The Chedi Andermatt, a five-star hotel in the Swiss Alps, has announced it will allow guests to pay for their stay in crypto, reported Swiss news outlet Blick.

Guests at Chedi Andermatt can use Bitcoin or Ethereum to pay for bills over 200 Swiss francs, which is roughly equivalent to $218. Prices of the hotel are still set in fiat currency to reduce the risk of volatility and the hotel conveyed that it will immediately convert the cryptocurrency into francs upon confirmation.

“We have long known that cryptocurrencies also have a future in hotel operations. In the course of the increasing spread and acceptance of cryptocurrency payments, we are proud to be one of the first Swiss luxury hotels to be able to offer our guests cryptocurrencies as a secure means of payment,” said Jean-Yves Blatt, General Manager, The Chedi Andermatt.

The hotel has about 123 rooms with suites, with prices starting at 1300 francs per night in the holiday season. A tariff of 1300 Swiss francs would convert to 0.03 BTC or 0.45 ETH.

“We are making a clear statement to our hotel guests that we are open to new technologies and at the same time offer a new payment experience as an additional service,” added Blatt in a statement.

To make cryptocurrency payments possible, the hotel is partnering with payment service provider Worldline and Swiss crypto service provider Bitcoin Suisse.

The luxury hotel was established in 2013. It is run by billionaire Samith Sawiris and is one of the first Swiss luxury hotels to start accepting digital currencies.

While it is no secret that the Swiss have long been friendly to crypto users, a wider range of businesses have begun adopting digital assets. The town of Zug in Switzerland also known as the ‘Crypto Valley,’ houses a number of crypto and blockchain companies. In this town, crypto tokens are widely accepted and town officials announced that for the first time in February, residents can even pay their taxes in cryptocurrency.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)

First Published:Aug 27, 2021 5:26 PM IST