Andrea & Gigi Kracht in The Luxury of peace and quiet

Zurich wakes up, it’s a spring day. An elegant car drives into the hotel courtyard. Like every day, Andrea, who lives just out of town, reaches his workplace. It’s 8 o’clock on the dot. Andrea takes a deep breath and looks at what stands before his eyes: the grand door, the portico, the elegant windows, the striped curtains and the balconies in bloom.
He feels a wise, conscious sense of gratitude. This place is his home, his life, his family. This is the hotel Baur Au Lac, a mythical, unique, precious chest of memories and innovation.

This hotel belongs to him and to all the people who have visited it and will continue to do so. The hotel, built in 1844 by his ancestors, near the lake and with a view of the Alps, has always been run by Andrea’s family, of which he represents the 6th generation.

Just like those who once spent their holidays here –the emperors and princesses, the unforgettable Sissi, musicians, intellectuals, entrepreneurs, Alfred Nobel, who had his idea of creating his famous prize here, encouraged by the charismatic pacifist Baroness Bertha Von Suttner, and well-known artists– today art collectors, heads of state, designers, international film and music stars, members of royal families now stay here.

Little has changed, but at the same time everything has, Andrea thinks.The luxurious and refined atmosphere has remained the same. And he likes this.

Inside the hall there is a unique scent, for the guests of the hotel it’s like a favourite tune. It means: “Here you are, welcome”. A personal note reflected in the beauty of the furniture, in the magnificence of the bouquets that flood the bright halls. It’s the same fragrance that lingers in the rooms, in the bathrooms, when the clients prepare for their moments of complete privacy, plunging into aromatic bubbles.

He knows that keeping up the standards of perfection, discretion and uniqueness of the Baur Au Lac implies a continual effort, such as the one of his staff: young apprentices that absorb their masters’ experience, a starred chef that brilliantly guides his brigade de cuisine, waiters, maîtres, gardeners, trainers and florists and many more.
The Baur microcosm is synchronized to give what his family has always wanted to transmit: the experience of a unique lifestyle to greet their guests.
For Andrea, who is also the Chairman of the Leading Hotels of the World, the best prize is his clientele. The phone rings, it’s his wife. “Have you asked to have pictures of the ginko biloba taken? I would like some photos of it for the new catalogue of the hotel. I’d like everyone to know about it, it has such a magic history…” Andrea agrees with this suggestion, and asks for a coffee in the hotel’s private park. Here, an old tree grows peaceful and regal, a ginko biloba, whose seed, tradition says, came directly from the garden of Japanese emperor. It was brought here in 1880.
Gigi, an art curator, loves to enjoy a few moments of quiet under the giant canopy of this rare specimen. Moreover, it was her who introduced contemporary art to the Baur. Because, as the Leipzig Illustrated Newspaper wrote in 1854, talking about the beauties of this unparalleled hotel: “Art must live together with nature”.