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Savoy (Baur en Ville)

This is Zurich's oldest grand hotel. When it opened on December 24, 1838, it marked a milestone in the history of the hotel industry.

In 1837, Johannes Baur (pic) had bought the building, which had previously served as a rectory. It was situated next to the city's most important new post station.

The situation at the time is best described by Murray's first guidebook of Switzerland (1837):
ZURICH-Inns: Schwert (Epée)-overlooking the Limmat, close to the broad wooden bridge which serves as a market-place;-expensive, and neither very good nor clean.
Beds, 3 fr.; dinner, table d'hote, 3 fr.- in private, & fr.; tea and breakfast, 2 fr.-Raabe (Corbeau);-Storch (Cycogne). (Table d'hote, with wine, 2 fr. 8 sous; bed, 2 fr.; breakfast, 1 fr. 4 sous.
The inns at Zurich are notoriously dirty, high priced and ill attended: they have hitherto enjoyed a monopoly, and there has been no inducement to improve. But at this time (1837) two large new inns are building--one near the outlet of the Limmat from the lake, on the rt. bank of the river; the other near the new post-office.

The one near the post office – that was Baur's first hotel! Together with his wife Anna Knechtli, Baur converted the house into a hotel until 1838 according to the plans of the architect Daniel Pfister. On 24 December 1838, 43-years old Johannes Baur opened the Baur en Ville, a huge guesthouse in the heart of the Swiss city of Zurich — the "first actual hotel" of the city. At that time, it comprised 140 beds and stables for 36-40 horses. Various techical features were "firsts" in the industry, such as speaking tubes and an orangerie-roofgarden, beating the dusty streets of the still developing city.

The HOTEL BAUR  boasted “one dining room, two parlours for dinner and déjeuner â part as well as manger à la carte, 10 more rooms, 140 beds, stables for 36-40 horses and a barn down by the river, fitting 50 more horses.”

By 1844, Baur opened his second enterprise, the Baur au Lac (Baur at the Lake), which to this day, is still among Zurich's leading hotels. The original Baur in the city later adoped the second name "Savoy" and was for a long time called SAVOY BAUR EN VILLE. In 2023, it came under the wings of the Mandarin Oriental Group and is now called Savoy Mandarin Oriental Zurich.

1838: 

On 24 December 1838, a well established Zurich baker who originated from Vorarlberg, Austria, called Johannes Baur (*1795), opened the Baur en Ville. 
The Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung called it a «Riesengasthof» (huge guesthouse),

A «Riesengasthof» boasting “one dining room, two parlours for dinner and déjeuner â part as well as manger à la carte, 10 more rooms, 140 beds, stables for 36-40 horses and a barn down by the river, fitting 50 more horses.”

In 1907, Jakob Schwarz, the fomer manager, hired Pfleghard & Haefeli for the reconstruction and extension of the hotel. No, a total number of 170 guest rooms were opened on June 13th, 1908. 
The leading and oldest Zurich newspaper, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, wrote: «The old Baur en Ville, which everyone in Zurich always loved, re-opened rejuvenated and beautified. It will remain an important part of the hotel industry in Zurich and Switzerland and it will prove again its international reputation. »

Trivia: Since 1923, the Savoy Baur en Ville has been home of the guild of tanners and shoemakers. The guild was formed in 1336, and in 1877 shoemakers and tanners joined forces. The guild is all about leather work, shoemaking and repair. The guild celebrated their first “Rechenmahl”, a big festive dinner after an assembly, in the Zurich hotel on November 28th, 1924.

From 1975 to 1978 the hotel closed because of reconstruction works. The façade was carefully removed, so they could place it where it historically belonged. Restaurant Orsini and Chäs-Vreneli were fully rebuilt. 

On the 31 March 1978, after exactly 26 months, the new Savoy Baur en Ville, a 5-star hotel in Zurich, opened its doors again. 
It now holds 104 rooms and suites and several function rooms. 
Around 170 employees take care of the guests every day.
In 2020, the Asian luxury hotel group Mandarin Oriental was  announced as the new management company by the owning company CS, Credit Suisse.

Franz Liszt

Charles Dickens

Clara Schumann

Richard Wagner

...

Johannes Baur
Heinrich Brunner
Jakob Lassmann
From 1985, Christina and Manfred Hörger managed the hotel. Manfred Hörger died in 2015 and in 2017 Christina Hörger handed over the management to Werner Knechtli († 2022) 
Appointed manager: Rolf E. Brönnimann

104 Rooms

Brasserie and Bar

Orsini-Italian Restaurant

Fitness Studio 

Google Map

Our Select Member Hotel

Savoy (Baur en Ville)
Country: Switzerland
City: Zurich
Opening date: 1838
First owner/Manager: Johannes Baur

Note from the Host

General Manager

Mark Bradford (General Manager)

Kai Jansen (Hotel Manager)


Hotel Manager: Kai Jansen
Concierge: Berkan Caglar

Coordinates

Paradeplatz
8022 Switzerland, Zurich

Tel: +41 1 215 25 25

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