What can you expect from a hotel with a million stars? A great view of the night sky! On Thursday, 2 July, Switzerland Tourism, together with various project partners, launched the most exciting hotel project for this summer: the Million Stars Hotel. Around 50 hotel ‘rooms’ are dotted throughout Switzerland at locations as diverse as Switzerland itself: options range from a cosy tiny hotel room in a gondola to a thrilling tree tent – located on impressive mountain peaks, in fragrant wildflower meadows or high above the city’s rooftops.

‘Forget about counting sheep. This summer, people are counting stars instead – from the comfort of a cosy bed. This is relaxation at its purest!’ explains Martin Nydegger, CEO of Switzerland Tourism. On 2 July, Switzerland Tourism, together with its project partners (hotels, B&Bs, private accommodation providers, farmers, mountain hut operators, etc.), is launching the Million Stars Hotel project. Around 50 unique accommodation options in all of Switzerland’s language regions invite guests to enjoy pristine nature or pulsating city life in an exclusive experience for two. 

The common denominator for all the ‘rooms’ is the unimpeded view of the starry sky from your bed. Guests can choose to sleep outdoors, under a glass roof or behind a large glass façade. Most of the locations were realised in 2020 specially for the Million Stars Hotel project. Room prices range from CHF 80 to around CHF 800 per night for two people, including breakfast. Guests can find more information and book conveniently online at MySwitzerland.com/millionstarshotel. Depending on their altitude and ‘outdoor character’, the Million Stars Hotel rooms are available for bookings from the beginning of July to the end of October 2020.

Unique places to sleep.

Out of approximately 50 options, none is quite like the other: not only the accommodation itself, but also the locations are spectacular. Offers range from spending the night on the mountain Piz Nair, in a cable car that has been converted into a tiny home, or in a glass-fronted cube on the mountain Eggishorn with views of the Aletsch Glacier. An observatory has been transformed into a hotel room for guests in St. Moritz. Water lovers find what they’re looking for in the stylish Tamaro Night Sky on Lake Maggiore, the futuristic plexiglass TUBBO SKY structure overlooking Lake Thun, or the comfortable Starbase in Hotel Vitznauerhof, which hovers above Lake Lucerne. The Sealander is a boat guests can camp in and promises a romantic starry night on Lake Thun. For glampers who want to sleep directly under the stars, various outdoor beds are available – for example, in Oberems in the Valais, in La Ferrière in the Bernese Jura, or in Toggenburg. Guests can sleep soundly in their own protective bubble in picturesque locations in Thurgau and southern Ticino, as well as on the rooftop of the Hotel Widder in the city of Zurich. Lovers of the great outdoors can choose to spend a night in a tree tent suspended above the ground, taking them that little bit closer to the stars.

Chosen by a specialist jury.

Switzerland Tourism has provided a platform for new and alternative forms of accommodation for several years now. The creative team in the marketing organisation has now merged its own category of ‘close-to-nature accommodation ideas’ and the pop-up hotels from 2018 with the current trend for remoteness and glamping to produce a brand-new offering. This is the first time that a wide range of unusual accommodation options throughout Switzerland can be booked by means of a single platform. The tourism industry has been very innovative, and far more projects were entered than could be chosen for the Million Stars Hotel project. A specialist jury made up of marketing and hotel industry experts was therefore tasked with selecting the accommodation options to be included in the project. Successful entries had to include accommodation with a clear view of the starry sky, highly original and exciting location with nearby sanitary facilities and attractive alternative accommodation in case of bad weather.

Discovering hidden sides to Switzerland.

One of the goals of the Million Stars Hotel project is to make guests more aware of regions that are less well known from a tourism perspective. This will generate overnight stays and create added value in cities and in mountain regions. Ten projects – such as the wooden apiary room at the Grindelwald Youth Hostel and the cosy tiny home on the Lukmanier Pass – have been successfully implemented in spite of the difficult conditions encountered this spring. ‘Obtaining permits and securing funding during the coronavirus pandemic have proven to be a real challenge for hotel partners,’ Martin Nydegger adds, ‘I am therefore all the more pleased to be able to launch the Million Stars Hotel with such a large number of excellent options.’

Detailed information:

• MySwitzerland.com/millionstarshotel
• Pictures: https://bit.ly/millionstarshotelphotos