While I was skeptical about the first two accommodations we were staying in, I was really looking forward to the Baur au Lac. An entry level room here retails at ~HK$5,500, and a junior suite retails at ~HK$7,900. Each room allows a maximum of three people, so at a discount rate we took a junior suite and a deluxe double room. For five nights, no way – but for a night, my mom was ready to splurge for our last night in Switzerland. After all, it wasn’t like our other choices were cheap at all.
The entrance of the Baur au Lac reflected the prices. It looked stunning, while still being quaint – almost like the White House.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Exterior
It looked even better by sunset – I mean, look at this!
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Exterior
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Exterior Signage
Before entering the hotel there was a little bit of seating, on a hallway – one side led out, and the other side led to the hotel’s restaurant, The Pavillon (more on that later).
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Exterior Seating
The lobby was dainty and partitioned into two sections. On one hand it was decorated in rather antique decorations and not my style, but on the other hand it was in mint condition.
The reception area featured a few couches, though on the whole was pretty cosy.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Lobby
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Lobby
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Lobby
To get to the rooms you walked into the common area, which was much airier. There’s WiFi at the lobby, so after we checked out I managed to spend a little work done here.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Lobby
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Lobby
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Lobby
There was also a convention area – while I didn’t visit in detail, it looked really nice.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Convention Area
The friendly associate checked us in, however she said one of the rooms would take a bit longer. We decided to go up to our room, leave all our stuff there, then go on the city tour we’d arranged, before getting back that night. She gave us our WiFi codes, which were included in our key card pocket. It’s worth noting that for Switzerland WiFi, the hotel’s WiFi was incredibly fast.
The hotel has one lift, though we didn’t have any problems waiting for it, given that the hotel has just five floors. We were on the fourth floor, and assigned rooms 429 and 431, the former of which was the deluxe double room, and the latter of which was a junior suite.
The hallways were bright – on one hand it did feel a little cruise ship-y, though on the other hand the walls were completely clean. You wouldn’t be able to find a speck of yellow or a stain whatsoever.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Hallways
I did like how the doors protruded into the hallways – it made the hallways looks sleeker.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Hallways
Our rooms were towards the end of the hallway.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Entrance
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Floorplan
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich
Check-in: Friday, July 29, 2016
Room Type: Deluxe Double Room
Room Number: 429
Stay duration: 1 night
Check-out: Saturday, July 30, 2016
The room featured a partitioned entryway, where you could hang your coat. There was a door between the entryway and the room.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Entryway
The room was standard, a decent size for European properties. It featured a really comfortable bed, two comfortable chairs, a desk, and a flatscreen TV.
I appreciated that the bed had two duvets, as it’d avoid duvet tugging wars in the middle of the night – furthermore, I don’t really enjoy sleeping with Dad, so I took my duvet and headed to the sofa in the junior suite.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Bed
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Chairs
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Desk
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Flatscreen TV
The blackout blinds and drapes were electronically controlled, which is always nice.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Drape Controls
The most impressive aspect of the room was the toilet, which was massive. It featured double sinks, a separate shower/tub, and an enclosed bathroom, as well as a ton of open space.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Bathroom
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Bathroom Tub
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Bathroom
The shower had excellent water pressure, though it came out of a top showerhead instead of a rainforest shower. For a HK$5,500 hotel, that’s kinda cheap, in my opinion.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Bathroom Shower
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Bathroom Enclosed Toilet
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Bathroom Tub
I always find it convenient to have double sinks, though these days I find myself associating double sinks only with luxury hotels. Single sinks work perfectly fine for me, though.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Double Sinks
The toiletries were hotel-branded and were very good.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Bathroom Toiletries
It’s worth noting that the entire minibar is free. Someone came up every once in a while to stock up on the minibar. The Fanta was also German-style, in which it had a more complex orange flavour compared to anything we get here in Hong Kong, so props to that.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Minibar
The room faced one of the Zurich canals – definitely not the best view you can get of Zurich, but it certainly wasn’t bad (more on that in a bit, when I talk about the adjacent junior suite).
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room View
I headed over to the junior suite, which my mom and my sister were staying in. It was partitioned from the deluxe double room by a door.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite
Apart from all the amenities of the deluxe double room, the junior suite featured much more open space, as well as some extra seating, including a sofa (which I ended up sleeping on).
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite Bed
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite Sofa
If I could change one thing, with this much open space the desk could face towards the room so other people staying with you wouldn’t have to look at your screen…though I guess with my screen facing my parents, I was much more productive.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite Desk
The toilet was also revamped, if not much different. It featured basically the same amenities – separate shower/tub, sinks and an enclosed toilet. If anything, I would’ve preferred the setup in the deluxe double room as there was “platform area” for me to put my amenities, as much as I understand how much nicer this looks.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite Bathroom Double Sinks
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite Bathroom Tub
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite Bathroom Shower
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite Bathroom Shower
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite Bathroom Toiletries
The highlight of the room, though, had to be the porch. It was engraved in flowers, and while it also faced the canal, in the distance you could see Zurich on one side and the lake on the other. It also helped that the weather was amazing all throughout our stay.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite Porch
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite Porch
The views were especially good during sunset – look at this.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite Porch View
Both rooms featured a tablet where you could find out more about the hotel and Zurich, though I guess it’s not really necessary given how fast hotel WiFi is. As far as I know the tablet could surf, too, but I’m not too sure.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Tablets
The hotel provided extensive turndown service at night, with peanut/normal M&Ms, vegetable juice, a nice little card and the actual beds turned down as well.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Turndown Service
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Turndown Service
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Deluxe Double Room Turndown Service
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Junior Suite Turndown Service
As I mentioned earlier, breakfast at the hotel was served at The Pavillon, which was close to the entrance of the hotel.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Hallway
The actual restaurant was rather sterile, though in the most beautiful way possible. It was white themed, and decorated with flowers. On one hand it’s stunning, but on the other hand, I’d expect to see the colour tones at a luxury rehab center. On the whole I liked it, though.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon
The spread was continental – while everything was ultra high quality, there’s only so much you can do with a cold food spread.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Food Spread
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Food Spread
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Food Spread
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Food Spread
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Food Spread
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Food Spread
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Food Spread
Each table featured butter, and had freshly squeezed orange juice at their disposal. I also ordered a hot chocolate to go with my breakfast.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Butter
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Orange Juice
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Hot Chocolate
The Pavillon also features custom-order eggs – I chose a poached egg with a couple strips of bacon, which sounded like heaven to me (I remember it being a little firm in the center, but overall still really nice).
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Poached Egg with Bacon
My mom went with the full eggs benedict, which was well seasoned.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich The Pavillon Eggs Benedict
The other restaurant at the Baur au Lac is the Rive Gauche, with an indoor area and an outdoor Terrasse. We had dinner at the Terrasse on our last night – while I couldn’t get photos of the food in time, I did get a picture of the menu. The food was spectacular…and priced accordingly.
Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich Rive Gauche Menu
In terms of the hotel’s other amenities, I wish I could report back on them, though I didn’t have time to visit any. It’s worth noting that the hotel’s service is also great. Each interaction with staff was well-intentioned, there wasn’t too much of a language barrier, and when I ran out of battery after I checked out and was working in the lobby after dinner at the Rive Gauche, waiting for the airport transfer we’d booked, the front desk was kind enough to lend me an adapter.
Bottom Line on Hotel Baur au Lac Zurich
The Baur au Lac is definitely one of the best hotels in Zurich, though it’s also priced accordingly. I would splurge for a night if I had the money, but looking at my future plans, if I’m really looking for Swiss luxury I might redeem points at the Park Hyatt.
The Baur au Lac is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World, a hotel chain I started relations with during the trip, in case that impacts your travel choices.
