History of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts in 40 unforgettable stories.

The 40th anniversary of the international upscale hotel company is a celebration of passion and service… even in the most extraordinary situations.
 
Zurich (Switzerland), 3 July 2013 - Abandoned false teeth, eccentric professors, waiters on roller-skates, disappearing hotel beds and bizarre cow parades may sound like the ingredients of a comedy film, but for Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts they are just some of the unforgettable memories that the upscale Swiss hospitality company has enjoyed over the years.
“Our hotels are more than just great places to stay,” says Jean Gabriel Pérès, president and CEO of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts. “They are a collection of wonderful real-life stories that show truth is always stranger than fiction. So, as our company celebrates its 40th anniversary, it seemed fitting that we share 40 of our favourites.”
Sometimes the stories are life-affirming such as the refugee who escaped civil war in Congo to train in the kitchens of the Mövenpick Hotel Münster (Germany) before joining a Michelin-starred restaurant, or the supervisor at Mövenpick Resort & Residence Aqaba who returned 10,000 US dollars to a guest who forgot the cash in his room. Sometimes they are bizarre such as the impromptu guest ‘tour de floor' cycle race accompanied by trumpets in the Mövenpick Hotel Essen.

But at the heart of these stories is a passion for memorable guest experiences, such as Hasan Jaarrat at the Mövenpick Resort & Spa Dead Sea who rescues guest jewellery from the saltiest waters on Earth; Hamad, a waiter at Mövenpick Resort & Residence Aqaba who arranges desert trips for families in his spare time or the bride who was reunited with her wedding gown after it had been forgotten at the Mövenpick Hotel Stuttgart.

Whatever the situation, every Mövenpick hotel has a story to tell that charts the 40-year history of the company. At the hotel in Zurich-Airport – which marks the start of the hotel company – founder Ueli Prager rewarded his executives with shares when cash was tight in the 1970s; at the Mövenpick Hurghada in Egypt a certain Mr and Mrs Junker have returned to the same resort 40 times on their holidays; and in Saudi Arabia, Markus Marti, the General Manager at the Mövenpick Hotel Al Khobar used to have the honour of parking Prager's limousine when he was a trainee two decades ago in Zurich.

“These stories represent every facet of the Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts experience and they demonstrate our commitment to guests whether the situation is light-hearted or serious,” says Pérès. “But above all, they reveal our passion for life, something that has been informing the company's success since 1973.”
Of course it is a story of success that never ends. Guests can now enjoy a special global ‘Summer Sunshine' promotion. Appropriately for such an important anniversary there are great savings of up to 30%.