We are pretty easily impressed by anything that's a world's biggest or world's tallest, and so it's no wonder that the Radisson SAS Zurich Airport has caught our eye. It's got Europe's tallest wine tower.
Like we said, we're easily impressed, but then we had to stop and wonder what a wine tower actually is. If you're a touch ignorant like us, we can now enlighten you: this wine tower is a tall glass structure where wine is stored, like this picture of a similar Radisson SAS wine tower at Stansted Airport near London. Apparently the tower includes a system to keep wines at exactly the right temperatures.
We do love a good shower when we're away from home, so it's really no wonder that we've been slightly obsessed with the cocoon spiral showers of Donovan House. But if you're not anywhere near Washington DC and still want to test out these kinds of showers, we've received another tip: head to the Dolder Grand in Zurich, Switzerland.
Yes, as well as being very green after their recent renovations, the Dolder Grand is also home to similar showers. The only difference is that they call them snail showers because the shape is like a snail shell. Fair enough, but snails seem to have a few negatives going for them, and we're happier with the cocoon spiral label, to be honest. Just the same, we'll be happy to test these showers out for style next time we're passing through Switzerland.
Celebs often rely on their name and reputation to get away with a third-rate film or a tuneless song.
But can they do the same with hotels?
Richard Branson's latest venture, opened in December 2007 after a $7,256,000 renovation, is the super-luxury ski chalet The Lodge in the elite resort of Verbier, Switzerland. You won't find many guests blogging their experiences, though, because with next year's prices set at anything between $83,000 and $140,000 a week for the nine-room chalet, guests aren't really in the blogging market.
So let's see what you get for your money....and see whether you think it's worth it.
We've been waiting since 2004 for the Dolder Grand Hotel to finish its renovations and reopen in one of our favorite European cities, Zurich. After spending around $400 million on the transformation, we're guessing it'll probably be worth the wait.
The Dolder Grand is what they like to call a "city resort", and although it's still within Zurich itself, the hotel is rather like a hill-top castle from which you can see over the lake and to the Swiss Alps as well. It has 173 rooms in the main building, which have all been fully renovated and the building restored. The new addition at the Dolder is a 40,000 square foot spa, designed by "international spa consultant" (that's a job we'd like) Sylvia Sepielli.
April 2008 is the estimated reopening date for the Dolder Grand and they're already taking reservations from then onwards.
We're quite impressed by what they call a "pioneering geothermal energy concept": during the renovation they've buried 70 geothermal probes beneath the foundations, which draw enough power to run the heating in winter and the air-conditioning in summer. Luxurious and green is fine by us.
Badrutt's Palace Hotel is already one of the most popular hotels in St Moritz, Switzerland, but now it's trying to win the vote of green holiday-makers too. It's just introduced a new energy-efficient heating system which it hopes will help to "keep the Swiss Alps green" and no doubt also gain it brownie points with prospective guests.
The hotel has teamed up with the EWZ power station in Zürich to draw water for its heating pump from Lake St Moritz without doing any ecological damage. The result is a saving of some 400,000 liters of heating oil a year, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 80% compared to its previous system. Not a bad effort and one that should probably be copied by many more hotels.
You can visit Badrutt's Palace Hotel in winter for the ski season (when you'll feel the new heating system in action) or in summer for spas, hiking and sunshine. There are heaps of package stays of varying length which often include bonuses like lift passes, so check their special packages page before you finalize your plans.
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Amanda K plans an exotic trip to Switzerland. Enjoy.
This time round, rather than feeling like a week on a deserted beach or a holiday in somewhere exotic I've never been, I feel much more like heading over to Switzerland to visit my sister-in-law in Basel. Based on TripAdvisor's list, the Ramada Plaza Basel sounds like the place for me--especially since I've discovered it's in the "tallest habitable building in Switzerland" and therefore the views should be pretty impressive.
It's all high tech, which is only to be expected from a country that is so renowned for its high precision watches (and being pretty wealthy doesn't hurt either). Listen to some of these bonus finds from previous guests:
Bathroom actually had a floor that lights up! Blinds were automatic and seem to go up or down with the outside light.
Another guest reckons it's "possibly the coolest hotel in the world" which just makes me mad at my sister-in-law for not telling me about it on my previous visits. Even the pricetag shouldn't have put her off too much--if I booked a double room for tonight, it'd start at 170 Swiss Francs ($140), very reasonable for Swiss accommodation standards. And I'd have cash left over to invest in a few other Swiss specialties; a few bars of chocolate for a start.
Active travelers in the U.S. have started crying in their espresso the past few weeks, as the euro has risen to $1.33--a 20-month low. So it takes some more creative digging to find a good hotel deal across the Atlantic.
We just found out about a voucher program with the Minotel chain that is looking especially enticing. This is a consortium of independently-owned hotels, run by a management and booking organization in Switzerland. The mostly 3-star and 4-star hotels generally have from 30 to 60 rooms and come with plenty of local character. They are especially strong in Switzerland, but have 300 hotels in dozens of cities.
What's especially attractive these days is that you can buy a Minotel voucher and use it at any of the properties in the organization. There are a few blackouts here and there at some hotels, but mostly during high season in the summer and peak ski weekends. The vouchers are usually 106 euros for a double with breakfast, or $141 at the current exchange rate. But through December 20, a double voucher is only 84 euros--$112. Follow this link to the sale page to take advantage of this sweet deal.
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by amandak
