The Living Circle has acquired Bergwelt Grindelwald, a four-star-superior hotel with 90 rooms plus two residences that opened in 2021, from developer HRS Real Estate. The Zurich-based hospitality group also bought the hotel's operating company from Swiss Design Collection. The purchase price was not disclosed in the sources.
According to the source, the purchase took place at the end of November 2025, and The Living Circle took over operations on 1 October 2026.
The Living Circle is a family-owned Zurich hospitality group that pairs hotels with its own farms for farm-to-table dining under the tagline "Luxury fed by nature". It was formed in 2017 by Gratian Anda to consolidate properties inherited from his grandfather, industrialist Emil Bührle (1890-1956). Founding assets included the five-star Widder (49 rooms) and Storchen (64 rooms) hotels in Zurich and Castello del Sole in Ascona (79 rooms), as well as two agricultural estates and one standalone restaurant.
The source describes the group as expanding its luxury brand through both new real estate acquisitions and selective management contracts with third-party owners. It reports that in 2019 The Living Circle took over operations of the five-star Alex Lake Zürich (43 rooms) in Thalwil, owned by third-party investor Corim AG. In 2022 it partnered with three-Michelin-star chef Andreas Caminada to acquire real estate in Fürstenau (GR) while taking a minority stake in the Caminada operating company. In 2024 it opened the renovated Château de Raymontpierre (14 rooms) in canton Jura as a boutique destination hotel on its long-held estate.