5-star serviced apartments: falling finance star builds luxury hotels for 120 million

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He was the derivative genius of Switzerland. But then the business came to a standstill, after a power struggle Jan Schoch had to vacate the pitch in 2017. He came out and sold Leonteq shares for 64 million – his package was once worth 250 million.

He quickly stood up again. And became a hotelier. In 2014 it bought the Hotel Bären in the village of Gonten of 1500 inhabitants near Appenzell and then invested several million in the conversion of the house built in 1602. It’s still an emotional thing for him today: “My parents got married here.”

Serviced luxury suites and a five-star hotel

But there was more to it soon: “Bear” became the core of a 120 million project to build a “lifestyle wellness community” in Gonten. Schoch recently unveiled his second converted hotel, the “Löwen” house across from the “Bear” to the press.

At the beginning of 2025, a five-star hotel with serviced luxury suites, condominiums and 2,200 square meters of wellness area will be built on the property behind the “Bear”. Everything is under the umbrella brand “Appenzeller Huus”. The parts are partly connected by tunnels, and Switzerland’s largest wine cellar is also planned in the basement. “The ‘Appenzeller Huus’ is a powerhouse with a modern and forward-thinking ecosystem that offers the right offerings for a wide variety of guest groups,” says Schoch.

Everything will be made of wood, like the “Bear” 400 years ago. To this end, he established two wood construction companies, together with local wood experts. The spruce tree comes from the region, it’s all about sustainability. It wants to offer cutting-edge biohacking and cold therapies in the wellness field. In this way, he wants to create 50,000 night stays per year.

45 million pays itself

That would put Gonten on par with Appenzell. According to Schoch, he injected about 45 million into his own capital, with the rest provided by WIR Bank and the Swiss Society for Hotel Credit (SGH). The refinancing is going well: about a quarter of the 43 flats have already been sold.

Source :Blick