CHOOSING FAMILY ACCOMMODATIONS IN EUROPE . PART 2. City Life with a Character.

In Part 1 of  Where We Stayed on our European Road trip last summer I shared our countryside Aparthotels “finds” in Ettal, Germany and Ribeauville, France.  If you are stuck trying to choose between apartment and hotel conveniences, aparthotels offer the best of “both” worlds and we were very happy with our aparthotel country stays. For our shorter city stays in Zurich, Switzerland and Baden-Baden, Germany, we have chosen small city hotels in the city centers.  While we had less space than in aparthotels, we did not sacrifice in the character!

WHERE WE STAYED IN ZURICH

For our stay in Zurich, Switzerland, we followed recommendation of Visit Zurich (official Tourism Office of the city of Zurich) and stayed in Hotel Leoneck right in the city center. Hotel Leoneck on Leonhardstrasse is a small hotel located within a 10 minute walk (5 minute tram ride) from the Main Train Station and Swiss National Museum. Our 24 hours in the city included a walking tour that started from the Train Station and a visit to Swiss Museum so this location was perfect for us.

Normally, I stay away from the train station area when choosing European accommodations (as it is usually not the safest or cleanest area in a city.) Zurich’s Train Station is the most attractive one I have seen in Europe.  (It is so clean, it hosts farm festivals right inside; there was one during our stay!)

 

The Bahnhofstrasse street leading to the Train Station does not sound all that glamorous when translated into other languages (“Привокзальная” in Russian or “Station Street” in English, for example).  In Zurich, the “station street” is a  a fashionable shopping street connecting Lake Zurich with the Main Train Station.

Zurich is famously not budget-friendly, but with singles starting at 120 CHF (CHF 300+ for family room;) Hotel Leoneck might be your best budget find in the city center.

We stayed in an air conditioned Family Room which is actually two double rooms with an “inside” connecting door.

Second room of the family suite: notice cow-style upholstered chair.

 

 

The furniture inside the room was attractive and comfortable but  it was quirky modern art decorations- both in our room and in the public spaces that made our stay in Hotel Leoneck truly unique.

 

We parked in the garage under the hotel for additional CHF25.  Buffet breakfast in the Crazy Cow café inside the hotel was included, but it was not the highlight of our stay.

WHERE WE STAYED IN BADEN-BADEN

In spa town of Baden-Baden, Germany we also followed advice of Official City of Baden-Baden Travel Office and stayed in a very reasonably priced Hotel Magnetberg (singles under $100 including breakfast).

Hotel Magnetberg is positioned in the center of town, a 7-10 minute walk from the central Leopold Square and the town’s famous public spas Caracalla-Thermae and  Friedrichsbad.  I do have to warn you that a walk back to the hotel is an up walk and much less pleasant (especially, after soaking in the spa!). That difficulty is overly compensated for by the magnificent views over the Black Forrest and the mountains from the hotel’s terrace.

I love to take my morning coffee “with the view”, and Hotel Magnetberg delivered a distinctively “spa” character to its vistas.

 

There were no rooms to accommodate the 4 of us (as is often the case with European hotels) so we booked a double room (with a pull out coach for our daughter) and a single for our 16-year old.  The rooms were large and squeaky clean, with inviting modern furnishing.

 

Our room in Hotel Magnetberg was the most “homey” hotel room we have ever stayed in.  There were even books on the shelf.

 

A dining room off the main lobby serves decent locally flavored breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is a (free) on site parking.

 

We would like to thank Visit Zurich and City of Baden-Baden Travel Office for helping to arrange  discounted media accommodations for our family in their respective cities.  This article contains affiliate links to a hotel booking site.  Clicking (and booking) on these links will not cost you any extra.

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