Hotel Kindli Zurich
 

I am looking for a nice hotel in Zurich that would be in a central location and not too noisy for a stay in September.
The Kindli looks like a good bet. Can anyone recommend this or any other that I should look into? Budget is under $300 American dollars.
Thanks,
Annie

I went on Priceline for late May and got the 4* Intercontinental Zurich for $80.00. With tax & fees, total cost $91.00. I figure I can take a lot of taxis to/from the Old Town for the difference. ((b))

Budman, I want to know how that turns out. We'll be in Zurich for one night, before flying out, in early July. I want to know how they treat you, okay? Thanks

The Kindli is in an extremely charming part of the old town, has a very good restaurant and is within yards of several other very good restaurants. It would be a good choice and at that budget you could get one of their larger rooms I would think.

My other recco just within that budget would the Zoom Starched which is on the river and so might be a bit quieter (I actually think the Kindli would be OK for noise however). The Zoom Starched also has several good restaurants and is in another beautiful part of the old town:

Hotel Zum Storchen
Am Weinplatz
Zurich, Switzerland, 8022
Tel: 41 1 227 2727
Fax: 41 1 227 2700
http://www.summithotels.com

I don't think the Kindli is air-conditioned, but the Zum Storchen may be, which may be a consideration for September (esp early September) and would of course take care of the noise issue.

Some of my other standard reccos in your budget would be:

Hotel St Gotthard
Bahnhofstrasse 87
tel: 41 44 1 227 77 0
fax: 41 44 1 227 77 50
http://www.summithotels.com

4 Stars. This is one block from the main train station, and right on the Banhofstrasse, the main shopping street in town. This is not the old town, but you can walk to that area in about 10 minutes. I have not seen the rooms, but love the bar, restaurant and public areas. The owners of this hotel also own and run the Zum Storchen. Take a look at the website for all their hotels, including the Zum Storchen.


Hotel Seefeld
Seefeldstrasse 63
8008 Zurich
41-1-387-4141
41-1-837-4151
http://www.hotel-seefeld.che 63
[email protected]

3-star. They have a roof terrace. It is in a nice neighbourhood of restaurants and some interesting shops, and is about 2 blocks from the lake. The Seefeld area would be a bit quieter at night than the Neiderdorf/Oberdorf areas. It is on a tram line and so is convenient. They don't have air-conditioning but have a "cool air" system that some new buildings have here which circulates fresh air, not really the same as AC, but unless it is really hot, then the lack of AC is not really an issue as the neighbourhood is fairly quiet.


Hotel Adler
Hirschenplatz
Tel: (01) 266 9696. Fax: (01) 266 9669.
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.hotel-adler.ch

In the Neiderdorf area, an area of charming cobblestone streets which is car-free. This hotel gets generally good reviews here, although noise is cited as a problem. If there are courtyard rooms, I would take these as they will be the quietest. If you can, avoid the lower floor rooms looking onto the Hirschenplatz square in front of the hotel.

Hotel Seehof
http://www.hotelseehof.ch/
Seehofstr. 11, Zürich CH-8008, Switzerland
Phone: 01/2545757
Fax: 01/2545758

3 stars, built or renovated last year or so. This is just behind the Opera House, just at the edge of the old town, so not in the charming area, but very close to it, and about 100 metres from the lake. There are several good restaurants in this neighbourhood and others within close walking distance. It gets good reviews here. It is about a 3 minute walk to the Stadelhofen train station in Zurich so is very convenient for getting to the airport.

Hotel Helmhaus
Schifflände 30
8001 Zürich
tel: 41-1 251 88 10
fax: 41-1 251-0403
http://www.helmhaus.ch

4 star in the Neiderdorf/Oberdorf area. They definitely have air-conditioning. A very good location for sightseeing, shopping and eating. More modest than any of the above hotels.

also look at

karenbrownguides.com
alpineclassics.ch
relaischateaux.com
romantikhotels.ch
www.swisshotels.ch

Budman, you WILL be taking a lot of taxis to the old town from the Intercon (or as near to it as they can get you, as most of it is car-free) and at about US$20-25 for each trip to the old town, hope you are up for it. . . . The Intercon describes itself as in the "trendy West quarter" which makes me laugh a bit. This is a redeveloping industrial area whose main claim to fame is the "Techno Park" (which is why the Intercon is there to house the business people going to the Techno Park). No Swiss charm here, your views will be of warehouses, some office buildings, train tracks and highways I am afraid. It is quite a distance to the lake and the old town. The nearest tram is the #4 or #8 (and its a walk to those), but even those lines are going to be a longish ride to the old town. There are one or two interesting restaurants, see one recco below. I thought you had settled on the Adler? If you stay at the Intercon, take their airport shuttle, because otherwise the tram to the train is going to take you some time or a taxi to the train would be US$20 or so, so you might as well go to the airport for US$60-80 IMO.

La Salle Restaurant & Bar
Schiffbaustrasse 4
8005 Zurich
tel: 01-258-7071
website: lasalle-restaurant.ch (German only, has sample menus under "Essen")
e-mail: [email protected]

Trendy shabby chic. Exposed pipes, wood floors. Nice bar and cigar bar area. Great continental menu with mixture of some Asian and updated versions of some Swiss standard specialities. Good wine list. Entrée's average abut $25, appetizers about $15, so figure a good 3-course meal with no wine at about $60 and up. No views. A bit hard to find, it is near the Ibis Zurich Technopark Hotel.

Cicerone, thanks for the rundown on the Intercon. I know it's about 3km from the downtown/old town area, but when I figured all I was going to do was "just sleep" there, for 1/2 the price I went with the Intercon instead of the Adler (I was hoping for the downtown Marriott).

This is my plan:

Drive from Luzern to Zurich, arrive around Noon or shortly thereafter on a Monday. Check in, drop off stuff, and take the rental car to the airport to turn it in and check my two large suitcases in the baggage area.

Catch the train back to the Zurich and wander around town for the afternoon/evening, having dinner, then taxi to the hotel to sleep. I have a 10:00am flight, so figure leave the hotel around 7:00am (thanks for the info on the hotel shuttle), and get to the airport, yada, yada, yada.

I understand there is a walking tour that leaves the tourist office in the train station -- I thought this might be a nice 2-hour tour to get a feel for the city. Your thoughts? ((b))

Thanks for all the info. I am wondering if you think I would need the a/c in mid September. I don't usually like to have the windows open at night, but when I checked weather history for Zurich, I am seeing avg temps in the low to mid 70s for days. Does that seem about right?

Have stayed at the HOTEL KINDLI, ten
times since 1987 and each and every time have been extremely satisified with the service, staff and etc. It is
a very quite hotel, tho in the early days it had a folkloric show nightly
in the restaurant portion of the hotel.
Presently they hve a very nice quiet
ristorante along with other good ones such as Antinoiri, Charrusco, Kropf and
Bindella all within a few blocks...
Richard of LaGrange Park, Il..

Budman, I think that the walking tour in English is only on Saturdays at 11 am & 3 pm, so I don't think you can do it on a Monday. I have not checked the website in a while, so take a look at http://www.zuerich.com/sightseeing. If there is another tour you are referring to, it's one I don't know about, which is of course very likely. I think the tourist office in the main train station may have a self-guided tour with a map, when you get to the train station from the airport, go to the tourist office and check. The office is in the huge main hall on the ground floor, with the tracks at your back, it is all the way at the back of the hall on your left. Also, take a look at the Destinations above or Frommers.com. If you have any old Fodors book, I know they have a very good walking tour described in many of their old and new editions of their Swiss book.

Also, I looked at my Zurich map and see that you might be near the Hardbrucke train station for the S-Bahn urban (local) railway line. If this is walkable from the hotel, you could take a train from here to the airport, some will require a change (trip takes 20 minutes), but there are some direct trains (trip takes only 9 minutes). You might ask at the hotel how close this station is, and of course the train time versus the shuttle time and fare versus the shuttle price, it might be easier to take the shuttle. If the Hardbrucke train station isn't walkable, then I wouldn't bother.

skiamoeba, it is really hard to predict the weather of course. Generally by mid-September you should be OK. Most Swiss think the summer is over by September 1 and all the lake beaches close down (and the little wooden swimming pools on the river), and my recollection is that this is the case; generally I always thought of us as a month or so off of the East Coast of the US where I grew up (i.e., it got cool in mid-September and did not warm up until mid-May). So statistically the odds are with you that the temps will be down. You could still have a little noise issue, but the Kindli's neighbourhood is not a noisy bar area like the other side of the river, where the University is located.

From Easter until October, it is 3pm with additional time of 11am on Sat/Sun. I should be in good shape.

http://www.zuerich.com/sightseeing/c...ing/index.html

I appreciate the info on the train station to the airport. I'll check with the hotel when I get there to find the best/easiest way to get to the airport. ((b))

Since I fear I may need the a/c, I am considering the Helmhaus. Does anyone know anything more about it?
Annie

The Helmhaus' location is excellent for the old town, it is along the river, close to the lake, near a tram stop and near some good restaurants and shops. Very close to the Grossmunster church and accross the river from the Fraumunster. About 3 blocks from the Stadelhofen train station so very convenient for getting to the airport. With the air con it is very quiet at night.

It is a pretty basic 3 star, i.e. not any Swiss charm like the Kindli would have or the Adler seems to have from their lobby, but does have air con. Furniture is what you might call Danish modern, old but fine. Bathrooms are small and basic but fine as well. Unless you like to smoke, be sure to ask for a non-smoking room (this is a problem in many European hotel rooms).

Based on the 'reccos' made on this thread by Cicerone and others. I have e-mailed Kindli hotel for reservations TWICE with NO RESPONSE.....perhaps they have closed shop?

I am not aware of that, but try sending a fax, I find that usually brings a response better than e-mail in most countries. Fax number is 41 43 888 76 77.