Hotels in Zurich

We like the Adler in the old town. Not bad pricing for Zürich.

When are you going? How many nights? Do you prefer to be close to the train station? Is price the main concern, or ambiance, location, or other?

Ambience and location important. 5 nights

The Adler has been our choice on previous visits and we like it a lot. But for our next visit I thought we would try something different, more modern and closer to the train station. I initially booked the Swiss Chocolate Hotel just across the river from the train station; the price was excellent and it looked nice in the photos. But then I realized it faces on a busy street so I looked around more.

I came up with this list of more modern, mostly boutique-style hotels with modern decor, reasonably close to the Hauptbahnhof, on either side of the river:

On the Bahnhof side: Townhouse Boutique Hotel, Ruby Mimi Hotel + Bar, and Central Plaza. There was another I cannot recall; it has very “British” decor; very nice but not our style.

On the other side of the river, closer to the Altstadt and pedestrian zone: Best Western Plus Zurcherhof, Sorell Hotel Ruetli, and Hotel Felix.

I liked the Ruby Mimi a lot but crossed it off the list when I looked closely at photos and noticed a quirky thing I have seen in a few other new modern Swiss hotels—-a glass wall or door between the bedroom and the bathroom. I think one other had a sliding glass door between the two, but at least it was frosted glass.

There are lots more as you move south from the Hauptbahnhof. I did not look at anything on the north side.

I cannot recommend any particular one, as everyone’s taste is different, so I leave it to you. It is easy to look at and compare them all using a website like booking.com.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Stayed in Hotel Adler and it was fine. We walked to the train station pulling our luggage and that was not bad at all. It is located in the heart of old Zurich and so easy to walk the streets and enjoy the shops. I would suggest it as a great place to stay.

Best suggestion, look at Rick's recommended hotels and then use the internet.

It is false thinking to believe that all of Rick’s suggested hotels are good. While they may do a cursory inspection every few years, they certainly don’t stay in each of them.

We stayed at Hotel Alexander in Zurich at the guidebook’s suggestion several years ago. It was a disaster in that the street noise/partying didn’t let up until about 3am. The entire neighborhood was trashed by litter from the parties.

You can inspect a hotel, but until you have actually tried to sleep there, you don’t have the full picture.

Look for additional reviews beyond the guidebook before committing.

Currently staying at Motel One Zurich--a real hotel, friendly, reasonable, near the sights in Old Town, and a 20-minute walk to the train station.