The COURT Hotel in Halle in Westphalia - a tennis hotel where the tennis stars are at home

Each of our TennisTraveller hotels has its stories. Stories that make the tennis hotels something very special. Stories that fascinate and inspire us TennisTraveller . Which make a hotel interesting and exciting for us. COURT HOTEL  in Halle in Westphalia can tell many stories from everyday tournament life The NOVENTI OPEN, the first grass tournament on the ATP Tour in Germany, takes place there every year. But let's open the story book together and read about how this traditional tournament takes place on grass in and around the TennisTraveller Hotel and which tennis stars have and have given each other a hand at the hotel.

The place where the tennis stars of the NOVENTI OPEN relax off the court - in the immediate vicinity of the Center Court lawn in the OWL ARENA is the COURT HOTEL , where all participants in Germany's largest ATP tennis tournament are accommodated and pampered during the tournament week become. From Boris Becker to Thomas Muster and Nicolas Kiefer to Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer: They have all been guests at the four-star hotel in Halle Westphalia while they played for victory at Germany's most important lawn tennis event.

Roger Federer (2nd from left) is greeted on his arrival in 2021 on the lakeside terrace of the COURT HOTEL by tournament director Ralf Weber (2nd from right), his son Darek (left) and wife Irina. © NOVENTI OPEN

No wonder, as the hotel was built in 1993 specifically for the internationally renowned ATP tournament. The name (COURT HOTEL), the address (Roger-Federer-Allee) or the kiosk at the reception (“GRAND SLAM”) now also shows it: you can tell in every second that this is about tennis. Pictures from almost 30 years of tournament history decorate the corridors, as well as signed posters. Tennis motifs also hang in the newly renovated rooms. “Our unique selling point is this special connection to tennis – our guests can and should feel that,” says hotel director Lutz Lachmann.

A newly renovated room in the “” category in the Haller COURT HOTEL. @COURT HOTEL

For 27 years now, the tennis stars have been joining hands in the former Sportpark Hotel. Unforgettable is the anecdote when Roger Federer was surprised by Lleyton Hewitt in the lobby in 2010 and greeted him with the words “Hey Lleyton, what are you doing here?”, unaware that the former Wimbledon winner had registered for the tournament. Hewitt replied that he wanted to watch the tournament on Federer's recommendation - and promptly won the final against Federer. It is unknown whether both of them toasted the final together at the hotel bar: “But I was told that the bar was a popular attraction for the players, especially in the first years of the tournament,” explains Lutz Lachmann with a wink.

Lleyton Hewitt (right) won the final of the ATP tournament in Halle-Westphalia in 2010 against Roger Federer. @NOVENTI OPEN

The players especially appreciate the short distances - it's just a stone's throw to the match courts or the training pitches - when staying at the COURT HOTEL . In addition to the best service, you are also offered a lot of entertainment: a specially furnished entertainment lounge with various gaming machines or Playstations is available to the ATP professionals. If you want, you can have your game console connected directly to your room by the building technology. “This year, the players mostly watched the European Football Championship in their free time,” reports Lutz Lachmann, who has been head of the four-star hotel since September 2020.

The tournament of short distances: The COURT HOTEL is particularly popular with players due to its proximity to the arena and the training grounds.
© Christian Ring Aerial Photography Bielefeld What is also special is that some players can easily watch the games on the “Tennis Point Court”, the court right next to the OWL ARENA, from their balcony. When the so-called “One Tennis-Point World Championship” (a tournament in which only one rally is played at a time) was held on this court on the qualifying weekend in 2019, Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev were interested spectators on their balconies - and the latter didn't miss it to give the loser of the final two of his rackets as a consolation.

Roger Federer watches the “One Tennis-Point World Championship” from the balcony of his hotel suite. © NOVENTI OPEN

“We want to offer a special feel-good experience in our company, which is only made possible by the experience of our employees and the interaction between the departments. Without a well-functioning team, implementation in a hotel of this size would be unthinkable. Many processes take place in the background and are not even visible to the guest,” explains hotel director Lutz Lachmann. Many of the top players, all of whom are staying at the COURT HOTEL , now know long-standing employees personally. “Players like Roger Federer have been coming to our hotel for many years, so we know exactly how to make their stay with us particularly comfortable,” says Lachmann. “Sometimes players also have extra requests, which we are of course happy to fulfill as far as possible.”