SPECIAL REPORT
Rather quickly , however , the magic that is a life in hospitality started to redefine his thinking and Kracht started making the connection between his schooling and the 50 chefs in the Baur Au Lac kitchen . “ More and more you get interested and I started calling my father to ask him about technique . I had a connection to what my work represented in the real world , and very quickly I was hooked .”
Upon graduation , Kracht ventured out to gain experience , first at Badrutt ’ s Palace in St . Moritz , Switzerland , and then to Monte Carlo to work for SBM properties such as The Hermitage . From there , Kracht went to the kitchen at the Ritz in Paris , followed by the restaurant front-of-house and then roles in administration , gaining four incredibly valuable years of experience .
It was then that Udo Schlentrich , a family friend who was running The Dorchester in London , said that young Kracht needed to go to the
The 119-key Baur Au Lac , a member of The Leading Hotel of the World , sits just across the road from Lake Zurich .
United States for further seasoning . He started by taking courses at Cornell and followed it up by taking an assignment at the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas , Texas , followed by a subsequent move to New York City in 1986 and a shortlived tenure in the front office at the city ’ s Plaza Athenee .
After meeting legendary hotelier Gunter Richter at an award ’ s dinner in Manhattan , Kracht moved to the Grand Bay as assistant director and started dating his soon-to-become wife , Gigi , who also came over from the Plaza Athenee . The trio went on to work closely together for the next few years . But by 1990 , Kracht ’ s father became ill , and it was time for him to come home to the Baur Au Lac . He married Gigi the same year and started his occupation at the family property working with longstanding GM Michel Ray , whose father also ran the property for many years .
“ I was very comfortable , and we had a great team ,” Kracht recalls . “ All of that experience I gathered in the BAUR AU LAC TIMELINE
1844 : Johannes Baur opens the hotel and eight years later he turns it over to his son , Theodor .
1898 : Emmy , Theodor Baur ’ s daughter , married the Cologne hotel owner Karl Kracht , who expanded the hotel to its current size of 17,000 square meters ( plus 1,400 square meters of outdoor space ).
1914 : Karl Kracht passes away and his nephew Hans Kern takes over the business .
1916 : Fritz and Hermann Kracht , Karl Kracht ’ s two sons , aged only 20 and 25 , take over the management . 1949 : Charles Kracht takes over and subjects the hotel to an extensive investment program . He builds and founds the Club Baur au Lac , as well as the winery in Urdorf , where 700,000 bottles are stored . He initiates the renovation of the century , the planning for which already begins in the late 1980s .
1990 : After the death of his father , Andrea Kracht , his mother Marguita Kracht and sister Gabrielle Feldhahn- Kracht take over . Andrea acts , among other things , as delegate of the board of directors , while Marguita devotes herself to interior design . Gabrielle is a silent partner .
2019 : The Baur au Lac celebrates its 175th anniversary .
2022 : Marguita Kracht joins her father , Andrea Kracht , working side-byside guiding the Baur au Lac into this exciting new era . Kracht joins her father in the management and strategic direction of the Baur au Lac .
58 hotelsmag . com September 2022