Fred Hotels Zürich
About Fred Hotels Zürich
Through smart renovations and innovations, our hotels are always up to date. For our forward-looking developments in the field of self-check-in, we were even able to take on a pioneering role in the industry. However, our understanding of hospitality remains traditional.
All Fred Hotels Zurich were awarded the highest sustainability label by Switzerland Tourism.
The complete renovation of the Fred Hotel Zurich Hauptbahnhof was also the birth of the Fred Hotels Zurich brand. This brand now unites our three houses (formerly Walhalla Hotel, Walhalla Guest House, and Leoneck Swiss Hotel) under one umbrella brand - in honor of our company founder Fred Tschanz.
The first lockdown on March 16 led to the temporary closure of the then Leoneck Swiss Hotel. However, our pioneering spirit defied the crisis: the main building with its 60 rooms was transformed into one of the first European co-living spaces. At the same time, the 13 rooms in the annex were converted into a fully autonomous self-check-in hotel – entirely without staff. A novelty in the hotel industry that laid the foundation for a forward-looking development of Fred Hotels and the entire industry.
At the same time, the 13 rooms in the annex were converted into a fully autonomous self-check-in hotel – entirely without staff. A novelty in the hotel industry that laid the foundation for a forward-looking development of Fred Hotels and the entire industry.
The concept for the complete renovation of the annex on Leonhardstrasse was inspired by the works of light artist Gerry Hofstetter, who illuminated 26 mountain huts for the 150th anniversary of the Swiss Alpine Club. The Leoneck Swiss Hotel thus officially became the lowest-lying SAC hut in Switzerland.
Some rooms of the Guest House were equipped with the latest technology: VR glasses and game consoles for free use. Additionally, we expanded the hotel at the main station with a new terrace, allowing our guests to have breakfast outdoors.
For many years, the distinctive sign of the Crazy Cow restaurant dominated Leonhardstrasse, attracting locals and tourists with typical Swiss cuisine. In 2016, a repositioning followed: the hotel lobby was remodeled, and the restaurant was first renamed "8001" and three years later "Gaststube Haldenegg."
The Guest House was completely renovated in 2015 and repositioned as a 2-star superior hotel – a fresh, modern, and innovative house in the best location.
As part of the modernization of the house at the main station, we renewed all rooms and bathrooms. At the same time, we became the first hotel in Switzerland to replace the traditional guest directory with tablets. This innovation did not go unnoticed in the industry: in the following years, Zurich Tourism promoted tablets as part of the "Digital City" strategy and encouraged hoteliers to follow this trend. The rooms and bathrooms at the hotel on Leonhardstrasse were also refreshed between 2012 and 2014.
The Guest House on Konradstrasse was renovated and equipped with compact shower cabins known as Shower Cubes.
The former kitchen of the then Restaurant Latini in the hotel at the main station was converted into meeting rooms and a breakfast room. Starbucks opened one of its first branches in Zurich on the ground floor.
In 1996, Fred Tschanz, the visionary and city-renowned restaurateur, bought the properties at the corner of Limmatstrasse/Sihlquai and the annex at Konradstrasse 13. Initially planned as a pure investment, the hotel was completely renovated in 1997, including the fifth floor, which had previously been used as a director's apartment. On November 1, 1997, it was reopened as the Walhalla Hotel. The former Walhalla Restaurant was subsequently subleased and operated by the Bindella company as Restaurant Latini.
The construction company Marti AG took over the building complex at the main station and the house with the Jumbo Bar at Konradstrasse 13. The previous owner, the hotelier family Trümpy, continued to run the business as tenants for a few more years. In 1991, the hotel was leased to the hotelier Peter Vogel and established under the name "Arc en Ville."
As early as the 1920s and 1930s, there was a Walhalla restaurant at the corner of Sihlquai 9 in Zurich's district 5. In 1944, Hermann Trümpy took over the Walhalla restaurant and later acquired the entire building complex of three properties at the corner of Limmatstrasse/Sihlquai. Apartments that became vacant were gradually converted into guest rooms. Even in the 1960s, the Hotel-Restaurant Walhalla (55 beds Sihlquai 9) and the Hotel Trümpy (100 beds Limmatstrasse 5) appeared separately in hotel directories.
Our Hotel during the construction of the Zollbrücke in 1907.
Today's Fred Guest House on Konradstrasse around 1980.
The building on Leonhardstrasse was built in 1937.