Would you be more likely to splurge for a luxury hotel room if it came with a COVID-19 test kit, nurse on duty, and medical insurance?
If so, Swiss luxury hotel chain Le Bijou may be just the place for your next getaway. Like most hotel chains, Le Bijou saw a precipitous drop in advance booking as COVID-19 grew from a Chinese problem to a worldwide problem.
Alexander Hübner, CEO and co-founder of the chain, told the Washington Post:
“In beginning of March, revenues had dropped significantly. We said, okay, we need to react immediately to that.”
That reaction included tailoring a place where the well-to-do (base rooms range from $800+ per night) could cook their own food and enjoy in-home care from a doctor rather than face the “cesspool of germs” found in hospitals.
So like any enterprising person, Hübner began offering the following a la carte options at his luxury hotels in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lucerne, Zug, and Zurich:
- $500 – coronavirus testing
- $1,800 – twice-daily nurse check-in
- $4,800 – round-the-clock nurse care
Guests don’t have to interact with hotel staff thanks to automated check-in and in-room delivery service. When guest rooms are cleaned, maids wear masks and gloves.
Unsurprisingly, Hübner is finding great demand for his new hotel packages…
CONCLUSION
If you already have COVID-19, stay away…the hotel doesn’t want you and the Swiss government will remove you. But if you are just looking to blow some money on over-the-top care, you now have a hotel…and I bet many hotels will follow.
image: Le Bijou
It will be interesting if guests start testing positive and thus have to remain at the hotel for the duration of the illness (4-5 weeks for many). That’s one bill at check out I would not want to see print out.
So interesting to read…another example of what money can buy. Would like a follow up on occupancy rates!