November 13, 2018

Jean-Jacques Gauer has been named Member of the Board of Directors at Royal Savoy Hotel & Spa in Lausanne and the Hotel Schweizerhof Bern & THE SPA

Bruno H. Schöpfer, Managing Director of the Bürgenstock Selection, has announced that Swiss hospitality veteran, Jean-Jacques Gauer has joined the boards of Royal Savoy Hotel & Spa in Lausanne and the Hotel Schweizerhof Bern & THE SPA. He brings exceptional experience having managed luxury hotels in Lausanne and Bern as well as international expertise and contacts from the 20 years he served as President of The Leading Hotels of the World. During that time, he was responsible for creating the strategy for the world's most famous alliance of luxury hotels. From 1996 to 2016, Mr. Gauer was General Manager of the Lausanne Palace and played a key role in shaping Lausanne's hotel scene for two decades. His knowledge of the destination and his network of contacts in western Switzerland will be particularly valuable to the Board of Directors of the Royal Savoy Lausanne Hotel. Additionally, Mr. Gauer is closely connected with the city of Bern as his family owned the Hotel Schweizerhof where he served as general manager from 1976 to 1996. The Royal Savoy Hotel in Lausanne reopened in November 2015 after a five-year, $100 million-Swiss-franc renovation. A 95-room Garden Wing was added to the historic Art Nouveau structure with 101 rooms. The glamorous hotel sits in the center of the city in a 5,000-square-meter (over an acre) park with 100-year-old cedar trees. Built in 1909, the Royal Savoy has deep roots in Lausanne as the owners who were passionate hoteliers, opened the first hotels there. The luxury hotel's facilities include: an innovative restaurant serving organic cuisine with Signature Chef Marc Haeberlin, a three-star Michelin starred chef (L'Auberge de l'Ill); the Cigar Lounge; the Sky Lounge with views of the city and the lake, Salon de Thé, the 16,145-square-foot Spa du Royal and indoor and outdoor pools. The cozy Chalet du Royal serves traditional regional specialties in an authentic Swiss chalet, constructed especially for the winter season. Considered the city's leading luxury hotel for more than 150 years, the Hotel Schweizerhof Bern & THE SPA has 99 rooms and suites and sits on the edge of Bern's charming Old Town, an UNESCO World Heritage site. Renowned for its wiener schnitzel, the award-winning Jack's Brasserie has 14 Gault&Millau points and its wine list has also been recognized as "Best Swiss Wine List" by Gault&Millau. The Sky Terrace offers panoramic views of the city's rooftops and - new this year - Tubbo, a tunnel-like structure that will shelter guests from the wind and weather. The 5,382-square-foot spa boats a pool, Finnish sauna, Turkish hammam, Jacuzzi and underwater massage lounges. Other facilities include: the popular Lobby Lounge Bar, Cigar Lounge and an 8,611-square-foot conference center with 11 rooms, including the legendary Salon Trianon, a ballroom with heritage-listed decor. Mr. Gauer graduated from the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne after attending Le Rosey in Gstaad. In 1997, he received an honorary Bachelor of Arts in Hospitality Management from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. He serves on a number of boards including that of The American Colony in Jerusalem, the Lausanne Palace and the Hotel des Trois Couronnes in Vevey. In addition to his duties on the Board for the two Bürgenstock Selection hotels, Mr. Gauer will continue to run his own properties including Auberge du Raisin, a Relais & Châteaux in Cully.

Jean-Jacques Gauer is an alumnus of EHL Hospitality Business School .

General Management Europe Switzerland