PERSONALITIES
managing assets in a country where just about any non-governmental office can object to plans and kill a project .
“ Only if you work together with all interested organizations , listening to what they would like to see and getting everyone to pull on the same end of the rope can you succeed ,” says the Swiss-born , 35-year veteran hotelier with senior brand and real estate management experience at Mövenpick , Mandarin Oriental , Rezidor and now in Switzerland for Qatar ’ s Katara Hospitality . “ We were very fortunate to have no objection with our Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne project ( with 12 of 30 buildings having historic value and requiring a US $ 43 million investment ).”
It likely helped that during the first few weeks of the Bürgenstock development cycle Schöpfer brought all concerned parties together around a table to ask questions and understand views on everything from lighting restrictions to design expectations . Now , some eight years later , the resort , which sits on a 6 million square foot estate atop Lake Lucerne , will be fully operational by August .
Bürgenstock is one of three projects that make up The Bürgenstock Selection for Katara Hospitality Switzerland , which also redeveloped the Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern ( 99 rooms ) starting in 2010 and the Hotel Royal Savoy Lausanne ( 196 rooms ). The total investment by Katara Hospitality in Switzerland over this period has been CHF1 billion ( US $ 992 million ) – a lot of it spent on preserving the historic nature of all the properties .
Working with Qatari investors was also a new experience for Schöpfer , but it appears that was more of a blessing . “ Thanks to Katara Hospitality , we have investors with long-term vision in these Swiss assets and they made it possible to work in line with the historic commissions ,” Schöpfer says . “ Most of these assets were idle for
Bruno Schöpfer is preparing the Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne for an August opening .
quite a few years , and it is great to see them bloom again . We couldn ’ t have done this with the Swiss banks , and having an investor who understands the business truly helps .” In fact , Katara Hospitality had the right people in place to help Schöpfer with his developments , as the group already owns luxury assets such as Raffles in Singapore and The Peninsula and Royal Monceau in Paris .
Now with Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne , once he finds staff in a country with 3 % unemployment , it will finally be time for Schöpfer to enjoy the CHF550 million ( US $ 552 million ) investment spread over 148 acres encompassing 383 rooms in four hotels , 67 residences , 12 restaurants and bars and meeting space
for 900 . The resort is opening in stages . The Palace opens in March for special events ; the Bürgenstock Resort and the Alpina Spa with a 107,000 square-foot spa and wellness center is set for August ; and the Waldhotel Healthy Living will debut at the end for the year .
“ The most satisfying part , unfortunately , comes only at the end when you remove all the covers and those last 24 hours before the open when the ugly duckling becomes a princess ,” Schöpfer says with laughter . “ Once you see what the hard work shows and you take over a building in last few days of construction can you feel good . Fortunately , Bürgenstock has over 30 buildings , so each time one finished I had a good feeling .”
18 hotelsmag . com March 2017