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The hotel I’m going to share with you today is the Novotel Zurich Airport Messe, a hotel near the airport in Zurich. I chose this hotel for the first night of my trip to Switzerland. With parking, nice breakfast, and close proximity to Zurich Airport, it was the perfect place to start my first trip to Switzerland.

Novotel Zurich Airport Messe Hotel

1. Novotel Zurich Airport Messe Location

The Novotel Zurich Airport Messe, as the name suggests, is located close to Zurich Airport. It’s not a long walk, but you can get there in about 10 minutes on the tram that runs between the airport and the hotel. I picked up my rental car at Zurich Airport and went straight to the hotel. It was also about a 10 minute drive.

It’s not close to Zurich Airport, but it’s quite a distance to downtown Zurich, where the main tourist attractions are located. You can take the same tram as the airport, but it takes about 30 minutes.

2. Hotel Counter

  • Check-in / check-out times – 15:00 to 12:00.

The check-in lobby is located directly on the ground floor of the building. The staff spoke good English and was very friendly, so I had no problem checking in.

Novotel Zurich Airport Messe Hotel Counter

I was traveling in a group of 3, so I found a room that could accommodate 3 people. The cost of the reservation was $220 per night for 3 people on a Saturday, including breakfast.

You also have to pay a city tax everywhere, including Switzerland, and we paid 2.5 francs per person for a total of 7.5 francs.

Note: When we checked in, the person checking in was outside of us, so we were able to proceed at a leisurely pace. When we went down later to move our luggage from the car, there was a large group of people checking in at once, which made it very complicated. There are also three elevators, but I had to wait in line to get to them, which was a bit of a hassle, probably due to people traveling on a package deal.

3. Free parking

A big reason I booked this hotel was the free parking. The parking lot itself was convenient, with a large lot right in front of the hotel. The lot was gated and you had to swipe a ticket to get in.

When I booked the hotel, I realized that parking was 20 francs per day, so I thought I would pay for it.

When I checked in, I asked about the parking fee, and they told me that Novotel is an Accor hotel, and if I signed up for Accor membership, I could park for free.

So I immediately got the address and signed up for Accor, and I was able to park for free, which made me realize how lucky I was, because I’ve been paying the evil parking fees for the rest of my travels in Switzerland.

For parking, you give the attendant the ticket you get when you enter and they give you a ticket that allows you to come and go from the parking lot freely for 24 hours, so I don’t think you’ll have to worry about parking when you’re out and about with your car.

4. Novotel Zurich Airport Messe Hotel Room Condition

My family booked a room for 3 people, a Superior Room with 1 Queen-Size Bed and Sofa Bed.

Novotel Zurich Airport Messe Hotel Room

The room itself wasn’t very spacious, but it was clean and comfortable enough to get through the night.

The room also had plenty of water, both sparkling and regular bottled water, which was nice.

When I walked into the room, the sofa bed had already been rolled out into a bed and the bedding was set up nicely.

The room view was just a view of the next building.

5. Nearby grocery store

It was evening when I arrived in Switzerland, and I wasn’t hungry because I had eaten on the plane from Incheon to Switzerland, so I decided to just have a quick bite to eat and sleep. I looked around to see if there was a supermarket nearby, and there was a Coop Mart about a 10-minute walk away.

The Swiss grocery store closes early, so I made a quick trip there and picked up some water and fruit to drink and eat on the road.

6. Breakfast.

  • Weekdays 06:00 to 10:00
  • Weekends 06:00 to 11:00

Because restaurants in Europe are so expensive, it’s often a good idea to include breakfast with your accommodation booking, both in terms of price and convenience, so we made sure to include breakfast at any restaurant that offered it.

We went down relatively early and ate our meal, which included bread, fruit, salad, yogurt, and hot food like fried rice.

There were some dishes like fried potatoes, which we all enjoyed because the potatoes themselves were delicious.

I didn’t have high expectations for the breakfast because I booked a relatively inexpensive hotel, but I was surprisingly satisfied with the breakfast. I didn’t experience many hotels on this trip, but I realized afterwards that the breakfast here was okay, because many hotels only offer bread or salad at breakfast, and there is no hot food.

7. Hotel reservations and pricing

I booked a room for 3 people on a weekday for about $250 including breakfast. I was satisfied that I could solve parking and breakfast at a low price in Switzerland, where accommodation is expensive.
The price of the hotel may vary depending on the number of people using the hotel, so please check the price through the link below.

>> Check Out Hotel Rates at Agoda.com
>> Check Out Hotel Rates at Booking.com


So there you have it, my first night in Zurich, Switzerland, and I found the Novotel Zurich Airport Messe hotel to be a great value for money in an expensive city, with a great parking and breakfast. It’s a great place to stay if you’re starting or ending your trip at Zurich Airport.

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