How to Avoid the "tourist tax" (Expensive Accom.) in Switzerland?

[p--and--t]

Plenty of options are available. I should also point out that this is by no means a peak travel period for Switzerland which I would argue is more around the months of mid April to mid September. In any event, there are quite a few options in the $160-$200 AUD/night range. Whilst that is not as cheap as Australia (I can often stay at Sydney hotels for well under $100/night) it's not bad considering where you are staying. These are all Accor properties (my preferred choice whilst staying in Europe):

Budget

• ibis Styles St Margrethen Bodense - $991.07 for 6 nights ( $165/night). Located in the north of Switzerland (near St. Gallen), it's about an hour by train into Zurich Hb.
• ibis Winterthur City - $1053 for 6 nights ($175.50/night). About 30 minutes by train from the hotel to Zurich main station.
• ibis Luzern Kreins - $1165 for 6 nights ($194/night) - I've stayed here personally last year. Ensure you select a view of the Pilatus mountains, it's quite nice (see my review).

Midscale/Luxury

• Movenpick Zurich Regensdorf - $1523.90 ($253/night) - I've stayed here personally back in 2012. It's a nice upscale hotel that's about 30 minutes from Zurich Hb by train.
• Novotel Suites Geneve Aeroport - $1495.90 for 6 nights ($249/night). Located near Geneva airport but a 20 minute tram ride into Geneva. One of the benefits I could see of staying here is the proximity to France. And from Geneva it's quite easy to get around Switzerland by rail too!
• Résidence Studio Genève Centre - $1569 for 6 nights ( $261/night). Located in the heart of Geneva, this is a apartment hotel which means you'll have many of the amenities of staying in an Airbnb like a kitchenette.

If you do go with Accor, you'll want to look at one of their membership programs like ALL Plus ibis (99 Euros annually) that gives 15% discount on ibis stays globally or All Plus Voyageur (200 Euros annually) that will give you a 20% off luxury brands, and 15% discount on economy (i.e. ibis) and midscale brands (i.e. Mercure). So those will be discounts on top of whatever I already quoted.


Quite a few options here. From Accor, there is the Movenpick Zurich Airport (I stayed there last year it's about a 5 minute walk to the tram station which goes directly to the airport) for $215 AUD/night. The nearest hotel is the Hyatt Place Circle and comes recommended from a colleague who travels frequently to Zurich and whose opinion I trust, and that costs 165 CHF/night ($293 AUD/night).

-RooFlyer88

Wow thanks. Gives a lot to think about.