Hotel Arlette Am - A Review

I’m going to double-back for an entry here and do a brief review of the Hotel Arlette Am in Zurich. The first thing that I have to point out about it is how convenient it is with respect to the main (only) rail station in Zurich. From the spot where I got off of the train from Paris, Hotel Arlette Am is only a ten-minute walk away. As much stuff as I was lugging around, this was a big bonus.

Another bonus, and for the same reason, was that the hotel had a lift. Seeing as I was on the fifth floor, this again prevented me from having to carry heavy loads up lots of stairs.

I forget how much the hotel cost, but it seems to me that this one was on the higher end of the spectrum – in the neighborhood of $140/night. After complaining earlier about Paris being expensive, I learned that Zurich was probably even worse. I guess that’s what happens when you’re the richest country on Earth.

The hotel is between the train station and Central tram line, which borders the part of Old Town on the east of the river. Another A for convenience as the historic part of Zurich was all within a 20-minute walk of the hotel. That includes the Swiss Museum, Bahnhofstrasse and all of the buildings in the earlier pictures. As with the Hotel Mozart in Brussels, the hotel was in a perfect location for a tourist and was even closer to public transportation.

One strike against the Arlette Am was the nickel-and-diming. It was the first hotel that I stayed in that didn’t have free wi-fi. It turned out to be about $10 a day for the two days that I was there, but Zurich isn’t big on public options for free internet, so it was a price I felt compelled to pay. Also, the breakfast was pretty light, though the hotel had additional options to choose from, for a price. Figuring that if I was going to pay for breakfast, I wasn’t going to do it for hotel food, I opted out.

The staff was very friendly. I understand that the hotel is family-owned and operated. The people there were fluent in English and able to answer questions that I had about Zurich. Like at the Hotel Monte Carlo in Paris, I had to leave the key at the front desk when I left, which I find annoying, but it isn’t the biggest annoyance in the world.

The room was very clean and rather small. Kind of par for the course in the hotels that I’ve been staying in, though I think I can say that this room was cleaner than most. There also was absolutely no noise problem. As I’ve experienced everywhere, there was no air conditioning, but the window opened onto a street that was very quiet, at least at night.

The television had two English-language stations: CNN and MTV. I ended up watching a few too many MTV reality series and worry that my sanity will suffer because of it. We’ll see when I get back if I find myself compelled to watch Rock of Love.

Anyway, in summary, good hotel. Great location. Quiet and clean. Friendly staff. Pricey for what I’ve been spending, but not so bad for Zurich. Would have appreciated free wifi.

Fin.