As we start plotting our travel adventures for next year, one place firmly on our list of go-to European city break destinations is Zurich. Why? Aside from the opening of the super slick new Marktgasse Hotel, the city is gearing up for a year of lively events guaranteeing a culture fix for arty travellers.
Culture Hit
2016 marks a very important year culturally for Zurich. The Centenary of Dadaism kicks off on the 5 February, with 165 days of celebrations planned at the infamous Cabaret Voltaire, where this unique artistic movement started all those years ago. In June, the bi-annual arts festival Manifesta curated by Christian Jankowski will also take place, with 35 productions exhibited across the city over 100 days at various locations across the city including the ‘Pavilion of Reflections’, a floating island on Lake Zurich complete with open-air cinema and integrated swimming pool, erected especially for the Manifesta.
Heritage Conservation & Marktgasse Revival
Unveiled last month, the Marktgasse is a 39-room design hotel housed in one of the city’s oldest buildings dating back to 1291. Tastefully mixing the old and the new, the hotel’s contemporary forward-thinking design concept and refreshing approach to relaxed luxury hails a new direction for the city’s hotel scene. Protected elements like stucco work, wall panelling and century-old columns have been meticulously preserved in respect to the building’s heritage whose owner, Beat Curti, has successfully injected new life into regenerating the historic area around the hotel through the introduction of innovative retail, gastronomic, hotel and residential outlets.
Bistro chic and all-day dining
The hotel’s signature brasserie style restaurant, Baltho, has a deliberately pared down menu offering newly interpreted international classics and seasonal surprises throughout the day, with the menu changing weekly. The adjoining Baltho Bar is a lively artisanal-style bar draped in rich dark greens and deep woods, with its own street entrance attracting local trendies to meet for an aperitif or casual meal. Downstairs, the hotel’s second eatery Delish introduces an all-day healthy delicatessen style café. A variety of affordable breakfast options, delicious coffee and juices, hearty appetizers and inventive salads mean it is a buzz with guests and locals alike.
Rates at the Marktgasse Hotel start from CHF 274 per room per night based on two sharing.
For more information, visit http://www.marktgassehotel.ch/en/
You can find the Marktgasse Hotel on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
