"My wife and I spent 15 days touring Switzerland via Copenhagen the first two weeks of October 2025. Our trip started in Copenhagen and ended in Copenhagen. For the Swiss portions of our trip, we went to Zürich, Grindelwald, Zermatt, and finally Montreux. Every place was stunning, making for a great trip.
In each city, we stayed at hotels that have been rated as 5 Star properties from various sites.
In Zürich, we stayed at the Widder Hotel, in Grindelwald-the Hotel Belvedere (a 4 star, but really a 4.5)-it was Great!, in Zermatt- The Cervo Mountain(Last place) and finally in Montreux - the Fairmont Montreux(just ok)
Both times in Copenhagen we stayed at the Nimb Hotel. The best by the way!!
I provide this to give context for my review about The Widder compared to this peer group of highly rated hotels.
We ranked the Widder 3rd within this group. We stayed 2 nights.
Location: 5 out of 5.
The hotel itself is in the Old Town section of Zurich with plenty of shops and restaurants. The location was great, a good jumping point for touring Zurich.
Room: 3.75 out of 5.
The rooms in this hotel are unique and ours was good with exposed beams and was a decent size. It overlooked the street, which was nice. It was dark though even with the curtains open.
The hotel provided a nice welcome gift which we appreciated.
The bathroom was OK, compared to the other hotels, not the best. The shower has one of those half glass walls rather than being fully enclosed. Not a fan, as things can get a bit messy if you take showers. Not sure why they are still around in many of the hotels because it must be a pain for housekeeping.
Fitness Center: 2 out of 5
I work out each day and was underwhelmed by the Fitness Center. Limited free weights and funky (useless) multi muscle group exercise machines that utilize rubber band like mechanisms
Service and Staff:
The door people and front desk welcoming and friendly. 5 out of 5.
Breakfast: 5 out of 5.
Was in two charming rooms. The staff were friendly and attentive.
There was a nice collection of pastries, fruit etc. and good menu offerings.
Concierge: 3 out of 5
The concierge was just ok. Each time we engaged with the concierge, 2 different people at 2 different times. They seemed distracted and rushed as if we were bothering them. They were simple requests. One of the suggestions sent us on a wild goose chase to the train station. So that was annoying.
Restaurant: 1 out of 5
After a morning touring the city, we came back to the hotel and went into the restaurant, entering the restaurant via hotel lobby, to see if we could get a table and grab a bite. The restaurant was busy.
The host Brusquely said to us “I won't be able to seat you for an hour outside” ….No greeting, no, how may help you etc. He then saw I had a room key and said” I’ll have the receptionist call you” then walked off.
How are they going to call if they don’t know who to call? We didn’t even want to sit outside (it looked like rain btw) but he didn’t ask or care.
We just looked at each other and said what that was about. Surprisingly rude.
Bar: 5 out of 5. We went back into the lobby and decided to try the bar. Good call. The Service was great and the food was tasty. We had a nice seat along the window where we could watch the people caught in the rain ;-). The bar seemed to be the place to be at night as well.
We dined elsewhere after that and never went back to the restaurant.
Final rating 3.5 out of 5.
Conclusion: The location was great and the room was good, but we just didn’t get the kind of personal touch from the Widder that we received at the other top hotels we stayed at on this trip and for that matter on other trips. That was disappointing.
When back in Zurich we will probably try another Hotel."
