Today we are happy to talk to entrepreneur and founder Piero Achermann about his project, the innovative SelfieHotel. As we look to the future, we are excited to see which pop-up awaits us next as a new social media playground. Have fun reading!
Dear Piero, thank you very much for taking the time for this MAp meets. A year ago you started the first SelfieHotel Pop-up Museum in Zurich, so can you please give our readers a brief insight into how this project came about?
The idea for the SelfieHotel came after the first lockdown in spring 2020, when we at Aroma were thinking about how the rooms that were vacant due to the pandemic could be used. The main focus here was on catering to establishments that were officially closed. But since a reopening in the bar and club area was foreseeable, and many city hotels still had a very bad booking situation, we sent initial inquiries and after a short period of time we decided in favour of the 25Hours Hotel on Langstrasse / Europaallee in Zurich.
What exactly is meant by a selfie hotel? What is the concept behind it and which target groups did you primarily want to address?
The SelfieHotel is a temporary social media playground and is primarily aimed at a young audience who want to create exceptional content for their social media feeds. For this purpose, we create crazy sets in the hotel rooms for photography, filming, boomerangs, posing, dancing and laughing! You can then book time slots for your visit at selfiehotel.ch. Entry costs around CHF 25.
How were the reactions to the first SelfieHotel and what is the future project planning like? Is an expansion of the project planned and what can we expect this year?
We were massively surprised by the rush; the SelfieHotel was booked out for weeks. We have therefore adjusted the opening times and decided to extend the term by one month. Over the three months we were able to welcome almost 20,000 visitors to Zurich.
This year we are planning the opening of the SelfieHotel Lausanne on May 1st, provided the pandemic situation allows it. We would like to use the concept in other cities and are already in the planning stage for this, but we are also open to suggestions.
If we now look into the future together: What do you think awaits us after COVID-19? Which trends will shape the Swiss and the international hotel industry?
The hotel, catering and event industries are the most severely affected branches of the economy; therefore, a high level of mental and operational agility and frustration tolerance are necessary in order to get through this crisis. With this in mind, I hope that the crisis will produce no financial losers, and also that entrepreneurs will be strengthened in terms of character and perseverance.
At MAp, we specialise in the development of innovative hotel concepts and brands: What makes a really special hotel stay for you?
I really appreciate personal but unobtrusive service. If I find the right newspaper on the breakfast table on the second day of my stay, then I'm happy.
About Piero Achermann:
Piero Achermann, born in 1980, grew up in Lucerne and has been involved in a wide range of entrepreneurial activities since 2001. In addition to his many years of activity as a co-founder and managing director of various companies in the catering and entertainment sector, he has also been active in the agency sector since 2011.
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