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Swiss hotel boots Israeli family in alleged antisemitic incident

A manager of the Tschuggen Grand Hotel Arosa is said to have kicked out eight people after an argument, telling them it was because they're Jews.

Yaniv Bender and his wife. Credit: Courtesy of Yaniv Bender.
Yaniv Bender and his wife. Credit: Courtesy of Yaniv Bender.

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.

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.

A Swiss police officer handling a call to evict Yaniv Bender and his family from a hotel in Arosa on Jan. 14, 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Yaniv Bender.

Arosa and other Swiss resorts have some haredi 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.   

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