Swissôtel Beijing - Official Paralympics family hotel

Swissôtel Beijing Hong Kong Macau Centre is the official Paralympic Family Hotel for the Beijing 2008 Summer Paralympic Games. For the duration of the Games from 6 – 17 September 2008, this landmark property will serve as the Headquarters for the International Paralympic Committee(IPC), the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement, as well as house all IPC officials and heads of the individual sports federations and associations.

A dedicated Swissôtel Paralympic Family Hotel Operations Team comprising no less than 20 members has been working around the clock to ensure that Swissôtel Beijing Hong Kong Macau Centre will indeed be the home-away-from-home for every single member of the Paralympic Family.

Since its appointment by the IPC in April 2007, Swissôtel Beijing has upgraded its many facilities including the lobby, front desk, food and beverage outlets, the Grand Ballroom as well as public areas in order to meet the highest international standards of obstacle-free and wheelchair-friendly facilities. Elevators have also been equipped with Braille buttons and a special device to announce the lift arrival at each floor to aid visually-impaired guests.

The hotel’s meeting rooms have been assigned for use solely by the IPC and Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and will serve as their headquarters and residential command centre during the Games. To meet IPC’s exacting requirements, these meeting rooms have undergone extensive renovations including repositioning of their entrances so that disabled guests will have seamless and obstruction-free easy access.

All 430 rooms of the hotel will be occupied by the delegation with floors that have been dedicated as entirely handicap-friendly floors. Features such as the widening of bedroom and bathroom doors to allow easy access for wheelchairs, inclusion of handrails in bathrooms, addition of specially designed shower facilities and even the relocation of view holes have been added to ensure the comfort and safety of the delegation.

Working closely with IPC and the Chinese Handicapped League, more than 600 staff of Swissôtel Beijing have undergone extensive training to better understand the differing needs of the various disability groups and to personally extend the Swissôtel ‘Passion for Perfection’ touch to each guest. Some staff have even undergone sign language training conducted by the Beijing Municipal Tourism Bureau.

Mr Eric Piatti, General Manager, Swissôtel Beijing Hong Kong Macau Centre said, “It is indeed a privilege for Swissôtel Beijing Hong Kong Macau Centre to be appointed the official Paralympic Family Hotel for the Beijing 2008 Summer Paralympic Games. Preparations for this momentous event began in April 2007 when we were selected to be the headquarters and residence of IPC officials for the Games and now finally after 16 months of hard work and planning, my team and I are eager to share our traditional Swissôtel hospitality and legendary ‘Passion for Perfection’ service with the IPC officials and members”.

For more information, log on to Swissotel.com.