After a week of roaming the streets of Como, Milan and Turin between many palazzi, museums and countryside villages, I finally arrived in Zürich Hauptbahnhof after a much anticipated and enjoyed Italian périple — although I was secretly looking for this much needed Helvetic respite. I like to envision Switzerland as both a figurative and geographic haven of peace, and Zürich’s position and look-outs onto the high Alps proved a perfect backdrop for a weekend of chilled festivities, after a week made of fulfilling activities.
The Dolder Grand’s location proved even more suited than the city itself. Higher up in the Adlisberg hill siding the city’s large forest, the city’s golf as well as its tennis centre, the hotel sits in its own world of fantasy floating above the city and clouds, in a multi-turreted building flanked with two wings of utter modern lushness. Indeed, if the original building dates back from 1899 and has been acting as a centre point for not only Zürich but also Switzerland and the world’s entire society life, it has re-entered the contemporary world with a new, challenging architectural concept as well as a cultural and artistic vision that still feels unsurpassed in this class of hotels.
It also provides with perhaps the most cinematographic car arrival one could find, enchanting its guests with a monumental, bold and stark asphalt ramp whisking the cars up to the hotel’s entrance. Unsurprisingly, this is the kind of magic that happens when one asks British architect Norman Foster to take over a historic, legendary building. Known for his love for cars, but also a Swiss resident and connoisseur of all fine things, Lord Norman Foster proposed here a masterpiece in legend rejuvenation, morphing a classic hotel entrance into what seems to come straight out of James Bond movie. Incidentally, the hotel was indeed a set location for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), featuring Daniel Craig. Just add a string orchestra to the soundtrack, play it in the background, and enjoy the views without the danger of being a real-life spy, but much rather a pampered guest at the spa (I confirm there are limited risks here). And unlike in the movies, where the grandiose, modern architecture masterpieces usually make up for the villain lair, one will happen to find within The Dolder Grand a world of pleasures, wonders and utter lushness.
Inside the Dolder, the glass elevators indeed swipe you right up or down a wide universe of spacious rooms and suites, spectacular artworks (one can spot a Murakami and a Nikki de Saint-Phalle on the way to the rooms), corridors you can run down along, and a world-class spa of more than 4,000 square meters. To my knowledge, this is the only Norman Foster-designed spa ever built, which makes it in itself an international destination for design freaks like me. The organically shaped pools appear black, elegantly matching their mineral surroundings and the dramatic Zürich skies. On the week-end I visited, the June weather had incidentally transformed into something rather tropical, raining almost non-stop for 48 hours, in all confidences creating a perfect excuse to cosy up in the large room as well as poolside, which I was grateful for (Zürich is assuredly not short of activities but the Dolder in itself felt like a great city that I could explore in full wearing hotel slippers and a bathrobe.) The spa terrace overlooking Zürich hills is so exquisite though that guests were not fearing the extreme Swiss weather and were instead indulging in the sinuous, plush outdoor lounge. It is here exactly that stands what is to me the hotel’s master artwork, a 1996 Botero laying woman sculpture, evidently enormous in every way but also perfectly scaled, the copper softly roughened by time and weather, accompanying spa guests in their admirations of the city’s vistas. Learning about the work on the hotel’s website and as a Botero aficionado, I had tried to spot it at first over my stay and only succeeded in finding it by chance when looking down from the suite’s terrace. The sole fact to have an unhinged, private view of a Botero from a hotel room is singlehandedly making The Dolder Grand standing out spectacularly from the crowd of hotels.
And a crowd there is, especially in Switzerland where luxury hospitality has traditionally maintained a crucial role in the nation’s history and economy. Zürich itself is not lacking such establishments, and for a century-old hotel to stay on top of its legend in such a dynamic way and also craft these new environments takes creative vision and effort in execution. The Dolder Grand is incidentally celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, and at this occasion has compiled a fascinating narrative made out of archival pictures, stories and world records for us to witness, involving its ever incredible guests; movie stars, world leaders, famed architects and rising legends. They’ve dug up incredible pictures of Sophia Loren blowing candles at the occasion of one of her visits, surrounded by the most elegant crowd, the grand ballrooms at their apogee in the 60s, but also more contemporary stays with the loyal Rolling Stones, who happen to have their own dedicated suite (number 100). The band sticked to the hotel on the occasion of their own band’s 60th year anniversary in the 2020s when they toured Switzerland. Another celebration added up to the list of festivities this past June as I was spending my own birthday on the week-end of my stay. Things couldn’t have turned out more magically, and I made a point in channelling the festive spirits of illustrious past guests and keeping the traditions and the champagne strong.
Looking at the way the Dolder embraces its own history, I have no fear that the hotel will continue to lead this very demanding but perfected world of Swiss hospitality, and I am confirmed in the need for everyone to keep it anchored in one of the hotels to visit once in a lifetime.
