Benjamin Luzuy: A human being first and foremost!
The sun is already shining brightly over Lake Geneva on this beautiful late-September morning. Benjamin Luzuy is walking briskly. A few hours earlier, he was working out while juggling phone calls—answering those whose callers might not notice his labored breathing, then calling back the others once he’d caught his breath. That image captures him pretty well. Benjamin Luzuy has rarely stopped running.
A meteorite
This morning, however, by the lake, the talk is of looking back a bit. A year after the Auberge Port-Gitana opened, calm has returned. With a confidence and serenity he admits to having lost in 2025. We have to go back to April 24. This magical spot, right on the water, was set to open a few days later, on May 5. For weeks, about thirty people had been working on the launch. Then the phone rang. A fire had just broken out on the roof. Solar panels had caught fire. No one was injured, but a critical part of the technical infrastructure was damaged. With just two weeks to go before opening, no one could tell him when Port Gitana would be able to welcome its first guests. “It was like being hit by a meteorite,” he says.
The problem becomes at once personal, operational, and financial. The teams are committed, salaries are being paid, the company is ready to operate, but it cannot open. Benjamin Luzuy considers insurance options before discovering a harsh reality: to be compensated for lost income, one must first be able to prove that income existed. But Port-Gitana had never actually opened. He then realized that no one would save the project for him. Which employees should he keep? Which talents should be protected? How long could the rest of the group continue to support Port-Gitana? “To make the right decision, you need clarity. And I no longer had any,” he says.
Stability in 2026
That’s probably where 2025 left its deepest mark. Port-Gitana was supposed to be one of the most important projects of his entrepreneurial career. Suddenly, it became the one that could jeopardize an entire group. Giving up, however, was never an option. “For me, entrepreneurship is like climbing Mount Everest. It’s not a sprint up Salève.” The restaurant finally opened on June 20, still surrounded by scaffolding. The hotel followed on September 5. “We presented the bride with a cast,” he smiles today.
Since he won’t be compensated for the financial loss as he had hoped, the entrepreneur is negotiating for more time. His initial five-year lease is now potentially extended to twelve years. It’s a way of turning an immediate challenge into a long-term prospect. However, holding out doesn’t mean coming out unscathed. At the end of the year, speaking to his teams, he acknowledges that it has been a less peaceful and, at times, less pleasant period. “In the employer-employee relationship, the word ‘relationship’ is key. My decisions also shape the professional experience of the people who work with me.” He then promises a more stable 2026.
Do less, but do it better!
Today, he believes he has kept his word. Port-Gitana has changed significantly. Of the original team of about thirty people, only a few remain. The group has also become more structured, with new tools that allow it to track the financial performance of its properties much more accurately and quickly. At Port-Gitana, this newfound peace of mind goes hand in hand with a new philosophy: less volume, more precision. “Do less, but do it better.”
Maturity is also evident in other ways. In this wine list, which features bottles that Benjamin Luzuy has been collecting since 2008. In the loyalty of Paul Cassigneul, his sister Marie Luzuy, Giuseppe Dell’Aquila, and those who have been working with him—in some cases for more than ten years. Without them, he acknowledges, 2025 would likely have been a different story. “I’m not sure I would have succeeded,” he begins, before correcting himself: “that we would have succeeded.”
After about twenty years as an entrepreneur, he’s delegating more, surrounding himself with the right people, and accepting that he no longer has to be everywhere at once. Port-Gitana actually fits this stage of his life quite well. His best barometer, however, is neither revenue nor occupancy rates… but his sleep! Last year, putting down his phone sometimes took effort. This year, he says, it’s becoming natural again. Sleep has returned. He, who had always been able to recover despite a hectic pace, had discovered waking up in the middle of the night and those problems that, at three in the morning, suddenly take on disproportionate proportions.
Catch Your Breath
Today, he’s back to sleeping soundly, and Port-Gitana also seems to have found its stride. The restaurant is refining its identity, while the hotel is running exceptionally well. This synergy is even opening up a new path for him, as he now plans to further develop this combination of dining and lodging. But that’s another story.
For now, we keep walking along the lake. The phone rings from time to time. Benjamin answers, takes care of a matter, hangs up, and then picks up the conversation almost exactly where we left off. He’s still that entrepreneur who thinks quickly, takes on a lot, and seems incapable of staying still for long. Yet something has changed. Today, Benjamin Luzuy has learned that not everything can be controlled. That some meteorites fall without warning. That holding on doesn’t mean carrying everything alone. And that success isn’t always a matter of speed. Sometimes, success begins when you take the time to catch your breath.
