Running a hotel successfully during the pandemic is a challenge. Le Grand Bellevue Gstaad manages the balance between complying with the measures and conveying a feeling of safety and luxury.

The coronavirus has been part of our lives for some time now and the measures taken against its spread influence daily life in practically all areas. This also includes hotels, which have remained open so far. “Touch wood!”, says Daniel Koetser, owner and managing director of Le Grand Bellevue Gstaad since 2012. But it’s not just down to luck as he explains: “We have invested a lot to give guests a sense of security during the pandemic – we don’t compromise on that!”

No dismissals
Special attention is paid to the room service, for which the hotelier purchased a special disinfection machine last summer. The rooms at Le Grand Bellevue are cleaned and disinfected twice: once after the departing guests have left and again before the new guests’ arrival. But not only that. All the magazines that were normally kept in the rooms have been replaced by electronic tablets, which are easy to disinfect.

In order to cope with the additional work, the room service team has grown in size. “No, we have not had to announce any corona-related layoffs so far. On the contrary, we have hired more people,” comments Koetser.

Space is a luxury
The spa and restaurants are currently closed to external guests, who usually make up about 60 per cent of the guests at Le Grand Bellevue. But that does not mean that 60 percent of turnover is lost. “Our guests cannot go out to eat for the same reasons and stay in our restaurants,” says the hotel owner, who makes no secret of his love for his hotel. This compensates for a good part of the losses.

Similarly he attributes the early closure of restaurant at 11pm a positive effect. Guests consume while they are there and do not drag out their bar or restaurant visits until late into the night, which simplifies the planning.

In order to make their guests feel at ease, Le Grand Bellevue features no simple Plexiglas protection panels between tables. Decorated with matching curtains, they are in line with the rest of the interior and look more like stylish room dividers.

The devil is in the detail
Le Grand Bellevue also has enough space in the spa area, which has been designed for 100 guests – much too big for the hotel with its 57 rooms. But that is currently a big plus. Naturally, the number of guests is limited: Only ten people are allowed in the spa and only five in the fitness room. Accordingly, the number of spa staff was adjusted and synergies with other departments were used.

Employees have their temperature taken before starting work. If someone has a fever, they are immediately sent home to recover. With continued pay, as Koetser emphasises; after all, it’s about the well-being of the guests. At Le Grand Bellevue, nothing is left to chance, everything is thought out down to the last detail. Because, as we all know, that’s where the devil is.

Hotel must protect guests
Koetser does not think the situation will quickly return to normal. The advantage, he says, is that they have been able to gather experience in dealing with the virus for almost a year and have gained knowledge from it that they can now build on. For him it is clear: “Safety is the new luxury and the hotel must protect its guests!”

BASED ON AVS/KEREM S MAURER