About us
The Art Déco Hotel Elite is a house with a great tradition, considered a landmark of Biel’s bourgeoisie.
This is not least due to its «red neighbourhood», because diagonally opposite, on the other side of Guisanplatz, stands another Biel landmark, the Volkshaus, a socialist monument, appropriately all in red.
New Building style & Art Déco
The Elite was built between 1929 and 1931 in the area of the demolished old railway station.
The architect in charge was Karl Frey, who was committed to «new building». In keeping with the times, the hotel was decorated in the best Art Deco style. The Volkshaus was completed a year later. Together, the two buildings have dominated the cityscape around General-Guisan-Platz ever since.
Building alterations
The listed building was subject to extensive building alterations in the years 1942 and 1945.
It enjoyed its heyday in the golden 1970s and 1980s, before the great watchmaking crisis. At the turn of the millennium, the hotel was completely renovated at a cost of around 20 million Swiss francs.
The Elite today
In 2014, the Elite was taken over by Poli Immobilien AG and the management concept was revised.
The new concept includes, among other things, the letting of affiliated businesses. These include the restaurant «L’Osteria» on the ground floor, the fitness and wellness centre on the first floor and the rooftop restaurant «Repas» on the sixth floor with a view over the city. These businesses are independent and thus not operated by the hotel. After completion of the work necessary for the change of use, the Art Deco Hotel Elite reopened in summer 2015.
