About Le Bijou
Challenging the big industry
Once this was just a bold idea. We went all-in on it and became the market leader in tech-enabled hospitality.
Alexander opens his first apartment
Le Bijou founder Alexander Hübner sets up his first high-end AirBnB in Zurich, Switzerland as one of the first Airbnb users in Switzerland.
The struggle to replace human work by machines
After several attempts with Homematic and FileMaker®, Alexander seeks for help to make his vision of a fully automated 5* apartment-hotel become reality.
The impossible search for the computer genius
Exhausting from some rather strange meetings with hard- and software professionals, someone finally takes Alexander's hand and he meets his first co-founder in unexpected circumstances: at the gym. Renato joins the team as the fittest nerd ever.
A meeting beyond expectations
Madeleine was probably the only person Alexander didn't meet for a business purpose. After seeing Madeleine's out-of-this-world sales talent he was convinced that Madeleine was the missing part to his team. It took him only 2 years to "sell" the idea to her. Madeleine is not only a gem herself but also came up with the name "Le Bijou".
Second apartment, celebrity guests endorsements
Le Bijou opens their second apartment, visited by Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak who calls Le Bijou "The most outstanding hospitality experience ever".
Units 3, 4, 5
We opened apartment three, four, five and worked hard to make the business easily scalable which was not easy, after hearing the word "no" more than you could imagine.
Returns you wouldn't believe
Growing a business is easy. You just go to a bank and ask for a loan? The answer is: Hell no! We on-boarded our first investors with the help of crazy yields and a bold vision.
Double digit growth and the first big revenues
After pushing hard to open new large units we were able to grow double-digits for the first time. The revenues quickly grew beyond CHF1M and would catapult Le Bijou to a rising star of Swiss hospitality.
30 days or less; our 1M bond issue
We raised first significant external investment and the Le Bijou Bond 01/2016 was born. It took us 30 days or less to raise CHF 1M. The investors are still with Le Bijou and invested throughout the coming rounds.
Further growth, closing of the second bond
We opened a couple of new units, sold out the second bond issue. Le Bijou was covered in Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Tages Anzeiger, SRF, National Geographic and more than in 10 other large-scale media.
Credit Suisse and other co-investors
We closed the first property development deal with Credit Suisse followed by other co-developments with two of the largest Swiss real estate companies.
Attracting international luxury brands
After serving thousands of tourists in only a few years, Le Bijou quickly grew to a team of 60 people and expanded its offering to high end events for customers like Google, Uber, UBS, Credit Suisse, Gucci, Rolex, Chloé, Adidas, Hugo Boss, American Express, Samsung and many more...
Not everything is fake news: our increasing visibility.
Sunday Press writes "A media coverage big hotel chains can only dream of" and it is true, we got covered in major articles from New York Times, Forbes, Bloombert, CNN, USAToday, The Washington Post to local medias like NZZ, Swiss Radio & Television (SRF), Tagesanzeiger, Blick, Bilanz, der Bund, Handelszeitung, and many more...
A holistic approach: The Le Bijou Owners Club
We are constantly looking for the next innovation. Giving our investors a more meaningful part in our business just felt like a logical next step. What we didn't know was that this model would attract people beyond our believe.
A successful model that continues
We believe that the community model is the future of Le Bijou. After quickly closing the fundraising for our Zurich franchise, we continued our expansion in Lucerne, one of Switzerlands highest performing touristic markets.
Coping with corona as a hospitality business
Le Bijou's business model relies on three revenue pillars: tourists, events and long term tenants. Two of them were wiped out during the crisis. However, Le Bijou managed to make the best out of it and offered quarantine apartments to guests that got stranded or had to self-isolate. This offering received global recognition and was part of over 3'000 international news articles.
Free stress-relief stays for healthcare workers
Le Bijou CEO Alexander Hübner donated his salary to let healthcare workers relax in our apartments free of charge. Other donors followed his example and donated stress-relief stays, which helped additionally to keep our units busy, maintain the jobs of our staff and protect the investors capital.
Global attention for the hotel of the future
Le Bijou's innovative approach with uber-like services, contact-less check-ins to a digital butler that fulfils every wish, has proven be the model of the future.
The future
We are working towards the goal of becoming the biggest and most profitable luxury apartment-hotel chain in Switzerland. After this goal is achieved, we will further expand throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
In The Media
Le Bijou has been making headlines worldwide since 2013
About the founders
Le Bijou is a network of high-end apartment hotels
Alexander Hübner
CEO & Co-Founder @ Le Bijou
Madeleine Hübner (Fallegger)
CCO & Co-Founder @ Le Bijou
Renato Steiner
CTO & Co-Founder @ Le Bijou
Behind the scenes
Le Bijou is a network of high-end apartment hotels
Can you make money with us?
Le Bijou is a network of high-end apartment hotels
Investment
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