Friday 14 December 2012 Page 23
LOCAL NEWS
New hosts for Hotel-Restaurant Bären After two years of leading the Hotel-Restaurant Bären in Gsteig, Simon Hauswirth will handover to Nicolas and Denise Frautschi. The Scherz Hotel AG remains the leaseholder.
were a lot of warm encounters”, he says. He has experienced a lot of interesting and positive things, but it also had its ups and downs. “The actual economic situation is not helping”, says Hauswirth.
Simon Hauswirth explains his decision with the need of a new challenge in his professional and private life. He had managed the restaurant for two years. “There
The successors are Nicolas and Denise Frautschi. The 28-year old local holds a degree with the hotel management school in Thun and worked as the manag-
ing director of the Cafe Pernet in Gstaad before. After a short detour at the Griesalp, Frautschi comes back to his former employer, the Scherz Hotel AG, leaseholder of both restaurants. “The Bären has an eventful history. This is why continuity is important to us”, stresses Romauld Bour of the Scherz Hotel AG. “We know and appreci-
ate Nicolas Frautschi and we are happy that a local could take over the restaurant.” The Cafe Pernet/Pub in Gstaad is also run by locals. Since November, Kevin Reichenbach from Feutersoey is leading it together with Jimmy Blaser. TRANSLATED AND ADAPTED FROM THE ARTICLE BY ANITA MOSER FROM AVS 13.11.2012
Ermitage Wellness & Spa Hotel: one year after renovation months from April to July were difficult”, the director says.
praised by the media and is mainly frequented by younger guests.
“The feedback from our regular guests is very positive”, says Walliser. “But the renovation of the interior is not always appreciated by some of the older guests.” He admits that some of the coziness has made room for a more modern style, which has gone down well with their younger clients.
“The budget for the current year will unfortunately not be achieved this year”, continues Walliser with regret. However, closure during the low season is not an option for him. “We have invested in marketing for the autumn season - and succeeded”. Walliser is happy about the upcoming bookings for the hotel. Experience of owners Heiner Lutz and Laurenz Schmid, has shown that it is always difficult during the year following a renovation.
In order to finance the renovation of SFr 40 million, nine apartments were built for sale of which eight have already been sold. Some of them will be rented out by the Ermitage and will be included in the hotel inventory this winter.
After nine months of renovation, the operations restarted on December 21 2011. “The winter season was good - mainly because of the 18 additional rooms - but the
The “One Million Stars” bar sparkles with one million Swarovski stones and in the evening the color of the lights changes. At the opening ceremony the bar was admired and
62 Of the 195 pre-renovation employees came back to work for the Ermitage and Uwe Seegert joined the hotel as the new head chef, previously from the Tschuggen Grand Hotel. TRANSLATED AND ADAPTED FROM THE ARTICLE BY BLANCA BURRI FROM AVS 23.11.2012
Picture: Blanca Burri
A year after the renovation and construction of the Ermitage Wellness & Spa Hotel in Schönried, Hotel Director Stefan Walliser provides us with an update of the first year as well as a peek into the future.
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Hotel manager Stefan Walliser in front of one of the three chalets and outdoor pools of the Wellness & Spa-Hotels Ermitage.