The Four Points Sheraton at Sihlcity (in Zurich) was one of my more odd – but very nice – hotel choices in recent months. The suite I had was excellent, but…it wasn’t anywhere near the city center.
A full review of my 2 night stay at the Four Points by Sheraton in Sihlcity (Zurich)
There’s just something about the city of Zurich that I couldn’t quite understand from the vantage point of Google Maps, and I found myself feeling as paralyzed as I tried to make a hotel choice.
I generally prefer to stay in the heart of the city so that I’m free to walk around and see all the sites without having to use public transportation all the time.
Unfortunately, Zurich is spread out in a way that I couldn’t really determine where the center was, which made it really difficult to make a decision on where exactly I wanted to stay.
Finally, in a weak moment of defeat and disgust, I chose the Bonvoy property that had the best deal going on at the time: the Four Points Sheraton at Sihlcity. How bad could it really be with a cool name like that?
Location
Location map of the Four Points Sheraton Zurich (Sihlcity). It doesn’t look very far away from the center part of town does it? Well, it is. Make sure your Uber app is working correctly before you come here, because you’re going to need it!
Unfortunately, I discovered within minutes of arrival that the location of this hotel isn’t ideal for someone who is looking to stay where everything is within walking distance.
It’s in a perfectly nice neighborhood, with lots of beautiful architecture and walking paths, but kind of far from where all the action is. I had to take an Uber or a taxi to get anywhere, which was inconvenient to say the least. That being said, what is the property itself like? Let me show you the pictures…
Checking in
This is it? It looks more like the entrance to an industrial factory to me (the kind where Kim Kardashian bobbleheads might be made).Whew! Thank God this was really the entrance to the hotel, because I was in no mood for anything Kardashian-related after a long flight from the US.My apologies for skipping the pics of the main lobby, but there were five super-eager employees hovering around being over anxious to greet me (it was kind of uncomfortable actually) and it would’ve felt weird to whip out my camera and start taking pics. So…here’s the second floor guest room hallway!Room 247 is mine for the next two nights (assuming I didn’t see any dead bodies – or Kim Kardashian bobbleheads – when opening the door).
My room
No dead bodies or bobbleheads! As you can see, I reserved a suite for this two night stay. It certainly looked nice upon opening the door (a lot nicer than the JFK Airport Sheraton for example), but right away something felt a little…off.It’s hard to put into words exactly, but right away this place gave off a very cold vibe and it didn’t strike me as luxurious and cozy.I think part of the problem was that everything was so squared off and hard-edged. That small window wasn’t really helping either.Even the sofa was rectangular and pointy (and surprisingly similar to the one in the suite I had at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Dubai). It was right about this point that I had to double check and see if I brought any Band-Aids with me, because I knew that there was going to be an accident and these pointy corners were gonna make me bleed at some point during my stay.For a solo traveler such as myself, dining tables like this are totally unnecessary since I’ll be doing all my eating and snacking in front of the TV.Is this their way of telling me that I’m not getting enough fiber in my diet? It was good though, and I ended up eating all of it.Standing in the middle of the room and looking towards the door. Up on the left you will see……bathroom number one! Yup, there were two bathrooms in this suite, and I’ll get to the pics of the other one in just a moment.An excellent place to write blog posts.Also located in the main room was this Nespresso machine. How in the world do you coffee drinkers figure this stuff out? It looks way too complicated for me and I’m sure I’d burn the place down trying to get it to make something delicious.Oh, and yes, there is a bed in here too! The bedroom was a bit small but quite nice actually.If you’re wondering, yes, I stubbed my toe twice walking through this narrow space between the bed and the TV.Standing in the middle of the bedroom looking towards the master bathroom (with very sore stubbed toes).This is the walk in closet between the bedroom and the bathroom, which featured a huge selfie mirror on the back wall. I promise you that “god I look good!” were not the exact words going through my head at this moment.
I don’t want to sound too disappointed, because it was a really nice room suite, and there was a lot more to like about it than there was to hate. As a matter of fact, a suite like this would have made my stay at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Hong Kong a much better experience. Just sayin’.
The bathroom
Now this is my kind a bathroom! It’s definitely more on the manly side of the design spectrum, which is precisely why I think I liked it so much.A sink for each day of my stay!I still remember the feeling of utter confusion (and worry) during my first trip to Europe and seeing this for the very first time.I love this bathroom!There’s also a full-size tub in here for anyone feeling in need a good long soak after a long flight from abroad.
The surrounding area
As I mentioned earlier, the location of the Four Points Sheraton Sihlcity is a bit far away from the central part of town, but not too far out in the boonies.
It actually located adjacent to a giant shopping mall and movie theater, which did seem a bit out of place to me considering that the general area seemed more residential than anything else.
The biggest advantage of being away from the central part of Zurich was the fact that it was generally very quiet and I enjoyed the walking path along the Sihl River located right behind the main building.
Make sure you take advantage of the beautiful river walk located behind this hotel!I even made some friends out here, and they seemed anxious to start following my adventures here on sanspotter.com (only because I fed them of course).
Final thoughts
Would I stay here again? Most likely not, primarily because of the distance from everything that I wanted to see in Zurich (which was focused around the main train station).
The suite I had was very nice, and I really appreciated how quiet it was, but it felt inconvenient to have to figure out how to get places every day by Uber or bus or train when all I wanted to do was walk.
I still can’t figure out why this hotel (and the attached shopping mall) was built in this part of the city. The quiet residential vibe of the immediate area is nice, but probably isn’t the ideal location for first-time visitors to Zurich or those wanting to be in the heart of the action.
In that case, staying near the main train station would be the best bet. That’s what I’ll be doing the next time I visit…
