We had a one night stay at the Hotel Novotel Zurich Airport Messe prior to a South American trip which meant we had to leave ZRH early and our usual Radisson Hotel choice was out of the question as the price had exploded due to some happening in town and was sold out.

Location

There are two options reaching the hotel, either by Novotel’s shuttle bus or by the excellent tram service running from the airport which we choose to do. The Tram leaves ZRH at more or less the same place as where the shuttle leaves from and is clearly marked throughout the airport. The beauty of using the tram is that is stopes right outside the Novotel and during rush our there are multiple arrivals/departures. Also as ZRH is the last stop on the tram line, you can not go in the wrong direction. The tram rides takes exactly 7 min and as we’re talking Switzerland here, 7 min means 7 min. Not 8 or 6 min.

Check In

The Novotel Zurich Airport has a dedicated A-Club elite checkin desk as well as a bog standard checkin desk. Vouchers for welcome drinks are handed out to (at least for) gold card holders and the service is just amazing. Friendly and very very service minded in either flawless French, English and of course high German (or swiss German if you prefer).

Room

The room we were given was very typical Novotel, maybe a tad dated but very clean and have all you need for a one night stay. Lots of TV channels with 3 of the 4 national languages as well as the BBC line up (and your usual suspect news channels). There might have been some middle eastern as well but we paid it no attention.

The amenetites were just as expected and covered all bathroom needs and even a tad more.

Dining

Not knowing better we decided to have our dinner at the Novotel’s own restaurant. The service was fine but food not very interesting. After dinner we went for a walk and found a few good looking restaurants in the area (it’s mostly offices and some residential areas across the main street) and better still, there’s a huge Coop supermarket 5 min walk from the hotel.

Service

As mentioned earlier, top notch service from a younger staff group the afternoon we checked in. Very relaxed and talkative as we were talkative ourselves. Another couple who were checking in next to us were less talkative and the person checking them in adopted their approch which was very professionaly done IMO. Again, super friendly, realxed and very professional staff at checkin.

Overall

Over all, fantastic value for money and location is not half bad, if you need to be at the airport early in the morning and still be able to hit the streets of Zurich if that takes your fancy. The very same tram line will take you to the CC and there is no noise from any bars etc as there are none in the nearby area. 

The Novotel Zurich Messe is highly recommendable hands down but don't expect something it's not. It's spot on Novotel...

I needed two one-night stays in ZRH one week apart and for one of them Hilton was almost half price of Novotel and for the other Novotel was almost half price of Hilton so the choice was easy.  I stayed at Novotel before and was not particularly impressed, but for the night where Novotel was much cheaper I was expecting to arrive in Zurich late evening and leave early morning, therefore not having Hilton’s executive lounge and not having Platinum breakfast benefit at Novotel was not disturbing me much.  As it turns out, things did not go as planned and it highlighted the value proposition which is lacking at Novotel.

Unfortunately my flight to ZRH was cancelled a few days before scheduled and I was moved to a flight that was scheduled to arrive at 7am rather than 7pm.  If I had known ahead of time that I would spend more time in Zurich, I would have booked somewhere other than Novotel but by then it was too late, I had just changed my flexible booking at Novotel to pre-paid thinking that my plans would not change just a few days before departure.  

Check In

I received an e-mail in advance to advise me that I could check in online which I had not seen before at Accor hotels so I tried it. I thought the comment section would be useful to inform the hotel that our flight was landing at 7am, that we would relax in the Swiss business arrivals lounge at the airport and that I would appreciate if they could inform me when our room was ready.  This online check-in facility is great to have, but problem is that I tried twice and both times it failed.  A disappointing waste of time.

Upon arrival I went to the Swiss lounge.  I called Novotel from the lounge mid-morning and they said the regular check-in time was 2pm but they could make an exception for me at 1pm.  They said they had rooms available and I could check-in before that but I would have to pay 45 CHF.  I was ok waiting in the Swiss lounge at the airport longer and I declined to pay for an early check-in fee.  I have seen hotels charge a fee for early check-in like 6am or 9am, but for check-in at noon, that is unusual.  They are free to manage their hotel as they wish, but in my opinion this is uncompetitive (especially for an airport hotel) and I would say if someone ever needs early check-in, it will make Hilton a better choice by a significant margin.

Location

Novotel is 4km away from the airport and thanks to the shuttle bus it’s suitable for an overnight.  For people who need to go to the city center during their stay it’s not necessarily the best choice although the hotel is in front of a tram stop and you can be in Zurich HB in less than 30 minutes.  For longer stays in this area I would rather go to the Kameha Grand (Autograph Collection from Marriott) which is a much nicer hotel than both Novotel and Hilton although is the most expensive of the three.  While Novotel is ok for a quick overnight, it should be noted that the shuttle bus schedule is only twice per hour at peak times and only once per hour at other times, which is not the most convenient for an airport hotel and is inferior to Hilton which is 2-3 times per hour. For my stay I did not mind much since I was in the airport lounge and I could leave the lounge based on the shuttle bus schedule.  However for someone arriving from a flight and who wants to go straight to the hotel, once per hour is not appropriate in my opinion and the tram will be the better option despite not being free. In addition, the same shuttle bus serves both the Novotel and the Ibis nearby so even though I took the shuttle at non-peak time, the fact that it’s only once per hour for two hotels resulted in the bus being jam packed.  The bus from the airport to the hotel is free, but from the hotel back to the airport is now 4 CHF unlike two years ago which was free.  Hilton has also introduced a 5 CHF fee recently.  Given the infrequent schedule of the bus, it’s now better to go to the airport by tram rather than pay Novotel for a crowded bus.   

Room

The room is fine and nothing special, but it was clean and in decent shape, somewhat better than Hilton as long as you don’t mind having less space available (Hilton has larger rooms).  I do not think I received an upgrade but anyway for just one night I did not mind and the higher room type available (exec room) is not larger than the standard room (22 sq m) so an upgrade would not have had much value to me so I did not ask anything at reception.  There were power plugs on one side of the bed but not international style, plus no USB ports.

Dining

Last time I stayed two years ago, I was not offered the welcome drink voucher, and some reports on TripAdvisor mention that people have to fight to get it.  This time vouchers were offered proactively without having to ask.  In addition I was allowed to take the drinks to my room; I am not completely sure but if I am not mistaken those are supposed to be just for the bar or restaurant so the hotel was flexible.  Drinks to the room is something that was denied to me by a Fairmont a few months ago.  

Gym

The fitness gym was in sorry state last time I stayed here. The good news is that they bought new equipment which was well overdue, however they cut costs by buying equipment without the TV attached.  There is also a sauna next to the gym for those interested.  

Wifi

Wifi was very good, download 90 Mbps and upload 50 Mbps.

Overall

Overall this hotel can do the job but generally speaking the value proposition can be on shaky grounds.  I cannot say that I will never come back – it is fine to save money if arriving late and leaving early and if it’s significantly cheaper than Hilton. However for stays where I value a decent room upgrade, an executive lounge, free breakfast, and a more customer-friendly shuttle bus schedule, Hilton will be the better choice for those who have Diamond status there.  Just for breakfast alone, it costs 29 CHF per person at Novotel so as a couple paying 58 CHF for breakfast when it’s free at Hilton, not counting other perks, those things add up.  Novotel would have to be at least 50-80 CHF cheaper on the room rate to justify staying there depending on expected arrival time and departure.  For people who do not have status with Hilton or Marriott and whose purpose is to save money, in that case I could recommend Novotel but depending on whether extra facilities are needed, there are some people for whom Ibis Budget might be a better choice although I have not stayed there to compare.