Luxury hotels bought by Luxembourg company
A group of investors which has bought eight luxury Swiss hotels over the past months has announced it wants to give new life to the tradition of Swiss hotels.
At a news conference in Zurich, the Richemond Hotels Holding company of Luxembourg said the aim was not to build a hotel chain but to have a collection of hotels, each with its own style.
The group is to invest more than SFr100 million in the five star hotels listed below:
· the Richemond in Geneva
· the Royal Savoy in Lausanne
· the Arabella Atlantis Sheraton in Zurich
· the Schweizerhof in Berne
· the Drei Könige in Basel
· the three hotels at the Bürgenstock resort in canton Nidwalden
After renovation, the capacity of the hotels will be 930 rooms, with staff being increased from the present 1,000 to 1,200.
The aim of the investment is to double turnover at the hotels within five years. Last year, the eight hotels had a total turnover of SFr75 million. The plan is to increase that to SFr90 million this year.
Behind the project is a 27 year-old French-American, Christopher Descours. Other investors are said to be industrialists from France, Belgium and Switzerland.
For the time being, the group says it plans no further hotel acquisitions.
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