Leander Perren was born in Zermatt in 1925 and grew up in Findeln with his parents and six siblings. He began working hard at the age of just 13. He took up his first job in the hotel industry in 1940 as a dishwasher at the Hotel Perren***. After two winters as a bellboy at the Hotel Post*** in the Arosa ski resort, he completed a service apprenticeship in Crans-Montana. To improve his French, he then worked in Vevey and took language lessons in Estavayer-le-Lac and Martigny.
He then spent a season working as a waiter at the Hotel Belvédère in Davos. On his return to Zermatt, he found a job at the Grand Hotel Zermatterhof as a concierge and bellboy.
As this work was not enough for him, he took over a grocery shop in 1953 with the support of his sisters. To further his ambitions, he eventually began building his own business on the family’s land. Without any financial support or mortgages, he opened the Hotel Bristol in 1959, complete with four restaurants and a skittle alley.
In 1960, he married his then secretary, Heidy Perren, who had worked at the hotel after graduating from the Lucerne Hotel Management School. Together, they ran the hotel with great passion and attention to detail. Heidy worked at the hotel every day until her son Francis took over in 2006. The well-being of the guests was of paramount importance to her. She ran the hotel with great dedication for 45 years until Francis Perren took over.
