The M. family — the name has been changed at their request — has owned three hotels in Ticino since the early 1960s. Two of the properties operate primarily in Italian; the third, on the Lugano side, in German. The current generation is the third.
"My grandfather bought the first one for a price he never disclosed even to my grandmother," says the eldest daughter, who now manages day-to-day operations. "He came back from Milan one weekend with a deed and a smile. That was the founding moment of our company."
The family was approached, by their own count, by eleven prospective buyers between 2018 and 2024. They declined every offer.
"We were not against selling," she explains. "We were against being bought by the wrong person. There is a particular kind of buyer who is excited about the idea of owning a Swiss hotel. They have visited it. They have stayed in our suite. They have an emotional relationship with the building. They have no relationship with the staff, the suppliers, the regulars. We learned to recognise this within five minutes of the first meeting."
Pull quote"We were not against selling. We were against being bought by the wrong person."
The eventual buyer — a small European hospitality group with three other family-owned properties in Italy and Austria — approached the family in late 2024. The conversation lasted, with breaks, for nearly a year.
"They asked us things no one had asked before," she recalls. "They wanted to know which staff had been with us longest. They wanted to know who our suppliers were and how long we had used them. They asked whether we had a clause in our leases that prevented certain kinds of conversion. They were behaving like operators, not like buyers."
The deal closed in early 2026. The family retained a minority stake and a board seat. Both daughters continue to manage operations.
"The lesson, if there is one," she concludes, "is that a hotel is not real estate. A hotel is a set of conversations. The right buyer wants to continue the conversations. The wrong one wants to redecorate the lobby."