Swiss Deluxe Hotels with distinctive architecture

Swiss Deluxe Hotels are synonymous with architecture which combines contemporary with historic in distinctive fashion throughout the world. This was highlighted at a media conference on Tuesday, 14 March 2006 in Basel, on the reopening of the Hotel 'Les Trois Rois'.

Swiss Deluxe Hotels (SDH) are among the leading Grand Hotels in Switzerland. Names such as the 'Dolder' or 'Baur au Lac' in Zurich, the 'Victoria-Jungfrau' in Interlaken, the 'Palace' in Gstaad, the 'Beau-Rivage' in Geneva and the 'Badrutt's Palace' in St. Moritz are synonymous with the reputation and prestige of the Swiss luxury hotel industry, in which the hotels have played a significant role for well over one hundred years.

Exemplary 'Les Trois Rois'
At the media conference, SDH Chairman Vic Jacob emphasized that 'Les Trois Rois' in Basel epitomizes the endeavours of Swiss Deluxe Hotels to combine the contemporary with historic in distinctive fashion. In the tradition-steeped hotel overlooking the Rhine, the original structural features of the historic building have been reproduced with great care and love of detail. At the same time, proprietor Thomas Straumann has gone to great lengths to ensure that the 101 rooms and suites, conference rooms and elegant Belle Epoque ballroom conform to the very latest technological standards: "We offer guests the pleasure of indulging in the exclusive ambience of a Grand Hotel from bygone days while enjoying the ultimate in modern luxury," says a delighted Thomas Straumann.

Leading role in international competition
"With its future-oriented investment, Swiss Deluxe Hotels make it clear that they are both willing and able to continue playing an important and prominent role in global competition," says SDH Chairman Vic Jacob, Managing Director of the Suvretta House in St. Moritz. One of these hotels is the Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich, at present undergoing extensive renovations and extension at a cost of around 300 million Swiss francs. The project is under the direction of internationally acclaimed London architects Foster and Partners. The modern extensions are a harmonious enhancement to the historic main wing, the façade of which dates back to1899 and is under a preservation order. The opening of the new Dolder Grand Hotel is planned for the end of 2007.

Satisfying superior standards
Swiss Deluxe Hotels are also setting superior architectural standards in spa construction. In November of last year the elegant Beau-Rivage Palace in Lausanne, built in 1861, opened its exquisite 'Cinq Mondes' Spa in puristic Asian style. The Grand Regina Alpin Wellfit Hotel in Grindelwald is doing justice to its name with the Alpendorf Wellness facilities. And at the Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa, Swiss star architect Mario Botta is building a Wellness Mountain Oasis, planned to open on 1 December 2006. Botta is also responsible for the future Wellness Lake Oasis at the Hotel Eden Roc in Ascona, with building due to start in January 2007.

Unique suite hotel in Alpine region
Superior new standards are also being set in St. Moritz: from 2 April 2006, The Carlton begins an 18-month period of extensive alterations. Today's 105-room 5-star hotel will be converted into a superlative luxury hotel - designed as an exclusive establishment with 66 suites.

Writing building history
Swiss Deluxe Hotels have already written building history: in March 1995, the Widder Hotel opened in the heart of Zurich's old town. The hotel consists of ten buildings built between the 11th and 16th centuries, which were redesigned and incorporated into a highly unusual hotel complex by architect Tilla Theus. In the same year, the 125-year Grand Hotel Quellenhof in Bad Ragaz was completely demolished and rebuilt along historic lines, including the use of carefully restored furnishings and fittings. The hotel reopened at the end of 1996 after a 22-month building period.

"Homage to Grandezza"
The combination of old-world tradition and modern amenities is also illustrated in the interior design of the hotels - for example at the Bellevue Palace in Bern, which was renovated in 2002. Hotel architect Pia Schmid describes the passion with which she redesigned the rooms in Bern's leading hotel as "paying homage to the 'Grandezza' style of Grand Hotel architecture from bygone days." The Palace Luzern also used this concept as a role model in the 2001 creation of the restaurant 'Les Artistes' in the style of Belle Epoque, using photographs from the hotel's founding years.

New era established on tradition
"The reopening of Les Trois Rois in Basel and all other projects show that Swiss Deluxe Hotels are ready to write further chapters in the history of the Swiss hotel industry and to lead their establishments into a new era of leading international luxury hotels," emphasizes Vic Jacob. And that in the ever-present knowledge that "tradition is an integral element of our reputation," to quote Andrea Kracht, co-owner of the acclaimed Hotel Baur au Lac in Zurich, a comment made as early as 1997 on the occasion of the general restructuring of his 150-year-old hotel.

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