guest rooms and suites on the first and second floors.

All bathrooms on the bel etage were ripped out, 15 rooms, including the Sir Peter Ustinov Suite, were modernized and refurnished. The freshly renovated fifth floor of the renowned hotel present itself with an incredibly youthful design and with great attention to detail. The finest materials and lively colors are used to great effect. The rooms and suites on the Alster side have balconies with a breath-taking panorama view of the Inner Alster and are inviting places to rest and relax.

At the same time work was carried out on the insulation and on the renovation of the striking green copper roof. The renovation work also included the installation of air conditioning on the fifth floor. In addition, the existing air conditioning was overhauled and a second unit was installed, so that the cooling for the entire hotel could be optimized.

Then in 2009 all 156 rooms and suites were renovated and fitted out with the latest technology. Since then all rooms and suites have had flat screen TVs with HDTV (High Definition Television). Among other things, the new TV system provides video on demand, which is provided to hotel guests free of charge. In addition, all rooms and suites have a Nespresso machine, DVD player, iPod docking stations, LED reading lights directly on the head of the bed and free wireless LAN throughout the whole hotel.

In order to complete the overall image of the guest hallways and rooms, all inner courtyards were then renovated and brightened up and also since then colorful new carpets have embellished the hallways of the fifth floor.

In the course of the installation of the sprinkler system the Large Ballroom were overhauled in spring 2009. Equipped with a digital multimedia system for all common video and audio signals, two Hitachi projectors which lift down from the ceiling, height-adjustable chandeliers, eight mobile Bose loud speakers and an innovative lighting concept all allow limitless possibilities for the guests' ideas. A particular feature of the ballrooms since the renovation is the elegant, lownoise checker-board parquet flooring.

Just a few months later the Small Ballroom in the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten also shone with a new splendor. Completely renovated and equipped with a new digital multimedia system for all common video and audio signals, two Hitachi projectors which lift down from the ceiling and an innovative lighting concept, all of which offer function rooms the framework for every type of event.

A new space has been cleverly made accessible to the public. A room which hitherto had been used as storage space was completely redesigned and today is resplendent as an additional foyer adjacent to the Small Ballroom. This new use of space will allow the independent use of the Jahreszeiten Salon and the Small Ballroom for the first time.

The new foyer offers separate access to both spaces, as well as a beautiful ambiance for receptions and coffee breaks. Classically decorated in a unique way right down to the last detail, this newly designed function room is a perfect symbiosis of spectacular classic charm and stateof- the-art technology.

At the start of 2010 the last large part of the building work was begun. In order to further improve safety for the guests, sprinklers were built into the public areas of the hotel during structural maintenance work in 2010. The work was begun at the main entrance of the hotel and then moved through all public areas of the hotel. In individual stages the restoration, Haerlin, Grill, Condi and the lounge area were fitted with a sprinkler system and were freshened up at the same time.

A business center with three computer work stations and a meeting room were also created in the same year.

In order to complete the overall image of the hotel many of the antiques and the Flemish tapestry were sent to be restored. A fine wall tapestry was cleaned by hand in a time-consuming process, touched up with lovingly detailed work and now delights visitors to the hotel in its usual impressive way. The many fine paintings and woodwork in the historic lounge area were touched up and restored. New material now adorns the inviting armchairs in the lounge area.

The total investment amount was put at 25 million in total. Ingo C. Peters, Managing Director of the hotel follows his principle of “saving money in the good years in order to invest in the bad years. In this way the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten has survived economically challenging times and in now best equipped for the recovery. With the completion of the renovation and refurbishment work, the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten is now fit for the next 50 years and promises to set new benchmarks in the European grand hotel trade”, says Peters about his Hotel, the Vier Jahreszeiten.