Deals on Luxury Hotels of Germany, Austria & Switzerland

Several years of a feeble dollar sent most North American travelers toward more affordable, often less luxurious, hotels. But now that a lack of demand has hotels everywhere slashing prices, is it time to start thinking about the occasional five-star splurge? Before we try to answer that question, let’s define terms. There are five-star hotels, and there are five-star hotels. For example, though European hotels such as Marriott (and I’m a Marriott fan) and Intercontinental are rated five-star, they are not “grand” hotels. Hotel classification is usually done by a country’s hotel association or tourist authority. The star rating is determined by the level of services offered—a five-star may have to have 24-hour room service, doormen, elaborate spas, fitness facilities, and a variety of other amenities. More stars does not necessarily signify quality, and the classification is not subjective. In other words no matter how much the assigner of stars likes a hotel, if there’s no 24-hour room service, a five-star rating isn’t in the cards. There are three-star hotels in the countries we cover whose staff services and spacious, luxurious guestroooms are better than at many five-stars, such hotels just don’t offer the same range of facilities.

The five-stars I’m talking about are the truly “grand” hotels; the “old-world” temples of aristocracy and old money; of soaring public rooms, great art, masses of fresh flowers, formal gardens, unflappable staffs with decades of experience, and of thin, elderly women carrying small dogs. In the 23 years of publishing this newsletter we’ve been fortunate to lay our heads on the pillows of most of the best hotels in our three countries—among them Baden-Baden’s Brenner’s Park, Zürich’s Dolder Grand, the Sacher in Vienna, the Bayerischerhof in Munich, Le Montreux Palace, Interlaken’s Victoria Jungfrau, and Le Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne. Until a few years ago, three or four nights each trip at a “grand” was a usual part of our itinerary. Then two things happened: you told us you don’t stay in five-star hotels, and prices at top-level hotels skyrocketed. Though I’ve done no definitive research on this, my sense is the “grands” are much more expensive in relation to ordinary hotels than they used to be. For example, in 1998 one could book a double room at Munich’s Bayerischer Hof for $190. The fine little Hotel Exquisit, a four-star, was $121. Today, you can get a double room at the Exquisit for about $193 but the Bayerischer Hof has jumped to $588 (though I did see a last-minute “deal” for $504). In 1998 there was a 57-percent premium to stay at the Bayerischer Hof versus the Exquisit. Today it’s three times as much. In 1993, Interlaken’s Victoria-Jungfrau had double rooms for just over $200. If you try to book it on Orbitz now, the quote is a tidy $744, though I found a price at the VJ’s website for CHF 400, or about $352, not bad for a “grand.”