Swissôtel

The former Swissôtel in Zurich's Oerlikon quarter, part of the group since its foundation until 2020.

Swissôtel was founded in 1981 as a joint venture between the Swissair and Nestlé groups, with its headquarters in the Swiss city of Zurich. Initially, hotels were operated in Berne, New York City, Geneva and Zurich. In 1990, the hotel group became a fully owned subsidiary of the Swissair group, and in 1996, its head office moved from Zurich to New York.[6]

In 2001, with the parent airline in the serious financial difficulties due to the events of 9/11 that year in the United States that eventually lead to its demise, Swissôtel was sold to Raffles Holdings Limited, the owner of the famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore. In July 2005, Colony Capital, a private international investment firm, acquired Raffles International Limited, the company that by this stage owned both the Raffles and Swissôtel brands.[6]

In May 2006, Colony Capital, together with Kingdom Hotels International, acquired Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. With the completion of the transaction, the Fairmont and Raffles International portfolios were combined, transforming the companies into a global hotel leader (headquartered in Toronto) called Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, with 120 hotels in 23 countries under three brands – Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel. After the transaction, the corporate office of Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts moved back to Zurich, where it was headed by its president, Meinhard Huck, who retired in 2013.

In December 2015, AccorHotels purchased Swissôtel, along with Raffles and Fairmont hotels, in a $2.9 billion deal.[2]

Swissôtel currently has 25 properties in 18 countries.[7] The company also offers Swissôtel Living serviced apartments in three properties (two as part of hotels and one standalone).[8]

The Swissôtel in Lima, Peru

In November 2017, the Peruvian football player Paolo Guerrero tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine in the run up to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[9] His defence was that he had accidentally consumed the substance in herbal tea that was contaminated with coca tea[10] at the Swissôtel in Lima, Peru.[11]

Guerrero stated that the Swissôtel hindered him in obtaining evidence that was needed to sustain his case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport:

The hotel was an important factor that hurt me, that is very clear, when I came here to Peru to find the evidence of how this had been caused, the Swissotel turned its back on me, they did not support me at any time. What I wanted to know was the truth.[12][13]

They threatened the waiter so he would not talk. At the hotel they did not allow us to talk to him.[14]

In response, Peruvian citizens criticized Swissôtel, making negative comments in social networks like Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor, and calling for marches and boycotts against the hotel.[11][14][15]

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• Official website