The Dolder Grand – a fairy-tale castle remade by Norman Foster

On the Adlisberg, two kilometres and some 200 metres above Zurich's old town, The Dolder Grand has been the city's grandest retreat since the spring of 1899. Zurich entrepreneur Heinrich Hürlimann commissioned the Swiss architect Jacques Gros to build the Dolder Grand Hotel & Curhaus, which opened its doors on 10 May 1899. A century on, the British architect Lord Norman Foster took on his first hotel commission: between 2004 and 2008 he stripped away every structure raised after 1899 and wrapped the restored timber Main Building, with its three turrets, in two new glass-and-steel wings. The hotel that reopened kept its fairy-tale silhouette and gained a 4,000-square-metre spa, a two-starred kitchen and 175 rooms and suites. The MICHELIN Guide now gives The Dolder Grand its Two Keys distinction, reserved for houses whose design and service reach the very top of the trade.

01The house

Jacques Gros was a timber-construction specialist who had studied Swiss farmhouses before turning to grand hotels; he gave the Dolder Grand Hotel & Curhaus its steep roofs and carved balconies, a style he carried through the nearby Dolder Waldhaus and the villas of the Zürichberg. Hürlimann wanted a mountain cure-house for Zurich's health-conscious elite, and it opened on 10 May 1899.

The next chapter began in 2001, when businessman Urs Schwarzenbach took a majority stake and brought in Norman Foster to reimagine the hotel. Foster's team demolished every addition made after 1899, including a 1960s extension, and rebuilt the property as two new wings, the Spa Wing and the Golf Wing, that embrace the restored Main Building and touch it at a single point known on site as 'The Kiss'. The four-year project, reported at around 385 million Swiss francs, reopened in 2008 and earned the hotel Wallpaper* magazine's title of 'Best New or Renovated Hotel' as well as a place on Condé Nast Traveler's Hot List.

02Rooms and suites

The 175 rooms and suites divide between the historic Main Building and Foster's two wings. Double Rooms Superior run 34 to 46 square metres and Double Rooms Deluxe 35 to 46 square metres, each south-facing with a balcony, a king-size bed and a bathroom with both a bathtub and a separate walk-in shower; six rooms in the Main Building are listed and have been restored to their original historic detail. In October 2026, rates on the hotel's own site started from CHF 540 for a Single Room Superior, CHF 740 for a Double Room Superior and CHF 940 for a Double Room Deluxe.

Insider tip

Reached by the Dolderbahn rack railway or a free hotel shuttle, minutes from central Zurich.

A handful of suites carry the names of guests who left their mark. The Maestro Suite, in the Main Building's tower, is dedicated to the conductor Herbert von Karajan; the 170-square-metre Masina Suite has a private roof terrace and channels the 1950s glamour of actress Giulietta Masina; Suite 100 revives 1960s London with an electric guitar signed by the Rolling Stones; and the organic-shaped furniture of the Carezza Suite pays homage to the sculptor Alberto Giacometti.

03Where to eat

The Restaurant is the hotel's culinary flagship, led since its opening by Chef Fine Dining Heiko Nieder, and carries two MICHELIN stars and 19 GaultMillau points, among the highest ratings in Zurich. Nieder, named Chef of the Year in 2019, also designs the gourmet menus Singapore Airlines serves on its Zurich–Singapore route. Guests who want to watch the nine-strong kitchen team at work can book the Chef's Table, a raised seating area inside the kitchen for four or five guests, served as a seven-course menu at the usual Restaurant prices. The wine list runs to more than 800 labels, with around 1,500 bottles held in a temperature-controlled wine cube and matched to each course by sommelier Katharina Sarrot.

A floor below, Saltz serves modern cuisine recognised with 15 GaultMillau points, while Mikuriya and blooms round out a kitchen roster that also stretches to Asian and all-day dining.

04The bar

Canvas Bar sits at the heart of the hotel, its walls hung with pieces from the art collection and its redesign shortlisted for the 2025 Restaurant & Bar Design Awards. Head Bartender Matthieu Doucet, in the role since January 2022, mixes signature drinks such as the Dolder Negroni and the Grand Espresso Martini; the bar was voted the best in Switzerland in 2023. It runs Sunday to Thursday until midnight and Friday and Saturday until 1am, with weekly live music and tables unreserved on a first-come basis.

The in-house patisserie supplies the bar's cake trolley, including the Dolder Torte, the hotel's signature cake, available to order for takeaway as well as at the table.

05Spa and wellbeing

The 4,000-square-metre spa was designed by the American spa architect Sylvia Sepielli, who researched Switzerland's mountains and valleys before building her concept around them. In the Meditation Room the stones underfoot grow larger the closer visitors move toward the indoor pool, echoing the scale of the Alps outside; a second layer of the design draws on Japan, where Sepielli lived for more than a decade.

Beyond the pool, the spa holds separate ladies' and gentlemen's areas, saunas, and fitness and workout studios, along with a skincare programme built around La Prairie's Skin Caviar line.

06The neighbourhood

More than 100 works by some 90 artists are set throughout the public areas and guest floors, curated by the Schwarzenbach family who own the hotel. Salvador Dalí's 'Femmes métamorphosées – Les sept arts' greets diners at The Restaurant's entrance, Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely's 'Le Monde' marks the route to the spa, and Fernando Botero's 'Woman with fruit' stands on the spa terrace; Takashi Murakami, Keith Haring, Joan Miró and Anselm Kiefer also feature, each piece carrying a QR code for a self-guided tour.

The hotel sits on the Adlisberg among forest and its own golf course, with the Dolderbahn rack railway's upper terminus beside the building and a free shuttle and limousine service for the short run into town. It is one of Zurich's official wedding venues, and in 2026 was named among Europe's best hotels in Condé Nast Traveller's Readers' Choice Awards, with a reader score of 97.52.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.