Switzerland Guide
Zürich
Accommodation
1 Goldenes Schwert Marktgasse 14 
044 250 70 80 
www.gayhotel.ch Excellent value, with a uniquely easygoing atmosphere. This is the only hotel in Zürich which makes a selling-point of its gay- and lesbian-friendliness. The comfortable rooms are large, bright, individually decorated and inexpensive, but you should insist on the fifth floor to avoid noise from the bars and nightclub. They also have quality apartments for Fr.200 or less. Price: Fr.150–250
2 Limmathof Limmatquai 142 044 267 60 40 www.limmathof.com Although this is one of the cheaper options overlooking the river, you'd do well to eschew the noisy river-view rooms for the newer, quieter ones at the back. Either way, you may have problems swinging a cat.Price: Fr.150-200
3 Martahaus Zähringerstrasse 36 044 251 45 50 www.martahaus.ch Renovated budget hotel in a slightly dodgy neighbourhood, but a safe, clean and thoroughly respectable place to rest your head for minimal franc outlay. Some rooms are ensuite, but you should go for a back room to avoid street noise. Also has good, partitioned dorms. An annexe out west on Lutherstrasse is women-only.Price: Fr.100–200
4 
Otter Oberdorfstrasse 7 044 251 22 07 www.hotelotter.ch Best in the budget bracket by miles, relaxed, friendly and great value, with an unconventional clientele of students and artists. Uniquely colourful rooms, all with plump, comfy beds, are decked in murals, drapes and plants, ones higher up with lovely rooftop views. Shower and toilet are shared between the three rooms on each floor. A good indication of the mood of the place is that breakfast only happens from 9am (10am weekend). The top-floor apartment, for Fr.190, feels like home.Price: Fr.100–200
5 Splendid Rosengasse 5 044 252 58 50 www.hotelsplendid.ch Gloomy unrenovated small hotel on a central alley, with no TVs, no ensuite facilities, no decoration and no lift. Quiet, ordinary and honestly cheap.Price: Up to Fr150
6 Villette Kruggasse 4 044 251 23 35 Friendly little place just off Bellevue. Plain rooms (most ensuite) are clean enough and adequate for simple tastes – the breakfast is notably good – and the owner of the place (who also does the fondues) is full of jolly stories and banter. The restaurant, Pinte Vaudoise is a traditional dark-wood den serving what has been voted several times as the best fondue in Zürich. The jovial owner/manager/chef is used to tourists and can explain the range of fondues on offer (around Fr.22).Price: Fr.100-150
7 Zic-Zac Marktgasse 17 044 261 21 81 www.ziczac.ch Ordinary cheapie which has taken some marketing advice and reinvented itself as a "rock hotel", dubbing their poky and rather depressing rooms (some with shared bathrooms) the "Bryan Adams" or the "Pink Floyd". Lively atmosphere in the bar. Price: Fr.100–200
8 Etap Technoparkstrasse 2 044 276 20 00 www.etaphotel.com Budget international chain. Generic, functional rooms in the heart of the old industrial quarter, priced identically – and very low. Located just behind the trendy Schiffbau arts centre. Price: Up to Fr.100
9 Haus zur Stauffacherin Kanzleistrasse 19 044 241 69 79 Clean, airy, fresh rooms in a wheelchair-accessible building off lively Helvetiaplatz, with kitchen and laundry facilities. Discounts for long stays. Women only.Price: Fr.150-200
10 Regina Hohlstrasse 18 044 298 55 55 The least dodgy of Langstrasse's many dodgy hotels, although the prevalence of over-friendly single women in the hotel bar tells its own story. Nonetheless, the rooms are fine, clean but smallish, and Fr.20–30 cheaper than similar places elsewhere in the city.Price: Fr.150-200
11 Rothaus Sihlhallenstrasse 1 044 241 24 51 www.hotel-rothaus.ch Bang on the honky-tonk Langstrasse, replete with sex cinemas and pick-up joints, but if you can overlook that, you can save Fr.30–40 on perfectly adequate, secure ensuite rooms, equipped with all facilities and soundproofed windows.Price: Fr.100-150
12 Walhalla Limmatstrasse 5 044 446 54 00 www.walhalla-hotel.ch Reasonable value in a useful but unromantic location, just 50m behind the train station, with large, pleasantly decorated rooms. Cheaper rooms available in a nearby annexe.Price: Fr.150–250
13 X-tra Limmatstrasse 118 044 448 15 95 www.x-tra.ch Just off the Limmatplatz in a young and lively part of town. Rooms are compact, but come with postmodern decor and all facilities. Price: Fr.150-200
14 Central Poststrasse 10, Küsnacht 044 910 08 04 Small, family-run option in this pleasant town south of Zürich, with rooms both ensuite and not.Price: Fr.100–200
15 Formule 1 Heidi Abel-Weg 7 044 307 48 00 www.hotelformule1.com Chain motel that is clean and functional but completely characterless. All rooms are identical – generically plasticky – sleeping one, two or three people, with shared bathrooms, and all are priced rock-bottom. Located north of town midway from the airport, a block from the Messe conference centre and autobahn exit. Tram #11.Price: Up to Fr.100
16 Gasthof zur Metzg Bergstrasse 82, Stäfa 044 928 18 88 www.zur-metzg.ch Simple inn a little up the hill from this quiet lakeside community south of town; they'll come and collect you from Stäfa station on request. Rooms are cosy and there's an affordable menu of rustic cooking on offer.Price: Fr.100–200
17 Adler Rosengasse 10 044 266 96 96 www.hotel-adler.ch Very clean, light and pleasant hand-decorated rooms set right in the heart of the Niederdorf buzz above a famous fondue restaurant. Service is good, the pastel interior is modern, and rates undercut similar places on the west bank. Weekend discounts.Price: Fr.200-250
18 City Löwenstrasse 34 044 217 17 17 www.hotelcity.ch A quiet, unremarkable business-style hotel in the shopping district just off Bahnhofstrasse, reasonably priced and efficiently staffed. Rates drop at weekends.Price: Fr.200-250
19 Franziskaner Niederdorfstrasse 1 044 250 53 00 www.hotel-franziskaner.ch Charming small city hotel in classic style, with dark-wood decor and a popular outdoor terrace on a square in the heart of the old town. A little pricey for what you get, but the top-floor rooms, sharing a spacious rooftop terrace, are delightful. Price: Fr.250-300
20 Kindli Pfalzgasse 1 043 888 76 76 www.kindli.ch A building dating from the sixteenth century that has provided lodging since (at least) 1774, in a tranquil location on the steep cobbled lanes below the Lindenhof. These days it's one of Zürich's most charming hotels, renovated throughout. Rooms are not spacious, but are elegant and characterful. Price: Fr.350-400
21 Lady's First Mainaustrasse 24 044 380 80 10 www.ladysfirst.ch Upmarket designer hotel near the lake south of the Opera House, with spacious, airy singles and doubles displaying style and a good attention to detail. Billed as "for dynamic women and modern men". Spa, sauna and solarium; also cosmetic and massage treatments.Price: Fr.250–350
22 Limmatblick Limmatquai 136 044 254 60 00 www.limmatblick.ch Completely renovated hotel right on the riverfront close to Central, with airy, contemporary-styled rooms (some with balcony) that are good value despite some traffic noise.Price: Fr.200-250
23 Rössli Rössligasse 7 044 256 70 50 www.hotelroessli.ch Super-chic choice on a quiet Niederdorf lane. The spartan wood-and-stone rooms with crisp white styling are spotlessly clean, and service is friendly and attentive.Price: Fr.250-300
24 Sonne Seestrasse 120, Küsnacht 044 914 18 18 www.sonne.ch A fine hotel, part of the Romantik group, set in lakeside gardens south of Zürich. Price: Fr.250–350
25 Uto Kulm Uetliberg 044 457 66 66 www.utokulm.ch Hotel and restaurant atop the forested Uetliberg ridge, towering over the city and lake from the west. Its chic, contemporary rooms offer considerably better value for money than similar city-centre hotels, especially when you throw in the tranquillity, the Alpine vistas and plentiful walking routes close at hand. Eight romantic suites feature oversized circular bathtubs, balconies and – in the Tower Suite – a separate conservatory. No cars: take the train to Uetliberg, from where the hotel is a short walk (luggage collection on request).Price: Fr.250–500
26 Zürichberg Orellistrasse 21 044 268 35 35 www.zuerichberg.ch Comfortable, attractive hotel, opened in 1899 way up in the wooded hills east of the city. Renovated for its centenary, and now featuring bright, spacious rooms, most with balconies and all with full facilities. Alongside is a low, curved annexe sheathed in wood which has attracted much architectural acclaim; accessed only by a subterranean corridor from the main building, it's designed around an airy atrium and a cool, Guggenheim-style elliptical interior ramp. All its rooms have private balconies. Tram #6 to Zoo.Price: Fr.250–500
27 Baur au Lac Talstrasse 1 044 220 50 20 www.bauraulac.ch One of Zürich's oldest hotels, in the same family since 1844, and recently completely renovated. Set in a private park on the lakeshore adjacent to Bahnhofstrasse, it fairly shimmers with opulent grandeur. Price: From Fr.750
28 Dolder Grand Kurhausstrasse 65 044 269 30 00 www.doldergrand.ch An extraordinary nineteenth-century palace perched atop a hill overlooking the city and accessible only by private funicular. Towers, cupolas, spires and turrets sprout from all sides of the elegant building; inside, the high-ceilinged rooms are unsurpassable. Completing the picture are a private nine-hole golf course, a full-size pool with wave machine, one of Switzerland's top haute cuisine restaurants, and plenty of walking trails into the parks and forest all around. Price: r.500
29 Dolder Waldhaus Kurhausstrasse 20 044 269 10 00 www.dolderwaldhaus.ch Quiet, residential annexe in the woods, with stunning views over the city and lake, plus plenty of activities (tennis courts, golf, swimming pools and an ice-rink). Rooms are vast and well appointed. Price: Fr.350–500
30 St Gotthard Bahnhofstrasse 87 044 227 77 00 www.hotelstgotthard.ch Grande-dame of the city-centre hotels, in the same family since 1889, with bags of charm and a perfect location steps from the station. The understated elegance of the dark-wood-and-leather lobby, however, isn't matched in the rooms, which are spacious and comfortable but have been done up in a rather cloying chintzy style. A bargain, considering the competition.Price: Fr.400-500
31 Widder Rennweg 7 044 224 25 26 www.widderhotel.ch Top choice in the expensive bracket, for its cool elegance and superb modern design. On a quiet Old Town street, a row of eight medieval houses has been gutted – at a cost of Fr.100m – to make this stylish and innovative, effortlessly classy hotel; the stunning lobby, in granite, wood and steel, sets the tone. The attention to detail, both architecturally and in the interior decor, is meticulous, and the array of several hundred single malt whiskies in the bar – which also stages live jazz – adds to the appeal.Price: From Fr.650
32 City Backpacker/Hotel Biber (SB hostel) Niederdorfstrasse 5 044 251 90 15 www.city-backpacker.ch A good atmosphere, plum central location and super-friendly management. A dorm bed is Fr.34 excluding breakfast. Some singles and doubles are available, along with free kitchen use, laundry service and other services. Price: Up to Fr.100
33 Jugendherberge (HI hostel) Mutschellenstrasse 114 043 399 78 00 www.youthhostel.ch Suffers from a rather depressing institutional feel and is awkwardly situated in a humdrum southwestern suburb. Dorm beds are Fr.38, and a few parking spaces are free. Take tram #7 (direction Wollishofen) to Morgental, then walk five minutes (follow the signs). Price: Up to Fr.100