More furniture showroom than hotel
 

Introduction The Widder Hotel is a reminder that it takes more than high-end décor to make a luxury hotel. It looks great, but a service culture is completely missing. Service The staff provides efficient, courteous service at the standard Swiss level - especially during booking - but nothing approaching personable and personalised hospitality. This is such a disappointment! As a fairly small property with plenty of staff, they could excel at the proactive service level which distinguishes the world's best hotels. The Widder is a long way from that. I'm no prima donna... but at the Widder I carried all my bags to the room while two idling porters in reception watched. That stung.Every encounter seemed to involve providing information which the hotel already had. I booked directly via e-mail, so I have no idea why I had to add or correct personal details again on a paper form. Absolutely none of the details mentioned during booking were remembered in later encounters, even though they were all with the same staff member. There is simply nothing attentive or engaged about the service here. It gets the job done, but certainly can't be called hospitality.Also, I mentioned some maintenance issues (filthy furniture in the room with burst upholstery) in the post-check-out online questionnaire. In other hotels, a manager almost always follows up with an acknowledgment, but not this time. The Widder consistently makes you feel like just another customer; certainly never a valued guest.Between these procedural interactions which book-ended the stay, the only contact with staff was indirectly, via the turndown service. I'm a sucker for a Bettmümpfeli, and was not disappointed, but that's not the only reason I'd rate the turndown here very highly. Common missteps in other hotels, such as leaving used coffee cups in the room, did not happen here. Leaving somnolent piano jazz playing was a nice touch. Room I stayed in one of the lower room categories (my fault for booking at the last minute), but was very pleasantly surprised. The "design" category was very cleverly organised and full of high-end features: marble bathroom, rainfall shower, coffee machine, free non-alcoholic minibar, highly customizable lighting. Apart from the practical features, it was beautifully designed: an inviting place to work and relax in. There was absolutely no sense that it was the poor relative of the historic junior suite I had set my heart on. The only sign that these rooms are not their pride and joy was the aforementioned poor state of the furniture - suggesting that these rooms are the repository for what's not good enough for elsewhere. Sound insulation wasn't great either: noise flowed freely from the corridor and neighboring rooms, but in a 500 year old listed building I was expecting worse.Room 206: Desk/lounge chair The lighting controls were pretty good, but why is there still always that one light you have to get out of bed to switch off? The soft drinks from the minibar were gratis. A half-bottle of wine from the parent company's vineyard was also offered as a welcome gift. Location Not much needs to be said about the location: the Widder perfectly situated within Zurich's cultural, commercial and banking heart. The train station is 5 minutes away on foot. Being a side street off Bahnhofstrasse, it is especially easy to find your way back to the hotel despite it standing in the tangle of medieval alleys of the old town. It's redundant to mention that the area is clean, well lit and feels safe at all hours - it is Zurich after all. Gym This is, hands down, one of the best equipped and most stylish hotel gyms I've ever had the pleasure of using. It is open 24 hours a day. Freeweights, Technogym cardio and strength machines and crossfit basics are all accounted for. Separated by saloon doors, a small, unisex locker area with one shower/dressing room and toilet adjoin the workout room. The fitness room was definitely my favorite of the hotel's design set pieces.You will nevertheless notice the lack of service culture here too: if you plan on using the gym in the evening or before work, you'd be lucky to find a towel. Once-a-day servicing is inadequate for 24-hour gyms. Be sure to bring a 2 franc coin if you plan on using the locker. Amenities When you consider that their starting rates are around 200 CHF higher for the same category than aforementioned competitors, the Widder is clearly positioning itself in the most elite league. When you consider how few hard facilities the Widder offers - no world-class spa like the Dolder, nor the green oasis of the Baur au Lac - the Widder needs to be full of other pleasant surprises to justify those higher prices. I can now confirm that the price premium is not going towards a staff-to-guest ratio sufficient for personalised service. Architecture In general, the hotel is brilliantly designed. The attention to detail, combined with the artful union of old and new, truly do support the Widder's claim of being a "luxury hideaway". The Widder has a bit more personality than the Baur au Lac around the corner, which is just your standard-issue fancy hotel which would be anywhere in the world. Overall So I consider the Widder to be very stylish place to sleep and shower, but can't consider it a luxury hotel as long as the only interaction with your hosts is when they're arranging payment. The Schweizerhof has all the same advantages but with personable, attentive service and at half the price.

I personally like the Widder as it has a very modern and practical decor. as compared to Dolder or Baur au lac.
But it is overpriced .
I alos like the "lack"of the fake attention given in more stodgy hotels.