La Réserve Eden Au Lac

In a grand Belle Époque building on Zurich’s lakefront, La Réserve Eden Au Lac is a luxe boutique property with a nautical-chic interior design from Philippe Starck.

• The contrast between the hotel’s 1909 exterior and its Philippe Starck-designed interior with high-tech touches
• The waterfront location: It is the city’s only five-star hotel on Lake Zurich
• The buzzy top-floor restaurant (with one of Zurich’s best rooftop terraces), where it feels like you’ve entered a private house-party

From the outside, La Réserve Eden au Lac resembles a gem box, with its ornate white-stone façade decorated with statuary, balconies topped by blue-and-white awnings, a vaulted mansard roof and a colorful line of flags spanning its entire length. But near the entrance, a signpost with a boat life-ring reading “Yacht Club” is the first sign that you can’t judge this book by its cover. Once inside, guests enter a sumptuously handsome Philippe Starck creation that’s worlds away from (and a century ahead of) the Belle Époque building’s exterior. The lobby leads to an impressive hallway with richly-stained woods, marble walls and a glass elevator that ascends in the center of the hotel’s historic stairwell. Just off the hallway, public spaces feel more reserved, with a warmly-lit cocktail bar, a piano lounge, and restaurant with leather seats done in muted tones.

That warm vibe continues to the hotel’s 40 rooms and suites, most of which look right over the sparkling (and sparkling clean) waters of Lake Zurich. For these, Starck took a cue from the waterfront setting and incorporated a playful but subtle nautical theme, imagining each room as a cabin aboard a luxury sailing ship. Expect soft and textures and tones in the fabrics and furniture, contrasting with mahogany wood, metal accents and exposed brick walls. The best rooms have balconies or terraces fronting the lake, and soaking tubs along with the rainshowers that come with other room categories. Ideal for groups, entire wings of the hotel can be sectioned off, combining multiple rooms and suites into a private hotel-within-a-hotel.

For dining, Eden Kitchen & Bar is an Italian restaurant on the first floor, with large windows facing the lake and an open kitchen. In the morning, this is where breakfast is served as well. And up on the sixth floor, La Muña occupies the attic ceiling vault plus two large outdoor terraces that, in warm months, make for one of Zurich’s most popular rooftops, and the ideal spot for a Spritz. Menus here offer excellent Japanese Peruvian cuisine, either out on the terrace or inside under the wooden ceiling (where the vibe is meant to resemble a harbor-master’s office with sofas, mix-matched chairs and nautical photos). On weekend nights in particular, the restaurant draws a buzzy crowd of well-heeled locals, and it feels as if you’ve stumbled into a private house party.

Guests also have access to a compact but well-equipped fitness studio, and to cruiser bikes for exploring the lakefront.

Travelers who prefer contemporary design over traditional; anyone looking for lake views; La Réserve loyalists