The High Life

After this year's Swiss Textiles Award ceremony, I was exhausted. It sounds ridiculous to complain about getting to travel to exciting destinations for work, and I don't think anyone in the media who has this opportunity would readily give it up - that said, after two months of non-stop flights I was tired. I wanted to take a quick break, and since I was in Zurich I researched what my options were. I discovered that the city's most distinguished hotel, The Dolder Grand, had recently re-opened after a multi-year renovation and I decided to check it out.

Photo: Dolder Grand

Set in the hills at the city's edge, with a dramatic view of the city and Lake Zurich, it was about a 20 minute drive from the Marriott, where most of the Swiss Textiles guests had been housed. When I arrived, I checked in quickly and headed into the lobby for a tour of the property. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement. I've visited some nice hotels in the past, but the Dolder ranks among the best. I'm never able to term something 'my favorite', but i do like to make greatest hits lists for hotels, and the Dolder is on it no doubt. To give you an idea of the kind of quality I'm talking about, some of my other favorites are the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, an Art Deco sandstone palace that took 14 years to construct, and Amansara in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the modernist former royal residence that was converted into a hotel by the Aman Group.

Night view of the historic wing of the hotel

Reflecting pool along the terrace, outside of the Garden Restaurant

Back to the Dolder: my tour began in the lobby, which is housed in the original 109-year old building, which has protected landmark status and remains unchanged in its appearance. There's a cozy bar and tearoom set off to the side and a room that can be rented for private functions, and down a short corridor you arrive at the Dolder's lounge and nightclub. They have eclectic programming for the space, everything from jazz to house, and the interior has a magical effect of, what appears to be, floating candles. In fact the entire hotel uses light as a decorative element in unexpected ways

Floating candles in the club

The central room has a massive crystal chandelier and a sweeping staircase that, if taken up, leads into the rooms housed in the original wing. On the lower floor (which is an addition made during the renovation) there sits the Garden Restaurant and The Restaurant (which is on its way to earning Michelin stars and is one of Zurich's top-rated restaurants). You can tell from the names that the Dolder isn't into unnecessary fuss, a fact that's driven home by the extensions that were designed by Sir Norman Foster's famous architectural firm, Foster & Partners. They're unflinchingly contemporary, all black metal, electric yellow light and glass, but somehow, they work in harmony with the traditional main building. 

The lobby chandelier

Detail of The Restaurant's lavish ceiling

My room was on the second floor of the left-hand wing (there are two wings, both fairly low to the ground). The hallways are padded with low-pile neutral carpeting and sleek curving dark wood walls. I was in the corner of the building, and, once I entered, again, I was amazed. The room was assymetrically shaped, which is unusual for hotels, since most layouts are so cookie-cutter, and it had a wide expanse of floor-to-ceiling windows that gave me a sweeping, panoramic view. Everything in the room is remote-controlled by these integrated Bang and Olufsen hand-held touch-screen modules. With a couple pushes of the screen you can adjust the lighting, temperature, music, tv, curtains and shutters. It's a big evolution over the Clapper. 

The bathroom had it's own steam shower, Jacuzzi and plush bathrobe - apparently they're in hot demand because the hotel has installed 'chips' into them and a card next to the bath made it politely known that they can track them if they're 'lost'. I think they cost the equivalent of about $200 or something. I made sure not to 'lose' mine.

I also went to check out some of the hotel's 'specialty suites'. Unlike most hotel suites, the Dolder actually invested in creating different identities for theirs. Of the 4 main ones, each is inspired by a different powerful personality or personalites who have stayed in the hotel, ranging form the Rolling Stones to Alberto Giacometti to Giulietta Masina, the wife of Frederico Fellini, to conductor Herbert von Karajan. For people who can afford to spend thousands of dollars a night on a hotel suite (and in this economy that number is probably shrinking by the minute) I actually think these suites are 'worth it' (whatever that means... in the end, I think if you earned your money honestly, and didn't harm anyone to get it, you can spend it on whatever you want and it's no one else's business. If ALL you do with it is indulge yourself, then maybe there's cause for criticism, but usually I think that people are weirdly entitled to have opinions about the spending habits of people with a lot of money.) Regardless of one's opinion about value, these suites are unquestionably unique, which is much more than I can say about most hotels Presidential-level spaces.

The Suite 100 (inspired by the Rolling Stones)

Carezza suite (inspired by Giacometti's sculpture)

Light details

Maestro suite piano

Over the next couple of nights I spent my time lounging in the room, lounging in the  lounging in the unbelievable spa (a glass-tiled Olympic-size indoor pool, 2 hydrotherapy complexes with plunge pools, saunas, steams, hot tubs, relaxation rooms, even a 'snow room' where, after you take a sauna, you can roll around in the snow - part of a Scandinavian prescription for good health, but it also just sounded like fun.) For me, the most beautiful part was the complex of 3 outdoor baths with infinity edges, overlooking the sparkling lights of the city. In the bitterly cold temperature, it was amazing to run outside, step into the hot tub and survey the landscape, then, after 5 or 10 minutes, take a quick dip in the freezing cold plunge pool. I was only in it for about 15 seconds, if that, but when i came out, my entire body was in a state of pleasant shock. I think it did make my immune system stronger, if only because I survived a brush with death.

By the time check-out rolled around I was semi-traumatized - the thought of going back to my normal life, with its non-motorized curtains and manual action lights was a little disheartening. Now I understand why people expend a lot of effort in making it big (or why people play the lottery): it's so they can live in places like this.  Note to self: buy lottery tickets.

You can see more about the Dolder at www.thedoldergrand.com and if you're ever in Zurich with some time to spare, it's worth the investment.