Hello,
You have not said the demographics that you were seeking to fill with your hotel intentions. 1.5 in definitly feasible, as long as you aren't looking for a mega plex. But, is that a 1.5 total budget, or just the purchase price?
Margins are small in the hotel/restaurant industry, as costs of doing business and regulations are high; well depending on the canton of course. I have heard this before and I am seriously tending to agree with the following statement "There are two kinds of successful businesses in hospitality, one that caters to the highest of service and then anything that ryhmes with Kebab", well I have also heard anything that is very minimal/snack related. Plus, the Swiss ideal of dining out and hospitality will make you want to pray for foreigners. There are no forseeable trends in Swiss entertainment. If it's rainy, it's almost certain you will be slow, if it's sunny the odds are in your favor, except of course if you are not directly on water, then it doesn't matter, the Kalbswurst grill on the lake will blow away anything else, regardless of service, price, etc.

I can give you some links that you can google in your preferrable language, and click on the link so you can read it. I do know there is an investor advertising his/herself out there as of yesterday looking for a partnership. And no, it's not me. I want to open a taco stand selling Chimi's stuffed with kalbswurst out of a Hibatchi on Zurichsee.


One thing though, that might best suit you as you did say you were Russian, is possibly getting into the Winter resort/Chalet business and catering to fellow russians during the Ski season. On both the french and the Swiss side they are giving crash courses in learning russian as now you guys are the truly big spenders, in the ski season. And some one who spoke their language, understood what makes them comfortable, what food they would prefer to eat, drink, entertainment, etc, I can see would be a big plus.

I saw just this last week a program on french tv strictly aimed at how in Chamonix the entire aim has been at the russian customer, and how those who cater to them the best, do the best. And getting a high quality french chef to work there is far cheaper then an average Swiss one. Well that was on the french side of course, bringing a french chef to Switzerland and paying him a fair wage will be a dream come true for most. If you need any help with this I can send you any links that may help. Good luck in any case