Escape the Currency Wars With a Job at the SNB’s Alpine Resort

(Bloomberg) -- For a place to escape the global currency wars, the Swiss National Bank can offer a fine location -- and perhaps even a job to go with it.

High in the Bernese Oberland in the middle of Switzerland, the country’s central bank runs a hotel, the Hasli-Zentrum, which boasts an indoor pool and a panoramic view of the Alps. The facility is primarily for employees but open to other paying guests. It now needs a new manager.

According to a job ad posted this week, the successful candidate will supervise a team of 16. They should have experience working in the hotel sector, have good social skills and speak German, French and English.

“The Hasli-Zentrum hotel is the perfect place for relaxed get-togethers and fun parties with family and friends,” according to its website. “For anyone who loves the outdoors, it’s like a home away from home.”

The Swiss resort is an example of a dwindling legacy of holiday accommodation historically provided for employees of central banks from Germany to Spain. The Bank of England, whose own offering is limited to self-catering cottages and wedding facilities at its sports ground in south London, may sell the property. The Austrian central bank already parted company with its own hotels several years ago, citing a lack of bookings.

The SNB’s accommodation, with 11 rooms and 16 apartments, garnered a five-star rating on Tripadvisor in a single review five years ago. Guests can expect to pay 135 francs ($139) per person per night half board for its most expensive apartments.

In tune with the spending habits of many Swiss, customers should bring cash -- because the hotel has no electronic payment system.

--With assistance from Jana Randow and Jeannette Neumann.

To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Bosley in Zurich at cbosley1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Craig Stirling, Jana Randow

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