Our aparthotel is located in the south of the federal city of Bonn, surrounded by the Kottenforst nature park, which invites you to go hiking and cycling.

5 km to the  Hardtberghalle
, 4.5 km to the new  Telekom Basket Hall,
7 km to the  main train station
, 4 km to the A565 Cologne-Koblenz motorway
, 35 km to the  Cologne Trade Fair
, 28 km to  Cologne/Bonn Airport,
50 m to the bus stop,
4 km to the  university hospitals,
5 km to the  Ministry of Defense,
300 m to the GIZ seminar building,
several restaurants nearby,
many excursion options

Dear Guest,
as the penultimate link in the family line, I would like to tell you the story of this house:
The building was constructed around 1900 and belonged to my grandfather’s uncle, Franz Bierikoven. This uncle (also named Franz Bierikoven) had no direct descendants. He therefore gifted half of his property to my grandfather, namely the left half of the semi-detached house with approximately 7,000 square meters of land. The other half of the house was sold to someone outside the family.

Franz Bierikoven Jr., a trained farmer from Oberelvenich, opened a tavern around 1920 with his sister Christel. Initially, they were only allowed to serve non-alcoholic beverages, but this changed shortly afterward.
When Franz married his wife Else in 1933, Christel left the house, and the business was run by the young couple from then on. Their daughter Marianne was born in 1934; she now runs the „Gästehaus Iris“ (200 meters from here).
Around 1935, my grandmother Else’s father built the rear extension. This added an extra room, the kitchen, guest toilets, and various stables and sheds. In 1942, their son Hans, my father and the current owner, was born.
At that time, the property also included a small livestock farm with one or two cows, sheep, goats, pigs, turkeys, and chickens. Fruit and vegetables were grown in the garden. For the few cars that traveled the cobblestone street, there was a petrol pump in front of the house.
The Bierikoven family was only slightly affected by World War II, as they were completely self-sufficient and the house stood relatively isolated. After the war ended, however, the British and Americans occupied the house.
The family had to leave and live for a time in the adjacent stables. This situation remained unchanged even after the Allies withdrew. Refugee families from the Belgian border were housed here by the authorities.

By 1948, the situation in the „Kottenforst“ had gradually returned to normal. In the 1950s and 60s, the inn became very popular with hunters and hikers. Its location on the main road to the Eifel region meant that many people stopped at the „Zum Kottenforst“ restaurant. Large tour buses often stopped there. After hunting, the hunters of the Kottenforst regularly met there and sometimes even held their hunting exams at our establishment. There was even an artificial fox den in the back of the garden. The local dachshund club also met there. Occasionally, rooms were rented out to guests. In 1966, Franz Bierikoven died. My grandmother, my father, and my aunt then took over the business. I was born that same year and lived with my parents on the upper floor of the main house for the first five years of my life, until we built a house in the back of the garden. At that time, my father also opened a beverage shop in one of the sheds.

In 1979, my grandmother prematurely bequeathed the house to my father. He then converted the old inn into a bed and breakfast himself. My grandmother, Else Bierikoven, continued to live in two rooms in the main building until her death. My mother, Inge Bierikoven, gave up her job as a secretary at the Ministry of Defense to run the hotel.

Initially, only a few rooms were rented, but gradually more were added. At that time, I often helped out in the family business. My parents leased the hotel in 1988. The lessee, Christine Feier, ran the business for almost six years. During this time, I was studying fashion design at the University of the Arts in Bremen. After graduating, I worked as a freelance designer for two years. Shortly before Ms. Feier’s lease ended, my parents asked me if I would like to take over the hotel. Since it was very important to me to preserve the family property, I took over the business on February 1, 1994.

I then took on the task of completely redesigning, renovating, expanding, and individually furnishing the entire house. Through excellent teamwork, we created a completely different house with a new ambiance. For 23 years, I managed this house as a bed and breakfast. I continually implemented small changes and improvements to the hotel.

In recent years, however, it became increasingly difficult to run the bed and breakfast on my own. Taxes and other regulations left me with no time to dedicate to improvements and renovations. Working 16-hour days increasingly took such a toll on me, both physically and mentally, that a change of approach was absolutely necessary. The Kottenforst bed and breakfast became the Kottenforst Aparthotel. Even before the first sod was turned, I personally equipped all the rooms not affected by the renovation with kitchens.

From November 2016 to July 2018, the main building and the first extension were demolished down to their foundations and rebuilt in a modified form under my supervision. At times, you could see the sky from the basement. Meanwhile, eight apartments continued to operate as a regular hotel. The renovation proved to be very challenging and took considerably longer than anticipated. Breakfast has not been served since January 1, 2017. In addition to the new, modern design and larger rooms with balconies or terraces, the renovation also brought ecological benefits such as energy savings and improved accessibility. The renovation also created a rooftop terrace and a laundry room accessible to guests. The new room design aims to make our guests feel at home and create a pleasant atmosphere. The photos in the kitchens and on the walls are exclusively of Bonn and the surrounding region, most of which we took ourselves.

The hotel’s new focus is primarily on long-term rentals at moderate prices, but single bookings starting from one night are still possible, subject to availability.
The building, over 120 years old, has undergone many transformations over the years. Many people have come and gone, lived here for varying lengths of time, and in some way, contributed to its history. This also means that the story of the Kottenforst Hotel is far from over.
Since March 2024, my daughter, Celina Bierikoven, a trained hotel manager, has been running the hotel as the third generation of the family to do so.