Dolder Grand


The Dolder Grand is a 5 star superior hotel in the Swiss city of Zürich. It is located on Adlisberg hill, some from, and above, the city centre. Built in 1899, the hotel spreads out over and offers 173 rooms and suites, two restaurants, a bar, 13 conference rooms and a spa.
The hotel is connected to central Zurich by road, and by the Dolderbahn rack railway, which has its upper terminus next to the hotel complex.

History

The Dolder Grand Hotel & Curhaus was built between 1897 and 1899, to a design by the architect for the restauranter Heinrich Hürlimann. Hürlimann had previously developed the nearby Dolder Waldhaus hotel, also designed by Gros, and the Dolderbahn to serve it. The Dolder Grand opened on 10 May 1899, and was extended in 1924 and 1964.
In 2001, Urs Schwarzenbach became the majority shareholder, and in 2004 the hotel closed for an extensive renovation, reopening on April 3, 2008. The renovation and enlargement were led by Norman Foster and cost SFr 440 million. The restoration maintained the original appearance from 1899, and all the extensions added after that date were demolished. Two new wings were added, adjacent to the old building, whilst two additional floors were added below the existing building.
Before the hotel opened for guests, it had free open days when the public could visit the hotel on predefined paths. The people were waiting up to an hour to enter the new rooms.
On March 29, 2019, Dolder Hotel AG announced that Dolder Grand guests could pay their bills with Bitcoin as of May 1, making it the first Swiss luxury hotel to accept the cryptocurrency as payment. The hotel struck a deal with blockchain technology company Inacta AG to use its Inapay app, which converts Bitcoin into Swiss francs, thereby eliminating any currency risk for the hotel.