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Zvg
![Has a new owner: The noble hotel Ambassador in Zurich.]()
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Has a new owner: The noble hotel Ambassador in Zurich.
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JERONIMO VILAPLANA
![The Meili brothers take over the Ambassador and the Opera in downtown Zurich. Yves (here with father Alfred (72) in the middle) and Raffael run the business.]()
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The Meili brothers take over the Ambassador and the Opera in downtown Zurich. Yves (here with father Alfred (72) in the middle) and Raffael run the business.
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Express
![The Opera has just been extensively renovated. 1.5 million Swiss francs have been invested in the redesign of the ground floor over the past two years.]()
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The Opera has just been extensively renovated. 1.5 million Swiss francs have been invested in the redesign of the ground floor over the past two years.
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Keystone
![Both hotels are located in the immediate vicinity of the Opera and Sechseläutenplatz.]()
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Both hotels are located in the immediate vicinity of the Opera and Sechseläutenplatz.
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Keystone
![The brothers also have two hotels in Klosters - Piz Buin and Sport.]()
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The brothers also have two hotels in Klosters – Piz Buin and Sport.
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Mega deal behind the Opera in Zurich: The noble houses Opera and Ambassador am Bellevue have been sold. The new owner is the family company Meili Unternehmungen from Zollikon ZH. According to BLICK information, the sales for the two luxury hotels in Zurich city center are said to have been in the mid double-digit million range.
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The two Wilhelminian style hotels are a symbol of the city. Located in the immediate vicinity of the lake, guests currently pay between CHF 250 and CHF 350 for a night in a double room at the Hotel Opera. In the Ambassador in the “Utos Castle”, rooms between CHF 270 and 550 go away at night.
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No corona need
“We sold the houses shortly before the lockdown,” the new managing director, Michael Böhler (46), revealed to BLICK. Why was the sale only now communicated? This is due to the corona situation. One did not want to give the impression that the sale was made out of necessity.
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“We waited for the right moment,” said Böhler. He knows the houses well. He has led her for over four years. With the sale it was taken over by the new owner. He now heads the Meili hotel group with seven hotels.
“As a family business, we think long term and don’t let the current crisis deter us,” says the new owner, CEO Yves Meili (37). Together with his brother Raffael Meili (39), he leads the group.
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No successor found
The new owners have ambitious plans. They want to expand their portfolio in the boutique luxury hotel market. The two traditional Zurich houses fit in well.
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The two hotels were owned by the Hoppeler hotelier family for 90 years. However, because none of the family’s descendants wanted to enter the business, the houses were offered for sale a year ago.
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Europeans and a Chinese were interested
A total of 70 interested parties have registered. Ten of them submitted a letter of intention – a non-binding declaration of intent by the buyer. The interested parties came from Germany, Holland, England and Switzerland. One came from China.
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A supposed advantage of the Meilis in the negotiations: Your Hotel Seehof borders directly on the Opera. It was easy to get into conversation.
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Family-led development
In addition to the Seehof, the historic Hotel Rössli at Hechtplatz (Oberdorf) and the Hotel Basilea on Zähringerstrasse (Niederdorf), near the Central, as well as two hotels in the ski resort of Klosters GR belong to the Meilis empire.
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“The sellers were very careful,” said the spokesman for the Meili family, Karl Lüönd, to BLICK. “They wanted to find a good buyer who runs the hotels in the family sense”.
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Reopening in new splendor
The two hotels are currently closed due to the corona pandemic. After the summer holidays, the Opera should open again first. And then with a new look: The attic is being expanded – with suites and roof terrace and also a “roof top yoga” is under discussion.
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The Ambassador is undergoing a major change. The new owners will invest CHF 10 million. The hotel is due to open in spring 2021 with a revised restaurant and terrace with a view of Sechseläutenplatz.
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“I am confident that Zurich will continue to be an attractive place for tourists in the future,” Raffael Meili told BLICK. Until the time of the Corona outbreak, tourism had grown steadily. A certain consolidation according to Corona could also develop to the advantage of the industry. “I’m sure that we’ll be back where we were before Corona in a year or two – maybe even better,” says the entrepreneur confidently.
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