Who would not like to live in a luxury apartment? This is made possible by three young entrepreneurs, who rent such objects on a daily basis.
Live like the Royals - Le Bijou on Tele Züri
Aug 2017Le Bijou on Tele Züri
An apartment for over 1,000 Francs per day. One segment is excluded from the housing shortage: Luxury apartments. A large proportion is unoccupied; a blessing for the young entrepreneurs who rent the vacant apartments, and furnish them luxuriously to then rent out for a lot of money, to families, groups of friends and business people. Silvia Mathis went to see an apartment.
Madeleine Fallegger: „Here we are in a new Le Bijou apartment. It is now temporarily furnished and will be upgraded to the Le Bijou standard by the end of the year. I’ll gladly show you around.“
Madeleine Fallegger is one of the three co-founders of Le Bijou. In 2013, they founded their company. In the last two years, the demand has grown. Now, they offer 40 luxury apartments all over Switzerland. The condition: The best locations. The apartments are upgraded by their own design team. Then, they rent them out by the night, just like in a hotel.
Madeleine Fallegger: „Also with us, you can make use of various services. Serve yourself from our large minibar inside the apartment or order a private chauffeur: All possible through our software powered by James, our virtual concierge, at the click of a button.“
They offer various local services, such as massages, private chefs, and chauffeur services. The advantage of Le Bijou: They have practically no permanent employees. Everything is automated. Someone who still runs a hotel traditionally with employees is Jörg Arnold of the hotel Storchen in Zurich. He is also a member of the board of Zürich Tourismus and doesn’t see the young company as competition for the hottelerie.
Jörg Arnold: „Our advantage is surely, that we can react very quickly. The guest is in the house, my people are in the house, the employees are in the house. I can offer all services immediately. That’s the time factor. And the guest of today takes decisions on a short notice. He comes with a sudden need and wants it fulfilled immediately. I can imagine that in a rental apartment it might not be as fast and easy. Because various third-party service providers offer the service.“
And a room with them costs 500 Francs on average. With Le Bijou, it’s about 1,200. Nevertheless, the business seems to be going. They are completely booked out and have a lot to do.
Madeleine Fallegger: „We enjoy what we are doing, we’re expanding greatly in Switzerland and we’re already looking across the border.“
Time will show, whether this or similar services will be offered internationally soon.
Le Bijou on Tele Züri – view the complete video here:
