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UBS and Credit Suisse compete on everything in Switzerland – private banking, corporate accounts, retail clients, you name it.
And you can add to that list the hotel trade.
Both banks own a top hotel in or around the Bahnhofstrasse business district. Nice and easy for clients to get to the pristine vaults of the world’s two leading wealth managers when they come to town. Both are legacies of previous loans gone wrong, with the bank left holding the asset.
But which bank has the best hotel? A cursory glance at tripadvisor.com suggests that UBS holds the upper hand.
Its Widder Hotel gets a five-star overall rating on the site, with more than 80% of reviewers judging the experience of staying there as excellent. One reviewer says: "My favourite hotel in Zurich, if money is no object; while the lobby is understated and a perfect example of Swiss frugality, the rooms are anything but."
Credit Suisse’s Savoy Baur en Ville is also highly rated, but scores only four out of five overall, with around 60% of customers rating the hotel as excellent.
One reviewer who gives the Savoy top marks gushes: "Before you die, check in, go to the room, eat the room service and say: ‘Life does not get better’."
Others were less kind: "If you are a small person who smokes, is not cost conscious, and prefers baths to showers, go for it. Otherwise don’t bother."