5-Star Swiss Hotel Set to Accept Bitcoin Payments

The Dolder Grand, a five-star hotel based in Switzerland, will begin accepting bitcoin payments starting next month.

The news was announced Tuesday by the hotel’s tech partner, Inacta AG, which said that the payment option would be made available on May 1.

Once the new payment method goes live, guests can pay for accommodation, food and beverages or spa treatments using bitcoin. Inacta AG’s mobile app Inapay will then convert bitcoin payments into Swiss franc or euro “as soon as the payment has been completed,” according to the statement, meaning that the hotel itself won't handle cryptocurrency.

The Dolder Grand’s director of finance André Meier said in a statement:

“Many of the improvements in our service in recent years were made possible by advances in technology. As we believe Bitcoin is here to stay, it only seems natural to offer more choices in the payment process.”

The bitcoin payment option was featured earlier as part of a pilot project with Inacta AG.

Hotels across the world have been accepting cryptocurrency payments since as early as 2014. U.S.-based travel agency CheapAir started service to allow bitcoin users to book hotel stays with the cryptocurrency back in February 2014.

In July of that year, Canada-based Sandman Hotel Group started accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for room reservations. More recently, Spain-based Casual Hoteles started accepting bitcoin payments on a pilot basis in February 2019.

Featured image courtesy of The Dolder Grand