(JNS) — An Israeli man said he and his family were kicked out of a luxury hotel in Switzerland by a manager who told them to leave because they’re Jews. The hotel rejected the allegations.
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The Israeli, Yaniv Bender from Savyon near Tel Aviv, said the incident unfolded on Tuesday, one day after he checked into the Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa, a popular tourist destination near some of Europe’s best ski resorts.
Bender, who was on the second day of a seven-day stay in three rooms with eight family members, requested several services from the hotel’s staff for his wife, who was feeling under the weather, and his brother-in-law, who’d dislocated his shoulder while skiing, he said.
“The hotel manager sort of blew me off, and it escalated from there,” he told JNS on Thursday.
Following a disagreement on those services, the manager said that the families had 20 minutes to pack up and leave the hotel. Asked why he was kicking the family out, the manager said, “Because you’re Jewish,” Bender, who wears a kippah, said.
Contacted by JNS for a reaction on Thursday, a spokeswoman for Tschuggen Grand Hotel denied the claim in Bender’s complaint, which he also made directly to the hotel in writing. “We strongly reject the characterization of events of 14th January by the Bender family, and any accusations of antisemitism or wrongdoing on behalf of our staff,” she said. The family’s behavior left management “no alternative to involving the authorities,” she added, noting the hotel has Jewish owners. Staff can testify as to the incident, the spokesperson said.
The manager also used obscene language and called Bender’s children “barbarians,” according to the complaint. When Bender declined to leave immediately, the manager called the police, who made Bender leave, Bender also said.
Bender added that he did not use abrasive language with the manager, did not raise his voice, and stayed after being told to leave because the manager agreed to refund only $11,000 of the $137,000 that Bender had paid for the stay.
Arosa and other Swiss resorts have some Charedi guests, usually in the summer months. Friction in their interactions with hotel staff has led to allegations of antisemitism, some of which Swiss community leaders have said were the result of cultural differences.
“This is not such a case,” said Bender, who is a frequent traveler to Europe and has stayed in several top-tier hotels and ski resorts, including in St. Moritz in Switzerland.
“I’ve always been sort of skeptic of reports of antisemitism, but this was unmistakable,” he said Bender, adding that the ordeal worsened his wife’s ear infection, upset his children and made him feel “utterly humiliated and powerless in front of the children.”
Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the chairman of the Brussels-based European Jewish Association, said he believed that Bender had been the victim of antisemitism.
“Arguments can happen every day, but invoking someone’s Judaism and insulting their children is utterly reprehensible and inexcusable,” Margolin said.
The European Jewish Association will contact officials and ask them to “conduct a thorough investigation into the case, ensure a full apology is offered to Mr. Bender and his family, and demonstrate that antisemitism will never be tolerated in Switzerland,” EJA said in a statement.
Why do we get so many meshulochim in the US if you have people, seemingly frum,
from Tel Aviv who can pay 137,000 usd for seven days…?
He should have stayed at the Hotel Metropol in Arosa, which is owned by the Levin family… while the hotel rooms are not as nice as the tchuggen hotel… the service and Yiddishe love you get from the Levin family is something you will not experience anywhere else in the world
next time, vacation in Eretz HaKodesh and share the money with Jews.
What Mishigina pays $137,000 for a 7 night stay, even for 3 rooms, that works out to be $6523 per night per room. Thats absurd. I’ll rent him a Luxury condo in Miami for 3 months for $137,000
Who would give 137000 dollars to nazis
YNET converts the cost of 25,000 Swiss francs to approximately $27,500 (USD).
And it is not just that they were thrown out. The police threw them “out of the hotel at 11:30 p.m. into a parking lot at minus 13 degrees Celsius (8.6°F)” with two very small children, a sick wife. Sounds like the police and the hotel are guilty of child abuse. Just because the law might allow a hotel to kick out guests, that does not in any way include a right to commit child abuse during the process. The hotel should arranged other accomodations before kicking them out.
Just stop going on vacations abroad . Israel has loads of places to go on vacation, stay within the country. Why give money to those that hate us? Why put yourself in their power?
If it’s true, sue them for a lot of$$$$$
This is honestly appalling.
Even though he allegedly spent a tremendous amount of money to be at this resort, and you’re jealous, he still deserves to be treated humanely.
And especially as a fellow Jew, you should be empathetic to his situation.
But you’re not, because we’ll, he’s rich!
For shame.
Oiy, nebach. The tzaros of the rich and famous. My heart breaks for them.
Perhaps you were just acting rude and confrontational, which, while perhaps normal in Israel, is certainly not the norm is Switzerland.
I’m
Sure he isn’t making this up. This sounds like a nightmare he paid 137k to feel bad I wish this didn’t happen. It happens a lot to Jewish people. I am sure this guy is well connected if Europe Jewish agency and this website is reporting his problem. I know Switzerland is Nazis so why would they help Jews ?
The Swiss government during World War Two, helped finance the Nazi war machine, and were even sympathetic towards the Nazis. There were also instances of the Swiss prohibiting entry of Jewish refugees trying to cross the Swiss border, and flee towards safety. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, the World Jewish Congress in New York, exposed the fact that many Swiss banks held onto Jewish bank accounts and life insurance policies, which were issued prior to World War Two. They owed the living beneficiaries billions of dollars, which they did not want to pay. The Swiss government was not too happy about the revelation of this matter, and blamed that entire matter on “New York Jews”. After a lot of legal actions back and forth, the Swiss government finally agreed to settle, and pay compensation worth billions of dollars to the beneficiaries of the bank accounts and life insurance policies, which were originally owned by Swiss Jews, who sought refuge in Switzerland to escape the Nazis. Essentially, the Swiss cannot be trusted. Hence, I can’t understand why Jews of any persuasion would spend money on vacations in that country. I really could care less about “the beauty of their scenery”. The USA has just as nice scenery, as do the Swiss. Incidentally, while away for Pesach, in a now closed hotel in the Catskills, during the 1990’s, a frum couple told us that they and their family were on vacation in Switzerland. They were sitting outdoors at a park, when all of a sudden a local person came up to them (he saw their kippahs), and started cursing and screaming at them. Although I was very much surprised at the time, I am not surprised now.
This is too painful to process. I Hope it isn’t true
Hotels are notorious for charging a lot of hidden expenses, & numerous clauses they have in massive # of small print, which are impossible to read or comprehend
Switzerland is a physically beautiful country
The Swiss people not so much
Seems like fake news to me