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FRIBOURG

Pay-what-you-like hotels in Fribourg

Hotels in Fribourg, western Switzerland, are offering customers the chance to determine the prices they want to pay for their rooms.

Published: 24 February 2012 10:59 CET
Pay-what-you-like hotels in Fribourg
Norbert Aepli (File)

Eight hotels in Fribourg will start the offer this weekend, and continue it for the rest of the year. The offer is only run on Sundays and does not include breakfast.

Customers will be asked to pay what they consider to be the right price for the services they have received and to fill out a short questionnaire explaining how they arrived at their price.

“Our goal is not to offer something for free, even if we do accept customers who want to pay nothing at all. It’s a risk we take,” Sophie Rouvenaz from the committee of Fribourg hoteliers told online news website Le Matin.

“This offer is bold and innovative,” said Thomas Allemann of the Swiss Hotel Association.

A similar project was undertaken in 2001 and showed that customers were honest and did not take advantage of the deal.

“The average price paid was almost identical to the actual price,” said Sophie Rouvenaz. “And we certainly hope for the same result, proving that our services are worth their price.”

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TRAVEL

Merkel slams state plans to open hotels for families over Christmas

Chancellor Angela Merkel has reportedly slammed plans by state leaders to allow families to stay over the festive period.

Published: 30 November 2020 16:42 CET
Updated: 30 November 2020 18:56 CET
Merkel slams state plans to open hotels for families over Christmas
Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photo: DPA

What's happening?

Contact restrictions will be relaxed over Christmas and New Year to allow for low-key celebrations in Germany.

But will people be able to travel and stay in hotels while visiting their family and friends? The federal government and states are in disagreement about this.

Currently, hotels throughout Germany are only allowed to accommodate people travelling for essential reasons such as business. That's because during the partial lockdown, which has been extended until at least December 20th, there is a ban on tourist overnight stays throughout the country.

However some states have decided to go their own way and allow relatives to stay in hotels over the festive season.

IN DETAIL: Germany extends coronavirus shutdown and tightens restrictions

 

Which states are offering hotel stays?

Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony announced they will allow hotels to open over the holiday break.

Other states are considering this move too.

READ ALSO:

What's the reaction?

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the government are not happy about this move.

Merkel warned that it risked worsening the coronavirus resurgence hitting Germany, participants in a conservative party meeting said on Monday.

According to Reuters, Merkel said she couldn't understand why states are allowing hotels to accommodate family, particularly in large cities and regions with high infection numbers.

She also criticised that state premiers had not informed her about this plan.

“Citizens remain called upon to avoid tourist trips,” said Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert later on Monday. Travel for family reasons is difficult to distinguish from this, he added.

A hotel in Cologne. Photo: DPA

Seibert then referred to last Wednesday's meeting at the government and states summit – the decision did not include “private use” of hotels, he said.

Despite Merkel and the government's comments, the state leaders have the final say on what happens to hotels under the federal system.

Skiiing holidays 'could worsen situation'

Seibert also said that the German government was sticking to the goal set by Merkel of limiting the skiing season in cooperation with neighbouring countries because of the pandemic. Seibert said that the number of infections could rise again “by starting the skiing season too early”.

The closure of ski resorts is the subject of fierce debate in the EU. Austria and Switzerland want to open their slopes. Besides Germany, Italy is also in favour of closure. France does not want to ban skiing holidays, but wants to prohibit the operation of lifts.

 

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