engelberg_magazin_nummer17

hotellerie

thehotel industry

hotellerie

thehotel industry

“It takes three to eight years to

sort out a good successor.”

Forty percent of the

guests are regulars.

env ironment. Peter is proud that he and his

wife are known as “eco” around the v illage. As

well as separating rubbish and using energy-

sav ing bu lbs and recycled paper, the couple

a lso rely on a lternative energy. In 1999, the

Edelweiss and the Brunni cableways became

the f irst Engelberg businesses to produce

energy with solar power systems. The hotel

now supplements that with hydroelec tric-

ity, meaning that its entire energy supply is

green. The resu lts are remarkable: in the early

90s the hotel used 110,000 litres of heating

oil a year, now it uses on ly

36,000. In par tnership with

the Bellevue Terminus, the

Edelweiss has been receiv ing

carbon tax ref unds since 2010.

The Edelweiss appea ls

to many target groups, as the

Kuhns know that a lack of broad appea l can be

the death of a hotel. Their strategy for success

a lso involves cooperating with other busi-

nesses. The good sense of that became par ticu-

larly apparent with the Swiss Nationa l Bank ’s

decision of 15 Januar y 2015 to discontinue

the minimum exchange rate. When the num-

ber of eurozone guests dropped as expec ted,

the hotel simply accommodated more senior

citizens f rom India. The Indian tour operator

had been keen on a par tnership for some time.

Prev iously, guests f rom India had to go out to

one of the v illage’s Indian restaurants if they

wanted a taste of home, but now the Kuhns

have arranged a deliver y ser v ice with Saaed

Khawar of the Tandoori restaurant in Ebikon.

The Edelweiss’s biggest par tner is

Switzerland Tourism, which has cer tif ied it as

a “Family Hotel ”, “Hiking Hotel ”, “Bike Hotel ”

and “Typica lly Swiss Hotel ”. It isn’ t easy for a

hotel to achieve those designations; it must

per form well in regu lar audits. A “Swiss Bike

The Edelweiss hotel, an imposing 111-year-old

building in the art nouveau style, perches high

above Engelberg. For the past 21 years, its

managers have been Peter and Susanne Kuhn –

passionate hoteliers renowned for their effer-

vescent hospitality, exciting new ideas and

commitment to nature.

Peter Kuhn f irst became interested in

Swiss tourism when he developed bronchi-

tis as a boy and was sent to the mountains of

Davos. The native of Aargau spent his last four

years of school enjoy ing the hea lth benef its

of the mountain climate.

Af ter earning his business

diploma, he headed straight

for the Ecole hôtelière de

Lausanne. He then worked

in marketing and f inancia l

management at interna-

tiona l hotel chains such as Hilton, Westin

and Steigenberger. He spent time in Germany

and the United States, and earned a degree

f rom Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Back in Switzerland, Peter met his f uture wife

Susanne, who was working in Davos at the

Meierhof af ter completing her training at the

Swiss Hotel Management Academy in Lucerne.

Their f irst shared projec t was managing the

Schatza lp in Davos. Peter’s most v iv id memor y

of that time was the windstorm Viv ian in 1990,

when they and 220 guests were cut of f f rom

the outside world for a week: “When you’ve

experienced that, there’s not much you can’ t

hand le.” Peter and Susanne’s purchase of the

Edelweiss was the f u lf ilment of a dream to run

their own hotel exac tly the way they wanted.

The Kuhns are the si x th owners of the

Edelweiss. In 1901, Engelberg Abbey’s treasurer

bought the land and star ted to build a hotel.

While it was still under construc tion, he ran

out of money and sold the whole projec t to

Hotel ”, for example, must have repair kits, wa ll

racks for the bikes, pumps, a guest washing

machine, and hoses to clean muddy f rames.

The Kuhns are a lso ac tive outside the

hospita lity sec tor. They are involved in the

Care Team, in the board of the Erlenhaus care

home, and in the loca l commissions for energy

and the loca l economy. For many years, Peter

was president of the loca l hoteliers’ associa-

tion, and he still f ights for bet ter conditions

in the industr y. Recently, the association

negotiated a purchasing cooperation between

Engelberg’s hotels and a

Swiss wholesa le company.

And in the f uture, the hotels

will jointly process credit

card commissions, which will

substantia lly reduce costs.

The Kuhns are set to

retire in four years, and so are slowly sca ling

back their involvement in day-to-day opera-

tions. But they are not leav ing the f uture of

the Edelweiss to chance. “It can take three to

eight years to sor t out a good successor,” says

Peter. The plan is to sell more than 90 percent

of the share capita l to an investment company

in Beckenried by 1 May 2016. The Kuhns will

continue to run the hotel on lease until 2019,

gradua lly bidding farewell to their many regu-

lars. Peter is ver y pleased with this solution. It

is impor tant to him that the hotel remain in

Swiss hands. The same company has a lready

purchased and renovated the Seerausch hotel

in Beckenried. And the Kuhns wou ldn’ t be the

Kuhns if they hadn’ t spot ted the potentia l

for a par tnership. They are a lready cooperat-

ing on purchasing, staf f training and spe-

cia l dea ls – for example, the MonteLago bike

package. The Kuhns are happy to have the

Engelberg va lley stretch as far as Beckenried

if it ’s in the best interests of the Edelweiss.

Josef Tschopp-Mü ller. The hotel ’s most famous

owner was pioneering hotelier A. O. Pau li, who

ran it f rom 1927 to 1963. In 1939 he insta lled

hot and cold running water on ever y f loor, and

f it ted the f irst bathrooms. Old photographs

in the seminar room give insight into life at

the hotel during those days. Indeed, the hotel

is f u ll of pic tures that tell stories. In recep-

tion, children’s drawings reca ll happy holiday

moments, and the stairwells are adorned with

various colour f u l clowns. The third and four th

f loors are decorated with hunting trophies

shot in Namibia by Peter’s

father, a keen hunter who

was a great patron of the

Edelweiss and is immor-

ta lised in a large por trait.

A ll the rooms of fer

spec tacu lar v iews of Engel-

berg’s mountains, and there are eleven spa-

cious family apar tments. Children stay ing

at the hotel enjoy specia l priv ileges, as the

Edelweiss is the on ly “Swiss Family Hotel ” to

boast an integrated Globi Club. Four dif fer-

ent play rooms feature such delights as Duplo

for the lit tle ones and an X-box for teenag-

ers. Childcare is available f rom 5 to 9 p.m. in

peak season, and there are children’s menus

in the restaurant. The hotel has three shut-

tle buses to take guests to the destinations

of their choice. Par ticu larly convenient for

parents is the Globi Bus, which takes children

to ski school in the morning and brings them

back in the af ternoon. Peter and Susanne

spend lots of time with their guests. They

join them on hikes, show them the best bike

routes and ski slopes, and organise conv iv ia l

cha let evenings in the Flühmat t restaurant.

This persona l touch has many guests com-

ing back for more – 40 percent are regu lars.

The Kuhns are a lso commit ted to the

Susanne und Peter Kuhn

unterhalten ihre Gäste ger-

ne mit der Drehorgel.

Susanne and Peter Kuhn play the

barrel organ to entertain guests.

Globi ist bei den Kindern

ein gerngesehener Gast.

Children are always happy

to see regular guest Globi.