Holiday Inn Express Zurich Airport [ZRH] (Master Thread)
 

Stay Report - 12/24-12/25

Location: The hotel is located in Rumlang, about a five minute drive from ZRH. It's on a four lane divided highway next to a gas station and some commercial buildings. The best part is the Rumlang S-Bahn Station (on the S-9 and S-15) is an easy half mile walk. Trains run frequently into Downtown Zurich from here.

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Hotel: The hotel is a large, newer construction HIX. It has a big lobby with restaurant which serves the free breakfast but also dinner, a full bar, business center with two computers and vending machines. There are two smallish elevators but I never had to wait long for either.

Check In: Handled by a very friendly agent who explained the internet, breakfast hours and shuttle to me and because I'm IHG Platinum, gave me a coupon for a free beer or wine at the bar. They also have a guide on how to use the S-Bahn. He couldn't have been nicer or more helpful.

Room: A little on the small side, but very comfortable. The room was obviously dominated by the King bed and it was a little annoying to have no closet but I survived for a night. Also, the bathroom was really small and they just leave a bottle of "Soap/Shampoo" in the shower which I don't like. Still, no real complaints overall

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Breakfast/Other: Breakfast starts at 4 AM which is amazing and is actually quite good. A very large spread of cereal, fruit, yogurt, breads and pastries, cold cuts, cheese and some hot dishes. Much better than a standard US HIX Breakfast. The free shuttle to the airport starts running at 5 AM and requires reservations. I also had no issue finding the shuttle when I'd arrived at ZRH the night before.

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My rate was 80 CHF and I'd return, it's a perfect airport hotel and the proximity to the S-Bahn makes it idea.

I agree, it's quite a nice hotel and surprisingly pleasant, not as faceless as many HIX properties are. I find the mill of people at breakfast a bit irritating though. If you happen to have a rental car, as I did, parking can be quite expensive and there's no on street parking (I found it easier to keep the rental and just drive it to the airport before my flight the following morning, rather than turning it in the night before and taking the shuttle out to the hotel). In this case I parked in the empty lot of a nearby shopping center and left sufficiently early in the morning before the parking became payable and I might have got a fine. It was by the Migros and Aldi Zurich just south of the HIX.

Good point about the parking, I wasn't aware how it worked as I didn't have a car, I'm glad you added that. Also, that's annoying about breakfast. Thankfully, I was there at about 4:30 so it was myself and three other people :D

The problem is it's more about the design of the breakfast area (for that is what it is at HIX Zurich Airport, it's not a separate dining room) where people are continually bumping into each other. I find that seriously annoying at breakfast time as I like to have a quiet breakfast and not deal with people milling around. So much so that I've walked out of many a HIX breakfast area/room. I prefer hotels where the breakfast has to be paid for, it cuts down on the milling masses. Other than that, the HIX Zurich is really good, better than most European HIX properties.

I didn't use the voucher they gave me for the free drink, and even forgot to hand it back on check-out. I ended up with 300 points welcome bonus instead which posted a week after I left.

I'll just chime in and state that I've stayed here several times over the last couple of years, and it's my go-to in the ZRH airport area.

Several places to pick up food and sundries within walking distance, quick walk to train station to go downtown, etc.

They even let me check in around 10 or 11 am after I got in on my flight.

The hotel rooms are undergoing a total refurbishment at the moment and there are some small problems.
Some of the small problems i encountered are temporary and a few are permanent.
I was given a newly refurbished room with blue walls and a blue bathroom.
Here were the issues:


Temporary issues which I hope will be fixed soon:


1.
There is building/working material all over the the hallways and stairs. Doesn't look great obviously, but my main concern is that it's a safety problem if there is an emergency like a fire. It was there all night long past 11pm and the next morning too. They really should clear this stuff away into a small few corners.

2.
The room I was given, had some shower fixtures still laying around which had not been installed yet. I was able to use the shower ok though.

3.
The bathroom door could not be closed properly as it seemed to be hung too close to the door frame. Also, even if I could close it, it cannot be locked.

4.
There is only 1 small garbage can in the bathroom and it's really small. Hardly anything fits in it.

5.
There is no telephone in the room. Not sure if they haven't installed them yet, or they won't be putting them in at all. Not a huge deal but if you need to call reception (or they need to call you) then it's not possible.



Permanent problems:

1.
There is no chair or desk area or any sort of table in the room. So if you want to sit down to eat, write, work on your laptop computer or anything else that needs a chair and table, it's not possible. This is stupid and a poor decision in planning, as the room layout had more than enough space to put in any sort of table or corner desk. The old rooms all had a chair and table. Why did they get rid of them ??

2.
The room windows cannot be opened at all.



These issues aside, I also have some positive things to say as well:

1.
This is one of the few Zurich airport hotels that offer FREE shuttle bus travel BOTH WAYS (to and from) the airport. Many of the other Zurich airport hotels only have a shuttle bus that is free one way and you have to pay to get back to the airport. The shuttle operates on a reservation basis when going from the hotel back to the airport and you get a coupon with your departure time to use it. This is to prevent too many people using it all at the same time and over filling it.

2.
All the staff were really friendly and really helpful.

3.
Got a free drink voucher AND welcome points AND a bottle of mineral water.

4.
Apart from the problems mentioned above, the new rooms look very nice.

5.
There are some big supermarkets like Migros, and Aldi just nearby and also a Mcdonalds next to the Park Inn hotel a short walk away.

6. The journey time to the airport with the shuttle is between 5 and 10 minutes. Very close.

Just stayed at this hotel, and there really were some problems. I can't believe, almost 3 decades in the 21st century, that renovations of a style and "quality" found in England in the 1970s are still taking place. The guy at reception said that all the renovations have been done so cheaply that they have nothing but problems now. To wit, the sink wouldn't drain and that stupid plug thing was impossible to move. The shower wouldn't drain either (hello, London 1974). The shower head was pissing out in all directions like it had sat in scaly water for weeks. This, and numerous other little things, as well as suddenly very uncomfortable beds (compared to the last time) which were too short as well. So that's it, no longer my "go to" hotel at ZRH airport. Hilton will get my business going forward, despite the price difference. IHG is doing a good job at driving people away at the moment. They obviously don't give a monkey's, so nor do I.

Stayed about a week ago, and was actually quite happy with one of the updated rooms. Appreciated all the updated technology, and the wireless charger too. Very convenient. To address a concern from a previous post, there are telephones in the rooms now (the wireless charger is actually attached to the telephone unit, and so are 5 different types of phone chargers).
I found the beds to be just fine - though this was my first stay at HIX ZRH.
The big issue during my stay was an internet outage - from check-in to check-out, there was no internet, not for a minute. Apparently there was a big outage all over Zurich, so not really their fault. They gave me both drink vouchers and welcome points to compensate. On a side note, should I complain to get something more as a Platinum Elite?

We have a ton of IHG points to burn and considering this property for a future stay. I see that there have not been an report for a while now. Anyone with recent stays that would care to report their experience? It looks like this is close of enough to a tram station that getting around should be easy enough? Any new or interesting restaurants in the area? The Crowne Plaza looks slightly better situated but does not look very attractive The free breakfast at HIX makes it a more attractive option I think. Curious as to others thoughts.

All 3 IHG hotels in Zurich are underwhelming in different ways and a poor use of points. All 3 of them are located in boring non central areas of the city with little around them. You are much better off using your points at the 5 star Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva. If you have to be in Zurich, chose another (non IHG) hotel.

Indeed, but remember that IHG has also 2 very nice IHG Mr and Mrs Smith properties :

Mr & Mrs SmithLa Réserve Eden au Lac Zurich

Mr & Mrs SmithMarktgasse Hotel

Yes, I completely agree with regards to the underwhelming nature of the Zurich IHG hotels. The IC in Geneva is about 64k per night and the HEX is about 18K per night. I am quite sure the Geneva property is much better but not sure I want to spend that much on that property on this trip. We prefer to be in Zurich. Definitely considering other options but we have some points to burn.

If I was going splurge and just unload all our points....this would be where we would do it. It is 134k per night at the Eden au Lac Zurich property and the other is not available.

I wouldn't call the Geneva properties very exciting either.... the IC is located in the Nations area where it's mostly just office buildings, international organizations.... it's boring too. I mean cities in Switzterland are not big and you can easily reach the center by tram but yeah, I wouldn't waste money or points on that IC.
The HIX is convenient for early flights from GVA and it's fairly cheap. It's close to bus lines to the airport and tram to the center.

The HIX in Zurich is "worse". That area is so empty and dead. I don't consider it a convenient location, even though it's geographically close to the airport. You would either need to take their free shuttle bus or take the local public bus that does a bit of a detour before reaching the airport. Otherwise you're left with the train with a few minutes of walking to reach the hotel.

I'd rather stay at the CP, the tram stops almost in front of it and that area is not that bad. Langstrasse, Lochergut and Stauffacher are not far and full or bars and restaurants and shops.