Swiss Hotel Offers Luxury Quarantine Package, Including 24/7 Nurse Care and $500 COVID-19 Test

As the coronavirus quickly spreads across the globe, tourism is the least of many people’s concerns — unless you work in that industry, of course.

However, Le Bijou, a hospitality company in Switzerland, has come up with a creative way to offer a luxury hotel experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hotel chain’s “quarantine stay” package offers several a-la-carte services, including $500 for coronavirus testing, $1,800 for a nurse check-in twice a day and $4,800 for around-the-clock care.

And guests can access these services from the comfort of their hotel suite.

Le Bijou is “a high-end Swiss hospitality company that’s part luxury hotel, part serviced apartment,” according to The Washington Post. 

Because of its past experience catering to the needs of high-end guests, the transition to offering extensive COVID-19 services wasn’t difficult.

Before the pandemic outbreak, wealthy guests, including members of the Saudi Arabian royal family, enjoyed stays at the luxury resort, which cost between $800 and $2,000 per night.

“In beginning of March, revenues had dropped significantly,” Alexander Hübner, the co-founder and chief executive of Le Bijou, told The Post. “We said, OK, we need to react immediately to that.”

Hübner said he began receiving requests from those who wanted somewhere to practice a more up-scale type of social distancing.

Many of those people didn’t want to run the risk of going to hospitals or doctors’ offices for their basic medical needs and check-ups during the pandemic; that’s when Hübner got the idea to bring the medical professionals to them in a high-class hotel setting.

Le Bijou partnered with a private Swiss health care provider, Double Check, that will be tending to the guests who choose to spend their isolation at the resort.

“Our healthcare partner Double Check Zurich offers private care in Switzerland’s most exclusive clinic. Get fast-track access to the most renowned clinicians and cutting-edge treatments,” Le Bijou’s website states.

The hotel can operate without a full staff, meaning guests can check in through an automated service instead of having to interact with humans and run the risk of catching the virus. 

“Convert your Le Bijou apartment into a private health center: With external specialists, we provide healthcare services such as nursing, food delivery, and personal chef service – all with utmost hygiene and under medical control,” the website adds.

Hübner said the staff in charge of cleaning the rooms are only allowed to clean before a guest checks in and after they check out, and they must follow the Swiss health guidelines by wearing a mask and gloves while cleaning.

The business plan quickly turned into a success after the hotel promoted the perks on social media, Hübner said.

“In the beginning, we just had about two inquiries a day,” he told The Post. “Now it’s ramped up to four, five, six a day, and we just started, I think, one week, 10 days ago.”

While the luxury package provides medical care for guests, Hübner is not encouraging those who are already infected coronavirus to come to any of the hotel’s locations.

“We advise them to stay where we are, because that’s advised by the government,” Hübner said.

“They need to stay in quarantine. They shouldn’t leave anymore if they’ve tested positive.”