Hotel check: Park Hyatt Zurich

Published: 25/10/2006 - Filed under: Archive » 2006 » November 2006 » Tried and Tested » Tried & Tested » Tried & Tested » Hotels » Tried & Tested » Hotels » Switzerland »

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What's it like? This is a stunning two-year-old new-build just off Zurich's main artery of Bahnhofstrasse. It is the first five-star hotel to be built in the centre of Zurich in 20 years, and has an impressive contemporary design and interior. The lobby is an enchanting space, with a 10-metre-high ceiling and mood-enhancing lights. Bamboo divides the reception area on the left and the lounge bar on the right. A mezzanine area overlooks the lobby, with an angled mirror to catch great shafts of daylight that enter from another window across the room. The hotel has 86 pieces of original art, and also uses raw natural materials, such as coal and grass, as part of its design. Interesting wood pictures throughout the calm corridors help to create what the interior designers from Hirsch Bedner (also the designers for the Intercontinental Hotels) call an "urban forest". With Zurich being one of the major financial hubs of Europe, around 80 per cent of guests are business travellers.

Where is it? Just off the main shopping and financial street Bahnhofstrasse, and close to the lake and train station, which has regular trains leaving for the 10-minute journey to the airport.

How many rooms? There are 121 standard rooms (36sqm), nine deluxe rooms (54sqm), eight park suites (72sqm), three executive suites (108sqm) and one presidential suite at an impressive 180sqm.

Room facilities All rooms are decorated in the contemporary urban-forest style with natural materials to set them off, and have DVD players and flat-screen TVs. My standard-class executive king room had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking one of the open courtyards at the back of the hotel, making it especially quiet. There are special window vents, which can be slid open for fresh air if you tire of the air-conditioning. Beds are made up with Italian linen. My bathroom had a separate rain shower, a marble bathtub with a candle to create a relaxing effect, a TV and huge deep-bowl sinks. There are laptop-sized safes, a daily fruit basket and 24-hour room service. All rooms have high-speed internet access, which you have to pay for in the standard rooms but is free in deluxe rooms.

Restaurants and bars The Lounge restaurant is a relaxed area in the lobby, with comfortable chairs, an open fire, and contemporary art and lighting. Breakfast (6.30am-10.30am) and light snacks are served here, and when I stayed, it had a constant flow of people meeting for chats and business. On the ground floor is the Parkhuus, a beautiful restaurant with simple, contemporary white decor and an open kitchen that uses fresh organic ingredients to serve up international cuisine. The restaurant has a 3,000-bottle wine cellar, inside of which is a private dining room that seats eight and contains a striking chandelier made out of broken crockery, knives and forks. Through a discreet door is another private dining room, which seats 16 and has a separate entrance to the hotel. The Onyx Bar is popular with locals and guests. When I went it was buzzing with people enjoying the boutique vodkas and whiskeys in the trendy setting.

Business and meeting facilities The Park Hyatt has over 1,000sqm of meeting rooms with banqueting for up to 230 people. There is a ballroom, four meeting rooms and a boardroom, plus high-speed internet access throughout the hotel, and wifi access in all public areas and meeting rooms. The business centre has four computers, with printers and a fax, and is open 24 hours.

Leisure facilities The Park Hyatt has a beautiful bamboo-wood floor in the spa at Club Olympus health and fitness club, which is free for guests and not available to the public. There is a sauna, steam room and two treatment rooms as well as a gym and relaxation room with warm, dimmed lighting and loungers. Fresh fruit, water and newspapers are also provided.

Verdict The Park Hyatt is in a prime location, and has the peaceful atmosphere of an art gallery, with the efficiency and friendliness you would expect of any five-star hotel. It feels creative without being over the top, and the excellent facilities are stylish and modern as well as practical.

Prices Best flexible internet rate for a midweek stay in early November is CHF850 (£358) for an executive king room. There is an extra charge of CHF1.20 (50p) city tax per person per night.

Contact Park Hyatt Zurich, Beethovenstrasse 21, Zurich 8002, Switzerland, tel +41 43 883 1234, zurich.park.hyatt.com.

Felicity Cousins