Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Swiss Hotel Tries to Survive Virus Crisis via Brilliant Idea


Thu 26 Mar 2020 | 12:52 AM
Yassmine Elsayed

Amid the crisis facing the whole industrial sector, a hotel in Switzerland thought outside the box, vying to survive the current pressure brought by the coronavirus which almost halted the movement of people across countries, caused closure and isolation of cities.

Bloomberg reported that the Swiss luxury hotel chain "Le Bijou" is offering wealthy clients high-end quarantine apartments with meal delivery and medical services, including virus tests worth at $510 in the room.

The luxury hotel has named its package for the wealthy, the "Covid-19 Service", which includes, in addition to catering meals, other medical services such as doctor visits and nursing care around the clock.

Co-founder and CEO of Le Bijou Hotels and Resorts, Alexander Hübner, said that quarantine apartments in Zurich, Zug and Lucerne are available for around 200 to 800 Swiss francs per day, ($205 and $815, while the cost of the nurse service over the course of Hour of the week to $ 4,700.

Hübner said Le Bijou has also partnered with a private Swiss health-care service to offer guests twice daily nurse visits for an additional 800 francs a day or even an in-room virus test for 500 francs. "The business hasn’t provided any tests yet," he added.

All units are able to operate without staff, including for check in, so clients have the option to remain fully isolated.

“They don’t need to shake hands with anyone,” Hübner said.

"Le Bijou" hotels require that no person who is already sick with Covid-19 move to their hotels, while Huber advises clients or sick guests to "stay in their places" and follow government guidelines.

Hübner said creating the COVID-19 Service was a logical next step. He said he saw the overnight stays of his guests getting longer, and that he started getting more inquiries for doctors to make room visits, so he decided to turn these services into a package.