Hide Out in Style in the Swiss Alps or the Dead Sea

By Matt Martella

While most hotels are closing their doors in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, some hotels have managed to profit by keeping their businesses open under more unconventional operations. Currently, Le Bijou, a luxury brand hotel in Zurich, Switzerland, is still allowing guests into “quarantine apartments.”

The hotel puts special emphasis in providing refreshing breaks for healthcare workers during this extremely difficult time. Alexander Hubner, the Co-Founder and CEO of Le Bijou, says “We’re providing complimentary housing in our quarantine apartments to healthcare workers who need to rest between shifts in a comfortable and safe environment.”

Why Stay Open?

Considering the current pandemic and how it has basically restricted all types of travel around the world, one would have to question the safety and financial stability of keeping a hotel open at this unorthodox time, but Le Bijou’s quarantine apartments have managed to profit despite having the odds stacked against them.

The question remains: what is a quarantine apartment?

Services during Quarantine

A quarantine apartment features completely automated, centrally located luxury dwellings, containing a private gym, an ergonomically designed home office, fiber internet connection, personal health monitoring, in-room healthcare services with access to COVID-19 test kits, delivery services (including toilet paper), access to private chefs, in-room spa treatments, and more.

Quarantine apartments are designed specifically so that guests can live independently. Thanks to the hotel’s interest in new technologies, Le Bijou is able to make their apartments as safe as possible for their guests.

To minimize person to person contact, guests will be relying on James, the hotel’s intelligent digital butler, for most of their needs during the entirety of their stay. James will be replacing hotel management for the time being, ensuring that all guests will get what they want without the current risks of interacting with other people.

On top of this, Le Bijou further emphasizes their dedication to their guests’ health with in-room healthcare services with COVID-19 test kits and 24/7 personal health monitoring by the hotel’s healthcare provider, Double Check Zurich. The hotel is also located near an emergency hospital.

How did “Quarantine Apartments” come to be?

Quarantine apartments came into existence by popular demand. Alexander Hubner noticed a change in the trend of typical reservations at his hotel long before the outbreak of  COVID-19. Instead of booking three-night stays, more guests were now staying at the hotel for two weeks or more.

Hubner asked the guests why they were staying at the hotel for so long, he learned that people were specifically booking long reservations for the purpose of quarantine. And from that point on, the quarantine apartments were formed.

From world-famous technology entrepreneurs Steve Wozniak to the average person looking for a relaxing vacation, Le Bijou has received acclaim for its outstanding, luxurious services and its attention and dedication to new advancements in technology.

Considering all the unique services the quarantine apartments have to offer, it looks like the COVID-19 outbreak won’t be breaking Le Bijou any time soon, only motivating them even further.

Read all the positive reviews for Le Bijou here.

Other Locations to Spend Your Quarantine Abroad

Le Bijou is not the only destination you can retreat to during the pandemic, other hotels in Australia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and San Francisco have kept their doors open for quarantine accommodations.

Rydges Hotel Australia

The Rydges Hotel in South Bank Brisbane offers accommodations for those who must endure the 14-day quarantine instructed by the Australian government upon arriving into the country.

Los Angelos based song-writer Veronica McClusky told the Points Guy that she wasn’t expecting to be quarantined upon her landing into Australia, but that she was pleasantly surprised by how much she enjoyed staying at the Rydges Hotel.

Saudi Arabia

Both citizens and tourists alike arriving into Saudi Arabia have been given the 5-Star treatment during their quarantines.

According to Arab News, many people have been very happy with the 8-day hotel quarantine in Jeddah and Riyadh, saying they felt safe because the hotel employees wore masks and food came in plastic-wrapped trays.

Quarantine by the Dead Sea

In Jordan, nearly three dozens hotels have been repurposed as quarantine facilities, including resorts around the Dead Sea. This is in response to the country declaring a State-of-Emergency, and now 5,800 people have been placed in these hotel quarantines. Tourists may not be able to explore the country upon arrival, but at least they could have a fantastic view of the Dead Sea while they wait.

San Francisco

The Palace Hotel, which is a Marriott category 7 hotel, is one of 30+ hotels to be turned into a quarantine facility in San Francisco. The city is paying $213 a day for isolation rooms for sick patients stuck in one of these hotels.  Not as glamourous as the usual stay in a palace, but for now it will have do suffice.