TFE Hotels has expanded its European portfolio
with the opening of the Adina Apartment Hotel Geneva, the
Australian group’s
first hotel in Switzerland.
The 140-key Adina Geneva is part of an urban
renewal project in, what has now become, one of the largest
private real-estate investments in the country.
Developer Claude Berda has
invested 1.4 billion Swiss Francs to
transform the 11-hectare former industrial site into a modern,
mixed-use lifestyle precinct complete with several hotels, retail,
restaurants, residential and mixed-use apartments, as well as vital
infrastructure including a school and commercial offices.
With the opening of Adina Geneva, TFE’s European
portfolio now comprises of 18 hotels with around 2760 keys, with plans
to expand further throughout Europe in the coming year.
“We have opened eight international Adina hotels
over the past two years and entered new global markets including
Austria, Singapore, and now Switzerland,” said Antony Ritch, CEO,
TFE Hotels. “Geneva has a very low proportion of apartment hotels
that can cater to these seasoned travellers. The fact that the
market is not competitive in this space gives us an opportunity to
position Adina Hotels as a long-term market leader in Switzerland,
with Zurich, Basel, and Lucerne other potential locations in the
future. We look forward to seeing
what General Manager, Gabriel Urban, and his team can do in
establishing and growing our Adina brand in Switzerland and
delivering our Australian-style of hospitality to a whole new
market.”
With a passion for delivering Australian-style
hospitality to the world, the Adina features interiors by
Australian designer Andrew Parr, from SJB Melbourne, and in-room
chairs by Melbourne designer Chris Connell.
Adina General Manager, Gabriel Urban, said whilst
apartment style hotels were still relatively new in the Swiss
market, the Adina was perfectly positioned with contemporary and
highly functional room design, renewable energy for heating and
cooling, and some of the best views the city could offer.
“At 10 storeys, we’re the tallest building in the
Quartier de L’Étang precinct and one of the tallest buildings in
Geneva, where typical commercial buildings stand around 7 storeys
high,” he said. “Add in our East/West/South aspect and we have
views to Mont Blanc and the Jet D’eau to the south; Mont Salève in
the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the West and the Jura Mountains to the
East. Right now, the caps are white, so it’s a very,
very beautiful view. And, if you book a corner room,
you get the best alpine vistas all year round.”
Adina Geneva, like other buildings in the Quartier
de L’Étang precinct, uses renewable energy to heat and cool the
hotel.
“Water from 45m below the surface of Lake Geneva –
Europe’s largest alpine lake – is essentially pumped, using
hydrothermal technology, into the precinct buildings to keep the
hotel cool,” Gabriel said. “The water is later released back into
the lake. And best of all, it’s all done without creating any CO2
emissions.”
B Coffee Pods – another brilliant piece of Swiss
engineering using a thin layer of biodegradable algae, instead of
traditional foil – will be available at the hotel, ensuring coffee
drinkers can recycle the beans and help fertilize the hotel’s
garden without adding to landfill.
And in an architectural design element reminiscent
of New York’s The Highline, the hotel and neighbouring buildings
in the Les Atmospheres section of the precinct, share a common
urban garden. And 10-storeys up, the traditional hotel rooftop
garden has been reengineered into an entire green roof alive with
local flora.
“Working with Geneva’s environmental guidelines
for new builds, the Adina Hotel reduces energy consumption through
external sun shading, magnetic window controls that automatically
switch off power when the windows open; guest control of sunshades
and super-efficient, high-tech building management systems to
further reduce energy consumption without reducing guest comfort,”
Gabriel said. “It all adds up to a clean and green stay.”
