Luxury alpine hotel runs out of money

Known as the 'Golden Egg', the luxury hotel opened at the beginning of this year Keystone

A prestigious luxury hotel in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos is in trouble barely six months after opening its doors. The management of the Intercontinental has filed for bankruptcy.

The board of the managing company on Monday confirmed it had to turn over their financial statements to a district court.

The Davos-based company Weriwald is to take over the lease of the hotel and will continue all staff contracts.

The Davos Intercontinental, known as the Golden Egg because of its special architectural form and colour, has more than 210 rooms and suites, as well as restaurants and shops. It employs about 200 people.

The complex was praised as one of the “biggest hotels in the Alps” when it opened last December. Funded notably by the Credit Suisse bank the hotel tried to attract clients attending major international conferences, including the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Critics argue poor management and marketing by the local tourist authorities are behind a lack of bookings over the past few months.