StarMegaDO4-18 Hours In Zurich, Park Hyatt Zurich

Still trying to catch up on MegaDO posts.  Here’s a list of previous posts:

StarMegaDO4:  Getting Under Way

StarMegaDO4: Sheraton Gateway LAX Review

StarMegaDO4: Lufthansa LAX-FRA Departure And Star Alliance Lounge

StarMegaDO4: LAX-FRA On a Lufthansa 747-400

StarMegaDO4:  Media Roundtable With Jeff Zidell and Other Hyatt Execs

StarMegaDO4-Frankfurt Lufthansa Welcome Reception

After a very quick flight from Frankfurt to Zurich (where we got chocolate both while boarding and upon arrival in Zurich, nice) we were on our way to the Park Hyatt Zurich.  I’d heard from fellow travelers that the Park Hyatt Zurich was an elite property, in the same category as the Park Hyatt Tokyo, my current favorite international property.

I had a standard room, which was pretty impressive.  There was an amenity waiting upon arrival next to the mini bar in the entryway.  Just beyond lay the bedroom.  The first thing I noticed was the lighting gave the room a very warm feeling.  The bed was very comfortable and had lighting controls for the room conveniently placed at the nightstand.  The desk was set up fine for work, and there was even a small portal to open next to the window to get fresh air in the room.  The bathroom was spacious with both a rain shower and a deep tub.  It opened up into the bedroom a la the Park Hyatt Chicago, giving the whole room a bit more of a spacious feel.  It also had one of my favorite amenities, a heated towel rack.  A warm towel after a shower is pretty awesome.  This was certainly one of the most well-appointed standard rooms I’ve ever stayed in.

As part of the MegaDO, the Park Hyatt had prepared a wonderful feast for us.  One of the great things about traveling outside the US is that the cheeses in other parts of the world are usually far superior to cheese we can get in the US.  It’s not just that we can’t make great cheese, we also have more stringent regulations about unpasteurized cheese being imported from outside our borders.

Cheese was the main focus of our event and it didn’t disappoint.  There were two huge tables of cheese and two masters of cheese to advise and serve.  As a self-avowed lover of meets and cheese, this event was heaven for me.  Accompanied by a glass or three of some wonderful sparkling wine, I went to work.  Though I don’t recall the names of any of the various cheeses, I do know there wasn’t much I didn’t enjoy.  Two of my favorites were a 30-year old Swiss cheese that had a nutty flavor and resembled Reggiano in texture as well as a blue cheese that looked like it had a fur coat on the outside.  It was pungent and smooth, almost a perfect blue.

Though we didn’t have much time at the hotel, I did manage to grab a few shots of the public spaces.  The lobby area also served as our breakfast area the morning of departure.  I was on an earlier flight then the rest of our group so a sit-down breakfast was not in the cards.  The variety of food looked very attractive, though.  I wished i had time to partake.  The restaurant itself was very modern looking.  Though I didn’t have dinner there during our short stay, I’d most certainly try it on a return trip based on the quality of the food and service we received.

Bottom line, Park Hyatt Zurich is the hotel I would patronize when returning to Zurich.  While there are  other properties in Zurich that cater to the high-end market, everything at the Park Hyatt was so flawless it wouldn’t be worth trying another hotel to find out whether their level of hospitality can be matched in Zurich.