Alden Hotel Splugenschloss, Zurich
Reto
Monticelli
by Jim Gladstone
Reto Monticelli is the former managing director of the
seductively comfortable Alden Hotel Splügenschloss
(http://www.alden.ch),
a conveniently located property with just 22 spacious
guest rooms and suites. The Alden is located in a quiet,
tree-lined neighborhood just a block from the city’s
natural gem, Lake Zurich. The grand building dates
back to 1895, but the rooms have up-to-date style, their
cream colored wool carpeting and subdued modern furniture
elegantly spiked with a few antique pieces per suite,
providing a lovely touch of history amid contemporary
comforts. Those comforts are plentiful and include a spa-quality
multi-headed shower and a separate Jacuzzi, the option
of passes to a local gym or in-room delivery of exercise
equipment, and complimentary full breakfast each morning
in a sunny, inviting dining room that becomes a gourmet
restaurant by night. “We see leisure and business
guests,” Monticelli notes, “but at the Alden,
business guests can be a bit different than in other hotels.
Many come to town because they have just one or two appointments
with lawyers or money managers over a few days, rather
than meetings that run from nine to five. So they may
spend a lot of time back in their rooms. That’s why
we’ve got such large sitting rooms and separate bedrooms.
We really want the hotel to feel like a home away from
home for our repeat guests.” If you’re making
a special trip to Zurich as a tourist, however, Monticelli
says there are plenty of reasons to leave the comforts
of the Alden…at least for a little while!
What’s your favorite thing about
Zurich you like to share with visitors?
I love how compact and manageable our city is.
It’s a true walking city. Unlike a huge world capital
like Paris or New York, where getting from one area
of interest to another can take quite a while, you can
walk between most of the interesting areas here. It
makes Zurich a great destination for a three- or
four-day trip, because you can hit all the highlights
and still feel you’ve had a relaxing getaway. As
you walk through the city, you’ll notice a system
of blue plaques that explains the historical significance
of various buildings. It’s quite interesting how
many important people have lived in Zurich at some
point. You’ll see that the writer Thomas Mann
lived here, as well as Lenin, and the composer Richard
Wagner. You’ll also notice a lot of historically
significant buildings: Zurich is where the Protestant
movement originated, so our Grossmunster cathedral
(Grossmunsterplatz. Tel: 41-44-252-59-49) is well worth
visiting; and the Fraumunster church has stained
glass windows designed by Marc Chagall. If you
want to learn more, Zurich Tourism (Stampfenbachstrasse
52. Tel: 41-44-215-40-00. http://www.zurich.com)
offers excellent guided walking tours, including routes
centered around particular topics like music, art, architecture,
and even famous crimes. We also have a superb streetcar
system and free public bicycles (http://www.zuerirollt.ch),
which are great for taking a ride along the lakeshore.
What are the best times to visit?
If you’re thinking about coming in the springtime,
you should try to make it for Sechselauten, which is
an only-in-Zurich kind of experience. It’s
the annual public ceremony of the historic Zurich
Guilds in late April to symbolize the end of wintertime.
A giant figure of a snowman built with paper and stuffed
with fireworks is burnt on a pyre in front of cheering
crowds: it’s quite fun to see and something that’s
very unique to foreigners. In autumn, we have a German-style
Oktoberfest, during which there’s always a specific
gay day, which is a great party. December is also a
nice time to visit, because the city invests in very
extensive Christmas decorations and really dresses things
up with twinkling lights and ornaments that add an extra
layer of charm to everything. In summer, of course,
Lake Zurich becomes the real heart of the city.
What can you tell us about life on
the lake?
First of all, everyone swims here, for exercise,
and just for fun. The water in the lake is incredibly
clean and the temperature is surprisingly warm in the
summer. Weekends are great for lakeside picnics, and
after sundown, some of the bigger dock swimming areas
are transformed into casual nightclubs and lounges with
low lighting and cool music; they provide a very unique
atmosphere and are one of the most enjoyable ways to
spend a warm evening in Zurich. Two of the best
are Barfuss Bar (Frauenbadi, Am Stadthausquai.
Tel: 41-44-211-95-92. http://www.barfussbar.ch)
and Rimini (Mannerbadi, Am Schanzengraben. Tel:
41-44-211-95-94. http://www.rimini.ch).
During daytime hours, Frauenbadi is only open to women
for bathing, and Männerbadi is only open to men,
but the evening clubs are open to everyone—men
and women, gay and straight. Every July and August we
also have an open-air movie theatre with the screen
set out in the lake and the audience sitting along the
shore (http://www.orangecinema.ch).
Is Zurich generally open-minded
about the LGBT community?
Definitely. Zurich is absolutely open: being
gay or lesbian is just not a head turner here. Two guys
or two women walking down the street holding hands is
not going to get any special attention. Zurich
is the gayest city in Switzerland and one of Europe’s
friendliest cities for the community. We’re also
looking forward to hosting EuroPride 2009 next
June (http://www.EuroPride.com).
What are some other gay events?
Warmer Mai (http://www.warmermai.ch)
is our annual gay pride month in May, with lots of activities
all over town. It should be even more eventful in 2009
because it leads right into EuroPride. Christopher
Street Day will be on May 31, with a parade and
an outdoor stage with international performers in the
West End (http://www.csdzurich.com).
We also have three very good annual circuit parties:
White Party in May, Folie au Lac, which is outdoors
in July, and Black Party in December (http://www.angels.ch).
Where is Zurich’s gay neighborhood?
There are a lot of gay spots centered around a
few streets in the Old Town area, which is easy
to find because it’s right in the midst of the
most popular tourist area. This neighborhood is home
to unusual boutiques, bars, and coffee shops on the
hillside along the Limmat River, which runs from the
lake through the center of Zurich. Cranberry
Bar (Metzergasse 3. Tel: 41-44-261-27-72. http://www.cranberry.ch)
is a popular gathering point with a very friendly multilingual
staff and extremely generous cocktails. Within a couple
blocks you’ll also find Lobby Bar (Spitalgasse
3. Tel: 41-44-251-27-25) and Rathaus Café
(Limmatquai 61. Tel: 41-44-261-07-70. http://www.rathauscafe.ch),
both of which have great outdoor terraces and straights
sprinkled among the gays. Another popular place is Barfusser
(Spitalgasse 14. Tel: 41-44-251-40-64. http://www.barfuesser.ch),
which recently remodeled, but has been open since the
1950s and is said to be the oldest continually operating
gay bar in Europe. There are also great roving parties
that take place in clubs that are generally mixed but
go gay on certain nights: JIM is among the best
(http://www.jimclub.com)
and Labyrinth Club is the best dance club for
hardcore party people (http://www.labyrinth.ch).
Visitors should also take a look at the up-to-date guide
information at ZüriGay (http://www.zuerigay.ch).
What are the must-visits for fans
of the performing arts in Zurich?
The Zurich Opera is one of the best opera
houses in Europe. Whether for world class ballet or
opera, the connoisseur will certainly enjoy a visit.
(Falkenstrasse 1. Tel: 41-44-268-64-00. http://www.opernhaus.ch).
Tonhalle, which is just a five-minute walk from
the Alden, is a concert hall that dates back to the
turn of the century and offers fantastic acoustics.
There are regular classical concerts held here (Claridenstrassen
7. Tel: 41-44-206-34-34. http://www.tonhalle-orchester.ch).
There are many small theatres in Zurich, but the
one that a true theatre lover should not miss is Schauspielhaus
(Zeltweg 5. Tel: 41-44-258-70-70. http://www.schauspielhaus.ch);
it features several stages, and in summer there is also
a festival that includes open-air theatre by the lake
(http://www.theaterspektakel.ch).
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