The Dolder Grand

The Dolder Grand

The Dolder Grand sits above Zurich, high enough that every Junior Suite Grand looks past the rooftops to the lake and the Swiss Alps beyond, a view the hotel guarantees rather than hints at. Doormen still work the entrance here, and staff shift between English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish without missing a step. Behind the door: 175 rooms and suites across six floors, a 4,000-square-metre spa with its own pool, steam bath and sauna landscape, and The Restaurant, where chef Heiko Nieder holds two Michelin stars and 19 Gault-Millau points. Saltz, another restaurant on site, runs a quieter, more local register with 14 Gault-Millau points and an Asian breakfast option most mornings. Bookings for both, and for spa treatments, need to go in ahead; nothing here is walk-up. The spa itself has rules worth knowing before arrival: the pool, gym and fitness studio open at 12, the Ladies' and Gentlemen's spas at 16, so parents chasing a toddler-friendly water afternoon should look elsewhere, even with the playroom and babysitting on offer. What the hotel does well is the space between formality and comfort: bathrobes and slippers, an indoor fireplace in some rooms, a library for guests who came to read rather than be seen, and gardens and a terrace that soften the formality of the place. Extra beds run 250 CHF a night, pets are welcome for a 50 CHF fee, and the zoo and Kunsthaus Zurich sit within the three-kilometre radius covered by the hotel's shuttle. It rewards guests who plan their stay rather than improvise it. Above Zurich with lake and Alp views guaranteed from every Junior Suite Grand, The Dolder Grand runs a two-Michelin-star restaurant and a 4,000-square-metre spa alongside its 175 rooms. Book the table and the treatment before you arrive; nothing here is same-day.