Widder Hotel, Zurich, Switzerland
Hotel Overview
Review of Widder Hotel, by Ramsey Qubein
Nestled in the heart of the quaint Augistiner quarter and famed shopping streets lies one of the Zurich's finest boutique hotels. Unlike the Old World competition, the Widder is proudly modern, even though it cloaks itself in the historic facades of 15th-century townhouses buildings. The building's original highlights include rough-hewn beams, terra-cotta floors, faded 16th-century frescoes, but the high-tech chrome-legged furniture, glass surfaces, and steel support beams provide modern juxtaposition. Staffers encourage smiles with their friendly tone and welcoming, unpretentious attitude. The clientele ranges from vacationing couples to hip businesspeople, but families are far and few between.
The facilities
Zebra-like patterns shock arrivals and modern art hangs in unexplainable splendor along the walls. The popular Widder Bar, where a jazz trio plays some nights, attracts locals as well as tourists from other hotels. The bar is backed by what it calls a 800-bottle "Library of Spirits," while a real library with locally themed books has the typical Widder look of ancient stone, polished chrome, ergonomic swiveling chairs created by a Swiss designer, and an unusually sleek fireplace polished chrome. The boutique hotel's French restaurant is in a simple, country-style setting and features traditional Zurich recipes like those also found at the Zur Schtund pub. An all-hours fitness center and spacious banquet rooms are popular with guests.
The rooms
No two rooms are alike in this boutique hotel, although the minimalist theme is carried throughout to the point of leaving the stone walls naked of art. Deluxe linen-draped beds (some four-posters) comfort guests in sound slumber. Several rooms boast second floor landings that provide seating areas suspended above the beds. All rooms furnish dual phone lines with data ports and voice mail, Bang & Olufsen flat-screen TVs, CD players, high speed Internet (both wired and wireless), minibars, air conditioning, safes, fax machines, and humour-driven ashtrays that have "Stolen at Widder Hotel" printed on their bottoms. Green marble baths feature tubs and stall showers, heated towel rails, scales, robes, and slippers. This luxurious design house has a loyal following, but keeps adding to its guest roster with satisfied guests in town for work or play.
Facilities
Awards
"Top 10 Boutique Business Hotels" in Guardian 07Who stays here?
Business people dominate during the week while leisure-seekers take over at the weekends.Come for...
- A hip and stylish place to do business
- Central location
Not Suitable for...
- Those with no appreciation for style
Children
Cots and extra beds are available upon request.Eating in
The popular Widder restaurant is among the best in the city, earning 15 Gault Milau points, and serves a selection of international dishes with fresh local ingredients. For more of a taste of the regional cuisine, try Wirtschaft Zur Schtund, a casual restaurant often used as a meeting place.The Press Say
"...This Swiss lodging meshes together eight immaculately restored townhouses. ...The hotel's dog friendliness is an extra bonus." Guardian 07Reviews
Review of The Widder, by Kamin Mohammadi
Ten medieval townhouses off the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich have been imaginatively combined to make one of Europe's chicest design hotels: The Widder. Located in the heart of the medieval city, the Widder may be ten years old now, but has never lost its cutting edge.
This is possibly because the design nature of this luxury hotel is not gimmicky or faddish but truly innovative and based around a solid respect for marrying form with function in the best possible way.
The facilities
Because this design hotel is an amalgamation of these ten guild houses, bridged by walkways and ingenious corridors, every room is different in shape and nature, with each house having its own unique design palette.
The design has honoured all the difference as well as incorporating into the design all the rarities uncovered in the renovation process: a 16th-century fresco, painted ceilings and an original city wall dating from 12th-century. The design hotel is still used as the base for one of the guilds and there is even a small museum.
There is a wonderful courtyard garden for eating in or having a drink and the library is a witty mixture of historical accuracy - stone walls - and modern design classics: Eames chairs and a steel tube fireplace. The Widder Restaurant and bar are still hip places for Zurichers to be seen and the traditional Wirtschaft zur Schtund serves Swiss specialities.
The rooms
Each of the 42 rooms and seven suites bears the name of the house it is in on the number plaque outside and all are uniquely decorated. Some combine beamed ceilings and four-poster beds with terracotta floors, while others are a bright splash of modernist whimsy, yet they all manage to be luxurious, comfortable and very cool.
There is original modern art throughout with a variety of artists displayed and of course there are all the luxuries of a five-star hotel too, like high-speed internet access and your own fax number and printed business card.
Review of Widder Hotel, by Gemma Pitcher
The oldest bits of the boutique Widder Hotel date back to the 13th-century - the remains of nine adjacent townhouses in old Zurich, once occupied by a wealthy butcher. (Widder means 'ram' and is the symbol of Zurich's butcher's guild.) The newest are 21st-century bold glass and steel architectural designs that fuse perfectly with the wall paintings and ancient wooden beams still on display.
The facilities
The atmosphere at this boutique hotel is young, funky, and friendly - much of the boutique hotel's business comes from repeat visitors, mostly business customers who return time after time to their favourite room, or rotate through them to experience the different styles on offer. The bar is a hangout for Zurich's bright young things, its red leather banquettes and brightly lit bottle displays drawing a crowd of regulars on their way out to sample some of Zurich's fast-growing club scene.
The rooms
Even if you've got no particular interest in architecture or interior design it's hard not to be impressed by the massive attention to detail in the labyrinthine building, in which no two rooms, staircases or walkways are exactly alike. The décor of the 42 rooms at this boutique hotel are similarly eclectic - some rooms have leather bedcovers, shaggy rugs, and designer modernist furniture, while some are eccentrically panelled in coloured marble with original Warhol artworks on the exposed stone walls.
As one would expect in a country which regards hospitality as a higher calling, service at the Widder Hotel is crisp and faultlessly efficient - call for housekeeping and a smart young woman in a trouser suit will appear to take away your laundry - and room facilities feature all the usual five-star trimmings, including a fabulous flat Bang & Olufson CD player. Several rooms have roof terraces, allowing a good view over the spires and domes of Zurich's well-preserved old quarter.