by Lufthansa Flyer | Jan 30, 2016 | Featured, First Class, Swiss |
As part of a very active week in Zurich, SWISS not only welcomed home their first 777 (more on that this weekend), they also opened the doors to 3 new lounges in Concourse ‘E’. The new additions include First, Senator, and Business Class Lounges. I’ll cover each lounge separately since there are a lot of photos that show them off. A big thanks to Ralf (RCS on VielFliegerTreff.com) for sharing the photos that he took during his visit. In fact, if you visit that link, you’ll see more photos that Ralf had uploaded to the thread covering the new lounges.
From the looks of it, SWISS hit a home run with the First Class lounge. Some of the highlights include 2 dedicated ‘Hotel Rooms’ and a wine collection of over 1,000 bottles. The lounge also offers an impressive outdoor terrace that can be enjoyed when weather allows. A dedicated a-la-carte dining room completes the fantastic presentation.
The lounge is approximate 8,000 square feet and can comfortably accommodate 80 guests. Of course you need to be flying in First Class on a Lufthansa Group operated flight or ‘simply’ be a HON Circle member or a lucky guest of one.
Enjoy the photos, this will not be an easy lounge to get into! 🙂
First Class Lounge Welcome Desk
Dedicated dining area with complete a-la-carte service.
This could become a favorite hotel room for an avgeek……
The bath found inside the ‘Hotel Rooms’
Conference area for those who feel they need to work during their travels….
The outdoor terrace promises to a hit with visitors…..
Even the restroom offers great views of the ZRH tarmac…..
The 1,000 bottle wine collection should satisfy almost everyone….
One of the several public seating areas
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jul 19, 2014 | Business Class, Contests, Featured, Swiss |
SWISS is currently running a contest that awards a very lucky winner 2 BUSINESS CLASS tickets for travel from the USA to ZURICH as well as 5 nights at the Zurich Marriott Hotel.
The contest is being held in association with Passport Magazine and their ‘Taste Of Zurich’ Promotion celebrating the city’s culinary gems. As part of the prize package the winner and their guest will also dine at Rico’s Restaurant, Restaurant Terzo and Bottega Berta.
The window to enter the contest is open until August 15 so there is plenty of time. You’ll want to use this time to share the contest with all of your Facebook friends because for every one of your friends that enters, you will receive an additional entry.
As mentioned, it is a Facebook-based contest so you’ll need to visit this Facebook Link to complete your entry. Winners will be notified by August 20, 2014. Additionally, you must be 18 years of age and be a resident of the USA. For more terms/conditions, please click here.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 17, 2014 | Featured, Hotel, Trip Reports |
On a recent trip to Europe that took me to Hamburg for ‘Hamburg-DO’ and Istanbul to pick up someone special’s Birthday present, I also built in a 2 day stay in Zurich specifically for Plane Spotting purposes.
Ahead of the trip I was debating on which hotel in Zurich to choose from among the options that were near the airport. I wanted to stay in a hotel on or very near the airport property since I would be spending my entire time at the airport and did not want to spend time commuting back and forth between hotel and airport.
After doing a bit of research, I narrowed it down to the Park Inn and Radisson Blu which are both Radisson properties. The Park Inn is barely off of the airport property and a shuttle bus can have you at the hotel (or back at the airport) within 10 minutes. The Radisson Blu is located on the airport property, across the street from the terminal and is easily accessible via an underground shopping center connected to the airport. You don’t even have to step outside into the elements in order to reach the hotel.
When I compared rates, the Park Inn was about 30-40% less per night compared to the ‘Blu’ which amounted to about a $120-140 a night difference on the dates that I was going to be in ‘ZRH’. This had made the initial decision easy so I made the reservation for the Park Inn. I figure I could ‘tolerate’ a 10 minute shuttle ride to the airport in order to take pictures of airplanes and in the process save $240-280. That buys a lot of film.
However, I did wind up changing my reservation to the Blu after discovering a very useful thread on FlyerTalk that kept track of promotional codes, etc. for Radisson properties. After a quick search, I did find a promotional code that would bring the Blu down to $120/night which beat out the Park Inn rate by about $40/night. This was a no brainer and I pick up the big benefit of being right at the airport and a short walk away from the parking structures and observation deck that I would need for my ‘work’. Not to mention the promotional code included breakfast, which was a fantastic buffet filled with the kind of things you’d want and need in the morning.
By no stretch am I an aficionado of hotels and I never pretend to be. In a busy year, I may spend 20-25 nights staying in hotels which makes me a relative lightweight. However, even on 20-25 nights a year I can start to draw comparisons between hotels that I liked and did not like. The Blu, though convenient and pragmatic, left me a bit disappointed.
Upon entering the hotel, it is very impressive. A very nice and modern lobby awaits guests with lounges and a restaurant. It even sports a multi-story ‘Wine Rack’ which provides entertainment for guests as they watch very acrobatic women scale the structure as they retrieve bottles of wines. My first impressions were positive and I was looking forward to my stay.
Once I checked-in and went to my room is where the bit of disappointment kicked in. I was hoping that the modern look and feel of the lobby would carry through to my room but that was not the case. I walked into a room that was fine in terms of cleanliness, space and a few amenities but was showing its age with decor, wear and tear.
As you’ll see in the photos, the rooms colors and scheme (at least in my humble opinion) looked dated and thrown together almost as an afterthought. The clash between carpets and bedding maybe me wince just a tiny bit when I first walked in.
First glance of the room….
I was not a fan of the Red/Blue combination…..
Now of course, it’s not really important how things look but how they function. I was hoping that things were better than they looked but it did not work out that way. The bed itself was ‘OK’ at best. Good mattress, but the pillows were perhaps the worst that I’ve experienced in a hotel. No structure or support and it took 3 of them to make me feel like I was actually using a pillow.
Good Mattress but the pillows need some serious work……
The bathroom would follow suit and was nothing more than acceptable, and only because it was clean. The fixtures, floor, tub all showed signs of significant use and aging and could use a facelift. Again, it functioned and everything worked the way it was supposed to, but still was a bit of a let down based on my previous hotel experiences.
Functional, just a bit aged and worn.
In summary, if you haven’t figure out my opinion, the room is acceptable. Nothing special, no upside surprises and if you don’t mind a stark color combination then it is perfectly OK!
However, a typical room in this hotel can go from anywhere between $200 and $400 a night and what I DO KNOW from my hotel experiences, when I spent that kind of money, I am usually treated to a fantastic room that I typically love. All I can say is that I was VERY happy that I had a promotional code for this room and only paid about $115/night. I would have been REALLY disappointed had I dropped $250 or more like I’m sure other guests have done for the same experience!
However, I do realize that Zurich and Switzerland at large have very high prices for hotels (and most everything else) and I know that there is a premium to pay for staying on the airport property. I just wished that they took some of this revenue and gave the rooms a bit of a facelift to compliment how great the rest of the hotel looks and feels!
Long story short….Would I stay there again? Yes, but for the right price. Would I recommend it? Yes, but for the right price! 🙂
