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“We both had the
same ambition
of running something
together as a couple
one day.”
Alexander Perper
All in the family: Christine & Alexander Perper
EN
With fate on your side, you can meet the love of your life and realize
your dream hotel in magical mountain scenery. Or so say Christine and
Alexander Perper.
food & beverage director. Christine and Alexander got
to talking and he says they realized: “We both had the
same ambition of running something together as a
couple one day.”
You could say hospitality breeds hospitality. That is
While both Christine and Alexander have a European
certainly the case for Christine Perper whose parents
background (Alexander was born in France and grew
In 2011, the Upper West Side couple moved to Swit-
ran a hotel in Interlaken together for over 40 years.
up in the United States), the couple met while wor-
zerland for a short stint so that Alexander could get
Decades later, Christine is doing exactly that with her
king at the Mandarin Oriental in New York. Alexan-
his masters at the École hôtelière de Lausanne. It
husband Alexander Perper at Hotel de Rougemont
der’s journey to hospitality seems fated—starting out
was at this time, while skiing in the Gstaad region,
in the fairytale landscape of Gstaad Dolomites in the
on Wall Street, he gave that up to work in the kitchen
that they first came across the site that would be-
Swiss Alps. “It’s not a job but a lifestyle,” says Chris-
of the three-Michelin restaurant Jean-Georges on
come Hotel de Rougemont. “The whole project
tine. “When I was a kid, I’d sit in the kitchen while my
Columbus Circle. And when the general manager at
took three years,” says Christine. We visited again in
grandfather cooked. I always wanted to do what my
Jean-Georges left for a job at the Mandarin Oriental,
2013 for the baptism of our daughter and saw that
grandparents and then my parents did—run a hotel.”
Alexander went along with him to become the hotel’s
the hotel was looking for a manager. I immediately
HOTEL DE ROUGEMONT
Chemin des Palettes 14
1659 Rougemont - Switzerland
hotelderougemont.com
T +41 (0)26 921 01 01
checked out the people behind the hotel on Face-
small community like Rougemont, everyone helped
book and found we knew someone in common. It
out…putting up paintings, cleaning up, and even
makes the application a little less anonymous. Plus
helping our foreign staff to acclimate.”
we wanted the post of general manager as a couple.”
As for what it’s like to work as a couple, “Four eyes
The rest, as they say is history, albeit a rather hectic
are better than one,” says Christine. For Alexander,
one. “When we arrived in September, only the struc-
it’s about respecting the other person. “We have the
ture was in place,” says Alexander. “We had to make
same goals and the same post so there are no egos.
final decisions on everything… from beds to blow
Sometimes you might not want to hear the feed-
dryers to an office for the front desk. No one belie-
back you get, but in the end you digest it and rea-
ved we would make the December 20, 2014 deadline
lize it makes sense. People pay to get advice!” The
for the opening but we pushed and pushed.” “It was
pair seems to have found a winning formula with a
crazy,” Christine pipes in. “The construction workers
great first winter season behind them and dreams
were leaving from the back door while guests were
of many more great winters – and summers – still
streaming in the front. That’s the nice thing about a
to come.