The hotels below have been grouped into four different pricing categories.
$$$$ (over SFr400 per night)
$$$ (SFr250 to SFr400 per night)
$$ (SFr150 to SFr250 per night)
$ (up to SFr150 per night)
The prices quoted are the starting prices for a double room, including VAT and service charge but excluding breakfast, unless otherwise stated.

Besides VAT, a compulsory 15% service charge is included in the cost of all hotel bills.

Hilton Zurich Airport
Located in the hills overlooking Glattburg, the Hilton Zurich Airport is just a five-minute free bus ride from the airport and 15 minutes from the city centre. All the air-conditioned rooms and suites have high-speed Internet access. The décor is high-class modern and the executive rooms have their own reception area and lounge. The Market Place restaurant offers excellent Swiss and international cuisine. The hotel's 22 function rooms can hold up to 250 people, and state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment is available. The hotel has a sauna, solarium and massage facilities.

Hohenbühlstrasse 10, Opfikon
Tel: (044) 828 5151.
Website: www.hilton.co.uk/zurichairport 
Price: $$

Swissôtel
One of the most convenient hotels for the Messe (trade fair centre) and the airport, the Swissôtel is also one of the best business hotels in the city's business district of Oerlikon. The convention facilities and seminar rooms all have excellent audiovisual systems (including video-conferencing), Internet access, and capacity for up to 1,000 people. Business rooms include dual-line telephones, voicemail, fax and Internet access. The hotel also features a rooftop spa with pool, sauna, solarium, steam bath, Jacuzzi, massage and exercise equipment, two excellent restaurants and a bar. There is also a complimentary shuttle bus to and from the airport.

Am Marktplatz, Oerlikon
Tel: (044) 317 3111.
Website: www.swissotel.com
Price: $$$

Baur au Lac
The city's finest hotel is situated in its own private park on the shores of Lake Zurich, at the beginning of the fashionable Bahnhofstrasse. The same family has owned the hotel since 1844. All 107 rooms and 18 suites are different, although all are furnished to a high standard. A rooftop gym offers great views of the lake and the Alps. Facilities include a business centre, beauty salon, wine shop and nightclub. During summer, meals (including breakfast) are served al fresco in the garden or in the glass pavilion beside the canal. In winter, they are served in the elegant Restaurant Français. The Rive Gauche offers informal meals, with a bar featuring a huge range of malt whisky.

Talstrasse 1
Tel: (044) 220 5020.
Website: www.bauraulac.ch
Price: $$$$

Hotel Eden au Lac
On the shores of Lake Zurich, a few steps from the Opera and a 10-minute walk from Bahnhofstrasse, the Eden au Lac maintains its position as one of the city's finest hotels. Constructed in art nouveau style in 1909, the hotel retains its old world charm while offering its guests all modern amenities and conveniences, including Wi-Fi. There are 56 5-star, air-conditioned and very comfortable rooms. The three elegant banqueting rooms can accommodate between two and 60 people. The French restaurant is famous for its hot hors d'oeuvres, one of the earliest dégustation menus developed by the Aga Khan III (1877-1957) during his wartime stay.

Utoquai 45
Tel: (044) 266 2525.
Website: www.edenaulac.ch
Price: $$$$

Bar Hôtel Seehof
Located close to the opera and the shores of Lake Zurich, this hotel is a favourite of both hip business travellers and opera singers. It was opened in 1999, in a 1930s townhouse, with a radically modernised interior consisting of minimalist white walls and varnished oak floors and shelves. It offers good value for money, although in some cases the bathrooms are rather small. Artwork and photographs by young Swiss artists decorate the walls and a bar with an excellent selection of wines adds to the charming atmosphere. Free Wi-Fi is available to guests.

Seehofstrasse 11
Tel: (01) 254 5757.
Website: www.hotelseehof.ch
Price: $$

The Central Plaza Hotel
Built in 1883 with an impressive period facade, the Central Plaza attracts a younger crowd nowadays, due to its excellent location on Central Square and Niederdorf. The 105 air-conditioned rooms and suites are fully soundproofed against the noise of the intersection; many have views of the River Limmat and all have modem points. Amenities include the lobby, a piano bar-cafe and the King's Cave restaurant. Neptun's Terrace Garden, a heated and rainproof barbecue restaurant with illuminated waterfalls is open in summer. During the Cold War, the piano bar was a favourite meeting place for spies. Special weekend and holiday room rates are available.

Central 1
Tel: (044) 256 5656.
Website: www.central.ch
Price: $$-$$$

Lady's First
Conceived in 1994 when eight women decided to create a hotel exclusively for women in a building once used as a finishing school for country girls, Lady's First is a boutique design hotel in an elegant 19th-century building in a quiet part of Zurich. The hotel is no longer, however, exclusively for women and men are welcome too. A joyous, exciting atmosphere characterises this establishment, which also offers its guests free Wi-Fi, a wellness centre (for women only) and a roof terrace. The 28 rooms are comfortable and well appointed.

Mainaustrasse 24
Tel: (044) 380 8010.
Website: www.ladysfirst.ch
Price: $$

Widder Hotel
The Widder is composed of eight adjoining medieval houses. One formerly belonged to the Butchers' (Widder) Guild, whose members still meet at the hotel for the mutton supper on Martinmass (11 November). The hotel is named after a 13th-century Augustinian monastery that used to exist here. The 42 individually decorated rooms and seven suites (four with private roof terraces) all show a clever combination of the old and new, with features including 17th-century frescoes and old wooden floors. The hotel restaurant offers excellent Swiss and vegetarian cuisine and the Widder Bar has long been an important jazz venue. Its 'Library of Spirits' offers more than 800 spirits from around the world, including several hundred single-malt whiskies.

Rennweg 7
Tel: (044) 224 2526.
Website: www.widderhotel.ch
Price: $$$$