Sinn & Gewinn Hotels
Bild: Alma Hotel
Zurich's Sinn & Gewinn Hotels combine hospitality with social responsibility and focus on reduce, reuse and recycle!
Hotels are the perfect place to tell stories, as you already know from books, movies and series – and no doubt from your own experience too. This story is about three hotels in Zurich: The Alma Hotel in Zurich's Seefeld district, the hotel marta near Central, and Josephine's Guesthouse for Women Only near Stauffacher.
The outfit behind these three enterprises is Sinn & Gewinn Hotels. For all four of the company's hotels: three in Zurich and the Pension Bienvenue in Lausanne, their name (= meaning & profit) is not just an empty promise, but a full one. Profit is not defined here purely in monetary terms, and it cannot be separated from meaningful activity. Social responsibility is combined with the pursuit of profit, thus creating meaning and profit for all involved. The Board of Directors works on a voluntary basis under the chairwoman Irène Meier, who is joined by Irène Wyss, Carola Scotoni Berger, Gisela Heim and Ursula Signer. Director Verena Kern Nyberg is responsible for the overall general management of the four enterprises. The successful development of Sinn & Gewinn Hotels was made possible by the compagna conviva charitable foundation, which owns the hotel properties and has its roots in one of Switzerland's oldest women's organisations: Compagna (formerly "Verein Freundinnen Junger Mädchen"). The hotels retain their distinctly female character with the entire team being made up exclusively of women.
Picture: f.l.t.r. Verena Kern Nyberg (Direktorin) and employees from Hotel Marta
The Alma Hotel is the oldest of the Sinn & Gewinn Hotels. The Art Nouveau villa has stood for more than 100 years in Zurich's Seefeld district, not far from the lake. Behind the light-blue façade, overgrown with climbing plants, lies the Alma Hotel. Guests will find certified organic cosmetics from Farfalla in its rooms and, whenever possible, visitors get to enjoy carefully selected organic and eco-friendly products. The Honesty Bar features drinks from local partners, including organic sodas from Vivi Kola and select organic wines from Turmgut. The popular wellness area with its sauna, steam bath, warming cherry-stone loungers and roof-top terrace has been "ladies only" from the get go. In addition to female guests, it is also frequented by women who live or work in the Seefeld district.
The third floor is unique at the Alma: Since completion of renovations in 2022, four female senior citizens have been living on this floor in studios, each with its own kitchen and bathroom, an amenity aimed exclusively at women. And the ladies greatly appreciate this alternative form of living, which allows them to book additional services, use the hotel's facilities and exchange ideas with guests whenever they feel like it. This amenity is very popular and there is already a waiting list.
The hotel marta in Zurich's Niederdorf is not only centrally located – just a few minutes' walk from Zurich's main train station – but also plays an active role in the city's cultural life. For over 10 years, the hotel marta has been welcoming guests from Switzerland and abroad to its 50s-built structure designed by the well-known Zurich architect Werner Stücheli, who shaped the cityscape with more than 100 buildings, including the first high-rise in the city centre and the commercial building Zur Bastei. It's thanks to collaborations with events like the Zurich Film Festival, Fashion + Food by BLICKFANG Zurich and supportyourlocalartist.ch that guests get close to the city's cultural action.
At Josephine's Guesthouse for Women Only, both tourists and women on the move will find exactly what they're looking for: A short-term home from home without the restrictions and high prices of a mainstream hotel. A limited number of rooms are reserved for women who find themselves in an emergency situation and need a place to stay at very short notice. Josephine's exudes a familiar and relaxed atmosphere, which helps guests, as well as long-term residents, to unwind and restructure their daily lives.
All three hotels focus on sustainability in the sense of "reduce, reuse, recycle". Guests use door hangers or magnets to decide for themselves when the bed linen and towels are changed. The breakfast buffet at all hotels is vegetarian. Going without meat is the easiest way to improve your carbon footprint, so a conscious decision was made to take this route. Guests won't find mini-bars or kettles in their rooms, but will find them in the public meeting areas for shared use. The Alma and marta are integration enterprises that provide protected employment for women with impairments. All employees are accompanied by a specially trained team. The rental of hotel rooms is profitable and therefore sustainable in the economic sense. Since December 2022, all three Zurich establishments have been awarded the sustainability certificate Level II - engaged by Switzerland Tourism.
Here's target._blankan overview of the Sinn & Gewinn Hotels.
A big thank you to Ramona Huber for the contribution and to Sinn & Gewinn Hotels for the partnership at the Symposium 2023.
