81ThefirsttimeEgyptianrealestatemogulSamihSawiristooka
helicopterrideoverthesleepySwissskivillageofAndermatt,
14 years ago, he was struck by its remote wildness. The resort
was only a 90-minute drive from Zurich, yet it felt like a secret
hidden in the mountains of Uri, arguably the rugged coun-
try’s least discovered canton.
Whatthesilver-hairedchairmanofOrascomDevelopment
HoldingAGmusthavealsoseenwasa blankslate.Theappeal
ofEuropeanskiresorts,unlikethatoftheirpurpose-built
American counterparts, is their sense of history. Think
skiing into farming vil-
lages steeped in tradition,
where the slopes and hotels
and restaurants have been
attracting winter tourists
for—in some cases—well
over a century.
Andermatt offered
exactly the opposite. This
was a resort that, after two
boom-and-bust cycles, felt
virtually empty, a veritable
ghost town notched high
up in a secluded pocket
of the Alps. History hadn’t
been kind to the valley.
First the Gotthard Tunnel
rerouted the railway tourists who’d once
stopped here during the belle epoque.
Then the Swiss military, who’d made
Andermatt a big base of operations,
pulled out in the 1990s, leaving the
resort a husk of its former self. All that
remained was a picturesque main street
flanked by timber chalets and old hotels
and a few antiquated lifts ferrying skiers
to the tops of the towering mountains
that encircle the town. No-frills free rid-
erscamefortheplentifulpowderand
off-pistefacesliningtheGemsstock,the
highestlift-serviced peak in the area,
but they didn’t do much for the local
economy when it came to spending
money in town.
ToSawiris—whoseholdingsinclude
ElGouna,anEgyptianresorttownalongtheRedSeawith
some20,000residents—the underdeveloped resort’s lack of
infrastructure marked its appeal.
“Mr. Sawiris doesn’t only create tourism destinations,
he creates towns,” says Stefan Kern, a spokesman for
Andermatt Swiss Alps AG, the company Sawiris founded to
transform Andermatt from a down-on-its-luck Alpine ham-
let into a destination resort capable of rivaling Zermatt,
St. Moritz, and Verbier.
In 2007, Sawiris proposed an audacious three-pronged
resuscitationplan,onethatwouldseemorethan$1billion
go toward an opulent luxury hotel and 18-hole Scottish-
style golf course, a revamped and expanded ski area, and
an ambitious development of holiday apartments and private
chalets. To succeed at that third component—the one most
critical to his bottom line—Sawiris had to find a way around
a Swiss law that restricted foreigners from purchasing sec-
ond homes. He did just that, getting the government to grant
Andermatt an exemption as a special economic develop-
ment zone. Once the town voted in favor of his plan, almost
unanimously, Sawiris was
offandrunning.
Spreadoutacrossnine
peaked-roof chalets, the
five-star 169-room Chedi
opened its doors in 2013
and now forms the heart
of the new Andermatt. The
hotelhasbecomea desti-
nationinandofitselffor
moneyedtravelers—some
skiers, some not—who want
to unplug amid blissed-out
luxury in the seclusion of
the Swiss Alps. During a
visit in early April, as the
snow still dumped outside,
an international array of guests milled
aboutthesleekblack-stoneandtimber
lobby,atefarm-freshbreakfastsinthe
250-persondiningroombesideanopen
kitchen,andfloateddownstairstospa
appointments.There’sa 6,000-bottle
wine cellar, plus a Michelin-starred
Japanese restaurant (a 10-course kai-
seki menu is recommended) and, for
those who can afford further seclusion,
the two-floor Furka suite, which comes
replete with a private spa and rents for
$15,000 a night.
Still, despite its sheer size and over-
the-top amenities, the Chedi doesn’t
dominate Andermatt. Nor does Sawiris’s
residential development on the north
side of town, Andermatt Reuss, which is
hometotherecently opened four-star Radisson Blu hotel, a
650-seat classical music concert hall, and apartment build-
ings surrounding a central piazza. (Eighty percent of fin-
ished apartments have already been sold.) Instead, as you
drive up the circuitous bends and through a crack in the
mountains and into town, you’re greeted by the broad val-
ley’s open snowfields, a few remaining military barracks,
perhaps a red train trundling along on your right-hand side,
and serrated peaks in every direction.
“Some people driving into the village don’t even realizeTRAVEL Bloomberg Pursuits October 14, 2019
The town, nestledintheUrserenvalley
along branches oftheReussRiver(top);
the sprawlingChedi Hotel