Qatar reportedly trying to sell Swiss hotels after Credit Suisse debacle

The Royal Savoy near Lake Geneva in Lausanne is one of three luxury hotels that Qatar reportedly wants to sell. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

Qatar is reportedly looking to sell three luxury hotels it owns in Switzerland. The report on Zurich financial blog Inside Paradeplatz is unconfirmed but is already causing a stir among major investors, according to public broadcaster RTS.

Inside External linkParadeplatzExternal link, which on Tuesday also published apparently related secret documents, says Qatar wants to sell the Royal Savoy in Lausanne, the Schweizerhof in Berne and the Bürgenstock hotel above Lake Lucerne. It is reportedly asking CHF300 million francs ($335 million) for the Lausanne hotel, CHF1.2 billion for the one above Lake Lucerne and CHF250 million for the one in Bern.

Most of Qatar’s investments in the luxury hotel sector are through Katara Hospitality, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund. Katara renovated the Royal Savoy at great expense (CHF100 million) in 2016, the Bürgenstock (CHF500 million) in 2017, and the Schweizerhof (CHF50 million) in 2011.

“Switzerland is a good market, a promising market. We want to invest in unique, historic and iconic properties,” Katara Hospitality managing director Hamad Abdulla Al-Mulla said in 2014.

The reported decision to sell comes just a few weeks after the emergency UBS takeover at a knockdown price of Credit Suisse, a bank in which Qatar had been a shareholder for 14 years. “The image of Switzerland has been damaged by Credit Suisse,” real estate consultant Yvan Schmidt told RTS on Tuesday evening. “Many shareholders were affected in a market where one of the qualities was security.”

According to Schmidt, the Swiss hotel industry remains a stable and interesting investment. Qatar also currently owns several shopping centres, conference centres and tourist attractions in Switzerland.