While the building has housed travellers since the 15th century, the interiors of this Old Town boutique hotel are thoroughly modern. The clean look of white-painted walls and blond-wood floors and drawers is punctuated by quirky details: Bright-orange armchairs on a black-and-white patterned rug, say, or a slate-grey tissue holder shaped like a Monopoly house. The historic building was renovated top to bottom to suit guests looking for an experience that’s pared down and minimalist, yet, still stylish and comfortable. The overall look is Scandinavian with a touch of Italian. Historic elements, such as tile stoves, ornate pillars and, in some rooms, gently slanted floors or low ceilings, are scattered throughout the building.
LOCATION, LOCATION
Marktgasse means market street and the hotel is right in the middle of Zurich’s Old Town and its historic cobbled lanes. It’s a 10-minute walk (or slightly quicker tram ride) from the main train station, which itself is about a 20-minute train journey from Zurich airport.
EAT IN OR EAT OUT?
Definitely eat in. Lunch and dinner are served at Baltho Kuche, which is upscale enough to feature local and seasonal ingredients, yet casual enough that you get to grind your own pepper. On my visit, the springtime menu included a creamy pea and morel soup and ravioli with puntarelle, an almost asparagus-like type of chicory, and nutty Belper Knolle cheese from the Bern region. Pick up breakfast at the hotel’s Delish Café, where specialties include house-smoked fish and homemade granola. For a nightcap, check out Baltho Bar in the lobby where an extensive cocktail menu includes local Turicum Gin, so called after Zurich’s name in Roman times.
ROOM WITH A VIEW
If you can (and the weather is good), reserve room 407, a junior suite that comes complete with a spiral staircase leading to a private rooftop terrace, with table and chairs and two chaises longues. It’s a great spot to watch the sun set over the Old Town’s rooftops while sipping champagne (you can preorder it to be ready, chilled, when you arrive) or – hey, it’s Switzerland – nibbling on a Lindt bar.
WHOM YOU’LL MEET
On weekdays, you’ll share the elevator with European business travellers. On weekends, guests are more likely to be arts or culture buffs looking for convenient access to nearby venues such as the Cabaret Voltaire, launch point of the century-old Dada movement (and now a bar and event space).
BEST AMENITY
As someone who deplores the wastefulness of single-use toiletries (and has a basket of partly used hotel bar soaps at home to prove it), I appreciated the large pump bottles of Aesop hand wash and body balm by the sink, and body wash and shampoo in the shower.
On a similar eco-friendly note, rather than stocking rooms with bottled water, the hotel provides guests with glasses and a carafe that can be filled at water stations on each floor.
IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING
The hotel doesn’t have its own fitness facility but it does offer guests a map of jogging routes printed on a microfibre towel – and free access to the gym, classes and hammam of the Fitnesspark Hamam Munstergasse, just two minutes away.
The Fitnesspark’s website, however, is in German only. Some guidance for those of us who sprechen kein Deutsch would be helpful.
Marktgasse Hotel, Marktgasse 17, Zurich; marktgassehotel.ch; 39 rooms from 199 Swiss francs ($262), includes breakfast as of July 1.
The writer was a guest of the hotel.