The Mandarin Oriental Savoy will be welcoming its first guests to Zurich this winter. With this announced opening, the Asian luxury group, which has been established in Geneva since 2000 with the purchase of the Hôtel du Rhône, will ensure that business travellers have an elegant base to call home. in Switzerland's two major business citiesThese are the gateways to the country, with their international airports.
To make its entry into this key market, the luxury brand has found a prime location by moving into Zurich's oldest hotel, the Savoy Hotel Baur en Ville. A hotel with a long history that began in 1838 with an Austrian baker, Johannes Baur, who became a hotelier-restaurateur when he opened this establishment, which became a meeting place for high society, with Liszt, Mendelssohn and Bismarck among its guests. It was a success story that the businessman continued a few years later with a seaside counterpart, the Baur au Lac, a luxury palace that welcomed royalty and celebrities visiting Zurich. The hotel is still owned by Johannes Baur's descendants.
As for the Savoy Baur en Ville, it had long been owned by Crédit Suisse, which was forced to sell it in 2022 to boost its liquidity. It was a case of neighbours among neighbours, since the historic headquarters of the Swiss bank, which was absorbed by UBS last March, is a stone's throw from the new Mandarin Oriental on Paradeplatz. The city's most prestigious addressand even the country, the equivalent of the Champs Elysées in the Swiss edition of Monopoly.
With other neighbours including Confiserie Sprüngli, established on the square since the mid-nineteenth century, and all the high-end fashion houses that the city has to offer today, the Mandarin Oriental Savoy is set to establish itself as one of the world's leading luxury hotels. one of Zurich's leading hotels. Especially since the arrival of the luxury brand at the head of the establishment resulted in a renovation phase lasting more than two years to restore the prestige of Zurich's oldest hotel. In particular, by offering guests more space and reducing the number of rooms from 104 to 80, including 36 suites and a four-bedroom flat covering an area of 275 m².
For its return to the hotel scene, the hotel is also presenting a new décor designed by the interior architect Tristan Auerrecently at work at Cannes Carlton or, more recently, at the Crillon, Timeless elegance and contemporary sophistication The Mandarin Oriental: business travellers and companies will find at the Mandarin Oriental an exclusive setting to invite their clients with a 45 m² meeting room and, above all, a 164 m² ballroom with its historic decor, restored to its former glory.
The Mandarin Oriental Savoy also intends to set itself apart with four new dining venues, including an Italian restaurant, Orsini, run by chef Antonio Guida, twice Michelin-starred at the Mandarin Oriental in Milan. There is also the Savoy Brasserie & Bar, open throughout the day, and the Mandarin Lounge, where you can relax with a drink by the fire. Above all, the hotel now offers a rooftop bar1838, where you can savour cocktails and Asian delights while enjoying a privileged view.
This opening in Zurich follows the inauguration last year of another Mandarin Oriental in Switzerland, also the result of the takeover of one of the country's most prestigious hotelsPalace Lucerne. Another historic hotel, Le Richemond in Geneva, has been taken over by the Dubai-based Jumeirah group and has embarked on a long renovation phase before reopening in 2025.
