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I wanted to come back to Zurich for very long time and finally we managed on our way to Umrah this Ramadan . I had visited Zurich on a long layover 7 years ago when I was still a student returning to the UK from Greece. I think it was then that I developed my love for long layovers. The ability to see more and pay less; especially on a student budget. 🙂
We were staying overnight in Zurich and due to a one hour delay of our British Airways flights we arrived at 6pm instead of 5pm. Still I am so happy I had booked the Radisson Blu Zurich Airport hotel since it would have taken us longer to arrive at the hotel and less time to explore the city.
Sometimes I try to book the cheapest option which is not always the most convenient. Thankfully I have my husband to talk sense into me. 🙂 No wonder I spent my student years sleeping on airport benches thinking I am saving money when in reality I think I used to spend more.
The Radisson hotel is a short walk between the terminals and you don’t even have to go out; it is also 5 minutes to the train station taking you directly into Zurich city centre.
I booked the hotel with cash and points for 20,000 points and £86 instead of the £150 a night in full price. Since I had plenty of Club Carlson points I didn’t mind spending a few thousands. The hotel is very nice and we were upgraded to a Business room with free breakfast and free soft drinks from the minibar as I am a Gold member. Thanks to a free link I found about a year ago!
Check in was efficient and the lady was very polite; she even spent some time with us giving insights into where we should go on our visit to Zurich city centre.
The room had an airport view and a floor to ceiling window. In my opinion there is something calming about seeing airplanes take off and land.
There was plenty of space in the room with a desk and a wardrobe. I assume more people spend only a night in an airport hotel so for this it was great.
The bathroom was large as well with plenty of space. One thing that I am not very keen on and I see many hotels starting to do this is to have a window as a wall for the bathrooms. Most of the time there is not much privacy and you can see someone in there. It is definitely not my cup of tea and if I had a choice I would avoid these hotels.
Breakfast was great and there was plenty of choice. We even had the chef who was Turkish telling us what is halal for us to eat. 🙂 It was a very nice gesture and good to see fellow Muslims trying to help. Though I am not very sure how family friendly are all the ladies on the back wall. 😉
One thing I love about the hotel is how close it was to the terminals as it took us 20 minutes from our room to check out and get to terminal 1 to check in for our flight.
Overall this is a lovely property with easy access to the airport for an early flight as well as convenience for a few hours spent in the city. I am so happy I booked this and not some other options that required walking or a bus to get there. Even staying in the city centre would be hassle with bags and train and a morning flight. So this hotel is at an excellent location.