The Royal Penthouse Suite at Geneva's President Wilson Hotel is reputedly the most expensive holiday room in the world. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge
Staying in a hotel in Geneva costs more than anywhere else in Europe, according to an international survey. The €242.90 (CHF288 or $300) average charge per night puts Geneva ahead of Paris (€232.30), while Zurich is listed as the third most expensive destination at €203.90.
The Hotel President Wilson in Geneva reportedly boasts the most expensive overnight tariff in the world, charging around CHF80,000 ($83,300) to stay in its royal penthouse suite.
However, such prices have not put well-heeled visitors off visiting Swiss luxury hotels. Switzerland’s 42 grandest hotels – not just in Geneva and Zurich – enjoyed a 9.75% rise in overnight stays last year, clocking up 1,279,467.
This growth comfortably beat other hotel segments, according to figures released last month by the organisation Swiss Deluxe Hotelsexternal link. Revenues also climbed 7.5% to CHF1.56 billion, showing that people are not put off by high prices.
Locals taking a holiday in their own country made up nearly 30% of all visitors to Switzerland’s swankiest hotels. But a 74.4% increase in Asian guests (excluding China) last year was supplemented by impressive growth in Indian, Chinese, German and United States visitors.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, which compiled the European hotel study, acknowledged that the strong franc had played its part in making Swiss hotels so expensive for foreign visitors. Swiss Deluxe Hotels said in its March press release that its members were combating high prices in Switzerland by procuring more products and services from abroad to avoid bills that are up to three times as expensive in Switzerland.
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