Hi everyone.

So my boyfriend and I are hoping to have a little weekend trip away somewhere in Switzerland in October and I was wondering if anyone can recommend any 'unusual' or themed hotels? By unusual I mean things like Tree House hotels, themed hotels (saw a brilliant one in germany based on crime authors and their stories) - anything out of the ordinary?

Thanks!

There is a Sherlock Holmes hotel near Meiringen in Canton Bern.

The whole village is full of the stuff

I did see something about that somewhere online. Being a huge Sherlock fan that's something I'd love to see if it's half decent.

Do you know if it's worth a visit?

How about a Jail hotel in Luzern?

There is the Bellvue at Kleine Scheidegg if you want historical splendour

Actually, I'm not sure how much the hotel is themed other than the name. Check it out.

If the hotel isn't good enough then the visit to Reichenbach Falls should be good enough for any Sherlock fan.

Also,

http://www.haslital.ch/en/page.cfm/E...ockHolmes/2468
http://www.haslital.ch/en/page.cfm/E...ckHolmes/14701

I was intrigued by this tree house hotel outside of Neuchatel when I first heard about it.

What about the Zero Star Hotel ?

Or the south of Switzerland, Hotel Dellago?

The Zeithotel?

Auberge aux 4 Vents in Fribourg.

It requires a bit of effort to get there, but you may want to consider the Cabana Margerita: at 4554m it's the highest hut in Europe.

http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/display/23635116

It's on the Summit of the Signalkuppe. The rockface you can see on the pic (above which is the balcony) drops down straight, roughly 2.000m. Visible from afar in Italy.

You better be well acclimatised if you intend to actually spend the night there (and expect to actually sleep, rather than suffer headaches). It's great though to arrive in a warm hut after a day out on the glacier, tired, thirsty, hungry, and happy to just have a warm place to sleep. Luxurious things like warm showers all of a sudden seem much less important then (not that they have a shower of course).

The Zero Star Hotel closed down last year.

I tried that when i went to luzern last year but they didnt answer the phone. I guess it closed down

Fribourg rocks--a wonderful, romantic city with a surprising amount of good gigs and other things going on and I cannot let an opportunity pass to give it a shameless plug. Quatre Vents is iconic, as is their Sunday brunch. I love the "Bleue" room with the bathtub moving on rails to the outside.

I'll never, ever get married again, but if I did I would want to have my honeymoon in that room

Mongolian Yurts above montreux in the mountains
http://www.montreux-vevey.com/en/acc...modation/yurts

Thanks for all your suggestions everyone! We're trawling through all off your suggestions to see if there's anything we fancy.

I'll report back from wherever we decide to go...

Here is another option: Kurhaus Bergün has just been awarded 'Historic Hotel of the Year 2012 for Switzerland'

Here are some other historic hotels:

For later on, a bookmark hotel in Zurich (opening in March 2012) embedded in the former Hürlimann brewery.
http://www.bookmarkhotels.ch/hotels/e/b2-boutique/

if it is indeed still open ( someone suggested it might be closed ) .... I would avoid it at all costs... mrs. and I stayed there about 5 years ago and the rooms while former prison cells were actually smaller than prison cells as we "modern" guests had the privilege of a tiny shower cubicle built into the room and a cafe style table that folded against the wall.. and you had to make sure that was folded down when you wanted to get into bed futon


for staying in Luzern I would recommend this

http://www.magic-hotel.ch/index.asp

Maybe not quite the place for a romantic weekend away, but included here for the sake of completeness, there is always the Leoneck Hotel in Zurich, aka the Cow Hotel.



At the very least, it would give you the chance to make some exceptionally poor jokes.* Like suggesting a couple's moo-ssage. Or going down to reception and asking how to work the heating...because "I'm Friesian."

I realise that the steaks are always high when planning a weekend like this. You'd be udderly foolish not to consider all your options.

I could continue this all day, but I'd butter not. I'm milking it enough as it is. I'll stop now before I get in trouble with a moo-derator.

* while this sounds like the ideal way to spend a weekend to me, it may not appeal to everyone. My wife, for example.

There's loads of farms and monasteries you can stay in... although definition of 'dirty weekend' will be completely different for both.

There's Hotel Ryokan in Widen...
http://www.booking.com/hotel/ch/rest...tml?aid=306176

The Igloo village in Engelberg
http://www.iglu-dorf.com/index.php/e...engelberg.html

You can stay in a small hamlet in Valais (http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/acco...in-ossona.html)

But my favourite is just a few miles up the road from me...
You could stay in a Wine Barrel in Trasingen.
http://theblendblog.com/wordpress/?p=401
Can't find an awful lot about that so not sure if they still do it - seen it on BBC World News and CNN though this summer

This place is the 5* of tree houses! We visited it after staying in the tree house in Saignelégier (they also have Teepees and a Jurten!) and I was quite impressed! It had indoor plumbing and a functioning kitchen and a Swedish oven!

There is also another tree house in Madrisa- Land, GR (www.madrisa-land.ch) that looks really cool too!



Other funky places to stay are:

The Tube hotel: www.swisstubes.ch

Wine Fass hotel: www.fasshotel.ch

Military Bunker hotel: www.festung-vitznau.ch

Sleeping on an island at Insel Lützelau, SZ: www.insel-luetzelau.ch

Sleeping in a corn field: www.wasserundbrot.ch or www.mais-hotel.ch

Sleeping in a tent that hangs from a tree: www.bivoucdanslesabres.ch