stevens397

We're headed there a week from Sunday after a cruise since we're taking Swiss home. I understand what you are saying, San Diego, but if you look at another thread - The Best Hyatts in Europe - it is easy to understand why I have high expectations.

That said, as long as I don't expect a suite, I guess it should be fine!

swiss-mike

To my knowledge, breakfast is always served in the lobby lounge, and I never found the scale of what was offered to be "small" in any respect.

And the traditional way of making Roesti is the following: Boil potatoes, *let them cool down*, peel them, grate them, pan-fry them in lard until golden. So, Roesti *is* made with warmed-up potatoes. Unless you specifically order a "rohe Rösti" (raw Roesti), which is made from raw grated potatoes - tastes differently, and is a comparably modern invention.

Shareholder

While the buffet table does appear somewhat small, it is compact and contains pretty much the full range or breads, fruits, cereals, cold cuts, cheeses, smoked salmon and the like. Eggs and the like can be ordered from your server, as are juices and coffee/tea. Deceptive but filling!

speedytimmy

Currently staying at the PH Zurich for the second time in a week. First stay arrived at 8:15 a.m. on a flight from Asia and they were apologetic they couldn't find me a room as they were fully booked the night before. After a little walk around Zurich I came back to the hotel and they checked me in so I could use the internet while the room was being made up. Breakfast with eggs, rosti and so forth is almost too much. The basic buffet this morning on the second stay I found more than filling.

Executive Park King seems no different than the Park King except the former have courtyard views and may possibly be deemed to be quieter.

The restaurant seems quite reasonably priced (for Zurich/Swizterland) with a very pleasant ambiance. The menu lists the origin of all their ingredients so you can see where your meal is sourced from. Most of their beef seems to be sourced from Canada aside from the Australian Wagyu.

I think if prospective guests are looking for a wow factor, one might be disappointed, but that isn't what Park Hyatt is aiming for. If you want a very pleasant stay with attentive but unhurried service and a luxurious but unostentatious hotel, I think the PH Zurich is a great option.

SanDiego1K

Bingo. Perfectly stated.

FD1971

Solid wood, unique pieces of art, rare varieties of marble and the more obvious B&O Tv sets or Bose audio sets make Park Hyatt hotels what they are and set themselves apart from the most of the competition. Most of the glass used is made by Schott, one of the high quality manufacturers on the planet.

Custom made BM toiletries are another prime example.

And as you have set so nicely, it is a more subtle wow...

banzani

Now this is most certainly heading off topic...but let me clarify (and, by the way, I spend a LOT of time in Switzerland, and have some very special favorite Roesti places in the Valais, for example, so I would consider myself somewhat of a Swiss culinary expert ).

Your description is perfectly fine. But what I mean is something different. If you leave the boiled potatoes, say overnight, for example in a plastic or tupperware container, in the fridge. And if those potatoes are possibly not the right or best potatoes to do Roesti with. Then, when being warmed up again they have a very special taste which is certainly not what Roesti should taste like, and this was the case here. BTW, Mrs. Banzani was of the very same opinion, and did not finish even half of those Roesti, which actually does mean something.....enough for now

mikew99

I think I was also a victim of high expectations, in part due to the reports here on FT. But other than the free in-room breakfast for Diamonds, the PH Zurich did not excel in any way that mattered to me. Perhaps the PH Zurich is the best in Switzerland, but I have experienced better upgrades, better breakfast buffets, and better service at other properties in Europe.

It's possible that I don't "get" the PH brand. I have a stay coming up at the PH Melbourne, so I will get to test that theory. But as clean and efficient as my stay was, nothing about the PH Zurich said "best" to me. At the very least, some mixed reports here will help to check the high expectations that people might otherwise have about the place.

No disagreement here. But if you want the best Hyatt in Europe, you might want to look elsewhere. I have a hard time believing that the PH Zurich is the best that Hyatt can do.

Ducatibiker

I quite agree that PH Zurich is far from being the best Hyatt in Europe.
-Contrary to some other PH which now have Samsung, they still have B&O but don't have HD signal in the hotel network/interface which is very old. You would expect a suite with 3D equipment with 7.1 sound system and interconnectivity to a PC
-You would expect a swimming pool, a health club as other hotels are offering around Zurich Lake
-Service is far from being professional and is lacking the touch found at La Madeleine, Berlin and other non PH
-Restaurant is OK but some of those tables are smaller than the one found at Mc Donald's...and careful, some of the ingredients are very, very cheap ! There was a very good manager but he is now at the Grand Hyatt Dubai

slocouple

Just an FYI: In addition to any charges you may incur, we were charged (on an award stay) 5 CHF daily for some sort of city tax.

stevens397

Just back from two free BWB nights here. Lovely hotel. Found the staff to be absolutely wonderful and helpful. Concierge offered to help contact airline for us to help change our return flight. Constantly called by name.

Room was PH kitsch but lovely and comfortable. This one actually had something approaching a dresser with drawers - try to find that at the PH Washington, DC.

Good use of the BWB. Thanks Hyatt!

rm76

Does anyone know of a laundry near the PH Zurich where I can either drop off a week and a halfs worth of clothes or last resort, somewhere I can go and do the laundry? PH Zurich is in the middle of my trip and I'd rather not spend a lot of money for the hotel to wash my socks and underwear.

BTW, hotel website says "As part of our consistent efforts to improve and maintain our hotel's appearance, we will be undertaking a soft refurbishment of our guestrooms and suites between August 2 and December 15, 2010. To minimise any disturbance to our guests, we will be closing one floor section at a time during the refurbishment."

Richey66

I am also not very impressed, got an "upgrade" to exec room on 6th floor, but several small issues, no newspaper at the door, missing champagne, cold saunas at the spa etc etc.
Here currently until Sunday, so if anyone wants to drop by for a drink, call room 603

gengar

Stayed here two nights in July, combining a free promotional night and points. Unfortunately I have to agree with a general tone in this thread that the hotel was not that impressive. The FD service was not good - the FD agent didn't bother escorting me to my room after check-in and staff seemed disinterested during all my interactions, such as when I asked for sightseeing tips. My welcome amenity of Swiss chocolates, while wonderful to eat, was accompanied by a handwritten letter addressed to a name that is not mine. In a perverse way, I almost hope they paid less attention to me due to being a promotional/points booking, because I sure hope this is not how they treat people who pay 850CHF a night (the rate at the time of my booking).

Also, it has been noted in this thread that Park Executive Room is standard for diamonds - just for the record, I was not given one.

The room itself was solid, although as past posters have mentioned, there is no HD service on the TVs which is a bit appalling. Also, the room doors close very noisily and the doors let in a lot of noise from the hallway, so I frequently heard the bangs of other rooms' doors closing as well as people in the hallway conversing. I liked pretty much everything else about the room though - lots of space, the shower and bath area were great, bed was comfortable, and internet was free. Fruit and mineral water were refreshed daily. Good selection of glassware (Schott Zwiesel, as others have mentioned). Turndown service was performed daily, and included nice touches such as refill of the ice bucket and placement of water and glass on the bedside table. Towels were fully restocked during each service. A pair of pants I'd draped over the back of a chair was hung in the closet. Basically besides the noise and the lack of HD, it's what you'd expect from a hotel of this caliber so no other complaints.

The F+B service was a pleasant contrast to the FD attitudes - consistently friendly and professional. Onyx Bar was quite nice... noisy and a bit crowded, but jam-packed with beautiful women and had a humidor full of Cuban offerings, if you're into those sorts of things. Also, no one seemed to mind when I sauntered in wearing jeans and white sneakers on one night.

In the lounge, the "farmer's breakfast" is free for diamonds (note the tip was charged to my room), and includes the continental buffet spread and one made-to-order hot dish. The hot dish can be pancakes, waffles, eggs (including omelets), etc. The breakfast spread is very good, with lots of offerings especially in the fruit section. I particularly loved the huge selection of quality yogurts. Ultimately though, I really wish the buffet had more hot offerings, even if only made-to-order. Since it's free for diamonds, of course it was great - but at 48CHF, perhaps just like the room, the quality simply isn't reflected in the price. Excepting the yogurt selection, I have had similar or better buffets at half the price (and often less), especially at hotels in Asia.

The location is quite good, close to Stockerstrasse tram stop and convenient to many locations (I suppose Zürich is not a spread-out city to begin with). For those approaching Stockerstrasse from the central station area, there is actually a roadside sign as the tram approaches the station which indicates the direction of the hotel. Past posts used some retail stores as indicators of direction, but many of those are no longer there or weren't obvious to me.

I guess some of my disappointment stems from the fact that I will likely be traveling to Zürich every so often in the future, so was really hoping that this would actually be worth paid stays (the rate in advance is usually only around 450CHF). As it stands, I would only burn promotional nights here - I'm honestly not even that sure it's worth point redemption. I'll be looking elsewhere for paid stays.

stevens397

I guess that's why it's important to read a bunch of reviews. Yes, I long for the hotels that hit it right every time but those are hard to find. I agree that the PH Zurich is below the Paris PH, but I truly had a wonderful experience and the things that you were lacking were there for me (except the High Def!). We were not only escorted to the room, we never even signed in. When we got to our upgraded room, he showed us everything and then asked if he could copy my credit card number. I spent all of 5 seconds at the front desk.

The trip was at the end of a cruise, we were flying on Swiss and I had some free nights so it seemed to make sense to burn them in Zurich. We came from the Adriatic where the weather was incredible to a cold and rainy Zurich. After the first day, we decided to bail and return home a day earlier if at all possible. Problem was we had booked thru US Air and their terms stipulate that once an itinerary starts, it can't be changed. Still, I had the toll free European number and thought I'd try. Asked the front desk how to dial the number from my room and he insisted that I turn everything over to the concierge and let him handle it. Very long, convoluted story but in the end, he made magic happen.

We were always called by name at the front desk and were treated warmly - not necessarily what I expect from the Swiss. I'm disappointed that their excellent service is not uniform and consistent but I would go back in a heartbeat!