Baur au Lac – seven generations on a private park by the lake

At Talstrasse 1, where Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse runs down to the water, Baur au Lac has stood in its own private park since 1844, when the Austrian-born hotelier Johannes Baur built a summer residence on land that was then still outside the city walls. One hundred and eighty years on, the same family — now its seventh generation — still owns and runs the house, a continuity rare even among Europe's grand hotels. Behind the white-columned portico sit 119 rooms and suites, three distinct restaurants and a lobby, Le Hall, that the house calls the city's living room. The MICHELIN Guide has given Baur au Lac its highest classification, Three Keys, for two consecutive years, while its brasserie, Baur's, carries the Guide's Plate distinction. Few hotels anywhere can claim a bar voted the country's best, a river-view fitness room instead of a spa, and 80,000 bees of its own, all within the same address.

01The house

Johannes Baur was no newcomer to hotelkeeping. <cite index="11-2">In 1838, he opened the first hotel in the city, Baur en Ville, which still operates at Paradeplatz.</cite> Six years later he turned to a plot by the lake that <cite index="18-7">his contemporaries thought he'd lost his mind</cite> to develop so far from the centre. <cite index="13-5">Johannes Baur opened the hotel in 1844 as a summer residence right on the shores of Lake Zurich, which at that time was still outside the city walls of Zurich.</cite> The neoclassical house he raised, <cite index="16-4">welcoming through its white-columned portico the ultra well-heeled to bonafide royalty, including Kaiser Wilhelm II, and in more recent years, Prince William</cite>, has barely stopped growing since.

The founder's line continued through marriage: <cite index="13-8">in 1889, Emmy Baur, the founder's granddaughter, took over the management with her husband, Karl Kracht; the family spirit remained unchanged.</cite> <cite index="13-9">In 1898, the hotel was expanded to its present size of 17,000 m², including 1,400 m² of parkland.</cite> A further, more sweeping renovation followed in 1990, when <cite index="13-10">Andrea Kracht, his mother Margherita (known as Marguita) Kracht and his sister Gabrielle Feldhahn-Kracht carried out a complete renovation – one of the largest reconstruction projects in Swiss hospitality.</cite> <cite index="2-9">The family-run hotel is now in its seventh generation of management.</cite>

02Rooms and suites

<cite index="4-4">The hotel offers 119 rooms, including 27 Junior Suites and 18 Suites, ranging between 25m2 and 100m2.</cite> <cite index="4-2">The style of the rooms varies between Art Deco, Louis XVI and English Regency, along with some more contemporary touches.</cite> <cite index="2-10">Every room and suite is individually designed and offers views of the private park, the city or – depending on the category – Lake Zurich and the Alps.</cite> The River Suites were <cite index="25-4">exclusively created for us by visionary designer Frédéric d'Haufayt, the fabrics and furniture thoughtfully handcrafted by the world's finest ateliers, setting new standards for craftsmanship and sustainability.</cite> <cite index="7-5">The 119 rooms and suites boast timeless elegance while also equipped with state-of-the-art amenities and modern art, blending tradition with innovation in a seamless union.</cite> Turndown is marked, rather charmingly, by <cite index="29-5">a presentation of the hotel's own proprietary brand of Swiss chocolate.</cite>

Insider tip

No on-site spa; a rooftop fitness room, a private park and a historic lake boat instead.

03Where to eat

By the water sits Marguita, where <cite index="9-4">Marguita celebrates the vibrancy of Mediterranean cuisine</cite> under <cite index="9-6">Executive Chef Maximilian Müller</cite>; the house itself calls it <cite index="5-10">more than a restaurant: it is the beating heart of our hotel and the city that surrounds it.</cite>

Baur's Brasserie & Bar is the refined reinterpretation of a classic brasserie, its contemporary art running to works by Louise Bourgeois, Rashid Johnson and Rodney Graham in a lively, urban setting. Gault Millau scores the kitchen at 14 points against Marguita's 15, and the MICHELIN Guide lists Baur's with a Plate. On Wednesdays, beef Wellington has become a small ritual, while each spring the in-house pâtissier hand-finishes <cite index="5-13">limited edition easter eggs, true masterpieces, lovingly handcrafted by Chef Patissier Potier using our finest in-house chocolate.</cite>

Then there is Le Hall, where <cite index="12-11">blue velvet settees sit beneath the most regal of Lalique chandeliers, with an oil painting of hotel founder Johannes Baur taking up one wall's real estate.</cite> Afternoon Tea, the house's long-running ritual of pastries and champagne, returns each autumn and runs through spring.

04The bar

<cite index="34-1">Baur's Bar was awarded Best Hotel Bar 2025, combining international class with warm hospitality</cite>, run on a philosophy its bar manager, Natascha Galus, sums up plainly: "It's not about status or etiquette, but about enjoyment and atmosphere." Its signature pour, <cite index="34-10,34-11">Baur's Edigroni, an elegant variation on the Negroni named after the Scottish city of Edinburgh, combines mild gin with lively citrus freshness and subtle bitter notes.</cite> For guests who prefer their nightcap with tobacco, <cite index="36-8">there is also a Cigar Lounge for cigar fans.</cite>

05A park instead of a spa

Baur au Lac has deliberately never built a spa. Instead, guests are sent up to <cite index="6-5">a multi-windowed rooftop Fitness Center where guests may exercise with incredible views of the city, Lake Zurich, and the Alps.</cite> The real wellbeing asset is the park itself, its heritage trees shading the Schanzengraben, and since 2016 home to <cite index="15-5">80,000 house honeybees housed in a miniature replica of the hotel itself</cite>, whose honey reaches the breakfast table. For excursions on the water, the concierge arranges a trip aboard Tugenia, the hotel's own historic electric saloon boat.

06The neighbourhood

The house sits <cite index="1-2">near the shores of Lake Zurich and the Schanzengraben moat, in proximity to Bahnhofstrasse and Bürkliplatz</cite>, and claims to be <cite index="19-12">the only hotel in Zurich that sits within its own 1,400 sqm private park at the end of Bahnhofstrasse.</cite> Walk the other way and the Fraumünster is close enough that Marc Chagall, a long-staying guest, worked in his suite on drawings for its stained-glass windows; <cite index="12-8,12-9">in his suite, Chagall worked on his drawings for the stained glass windows at the Fraumünster church, and in his frenzy of creation, paint would spatter everywhere so that the carpet had to be replaced each time he left.</cite>

07Making the most of a stay

The guestbook reads like a history of the last 180 years: <cite index="12-7">Baur au Lac is where Richard Wagner first performed The Valkyrie, accompanied by Franz Liszt on the piano; where Alfred Nobel was inspired with the idea for his peace prize; and where Walt Disney gave out handsome tips.</cite> <cite index="8-4">Empress Elisabeth of Austria – Sisi to most – favoured lengthy stays at Baur au Lac.</cite>

Every summer since 2007 the park turns into an open-air gallery for Art in the Park, timed just before Art Basel opens. Concierges are members of Les Clefs d'Or, and in 2026 the family published its own history with Assouline, a coffee-table book documenting more than 180 years by the lake.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.