When the seven FIFA officials accused of bribery and corruption did the perp walk out of Zurich’s five-star Baur au Lac on May 27, staffers of the luxury hotel obligingly covered the officials indicted on charges of high crimes and misdemeanors with linens to protect their privacy. This solicitous act is indicative of the personalized, superior service the exclusive enclave has offered its elite clientele since Austrian hotelier Johannes Baur opened it in 1844.
The posh Baur au Lac is poised just across from Lake Zurich, offering spectacular views of the lake and, on clear days, of snow-capped Alps in the distance. Although it is a stroll or tram ride away from prosperous Zurich’s business center and Bahnhofstrasse — reputedly Europe’s most expensive street, lined with high-priced boutiques and those much-vaunted Swiss banks — Baur au Lac has its own park with seasonal dining, drinking and festivities. This family-owned asylum for the rich and famous is now run by its sixth generation of Baurs.
The history-steeped Baur au Lac is one of the 39 first-class properties in Switzerland represented by Swiss Deluxe Hotels. Its guest list has included Arthur Rubinstein, Zubin Mehta, Elton John and Marc Chagall, whose hand-painted stained glass windows were installed at nearby Fraumunster Church. Composer Richard Wagner premiered Act I of his opera “Die Walkure” in the Baur au Lac, while his father-in-law, pianist Franz Liszt, tickled the ivories.
In 1892, Baroness Bertha von Suttner persuaded Alfred Nobel to establish an international peace prize there.
Placido Domingo said in an interview last year, “I’ve stayed sometimes at Baur au Lac when I’ve been singing in Zurich. If you want to really have sanctuary, have quiet times, stay at one of these hotels, of course.”
It’s no wonder that the “FIFA seven” checked into this peaceful haven, with its grand chandelier, art deco fireplace, Asian artwork, recently renovated lobby and $4,000-per-night suites. It may well have been where the officials met with moneymen intent on swaying the locations of World Cups.
Baur au Lac also boasts some fine-dining establishments, among them Rive Gauche, where casual elegance rules and conviviality combines with intimacy. Chef Olivier Rais’ menu offers mouthwatering mixed salads with grapes, chestnuts, horseradish dressing and seasonal specialties such as black Perigord truffle. Main courses include tasty tuna and Black Angus grilled to perfection, all served attentively. French architect Pierre-Yves Rochon redesigned Rive Gauche in 2009, and exotic flowers fill gigantic vases.
This refuge of privilege also offers a unique shopping experience. Katrin Langer’s exquisite, imaginatively designed handbags — handmade out of natural materials including wood, python skin, lambskin nappa, patent goatskin, pearls, mother-of-pearl, silk embroidery and Swarovski crystals — are displayed in showcases at Baur au Lac.
Although the bags are not sold at the hotel, the ever-helpful front desk, upon request, can facilitate purchases of these clutch creations.
Off of Bahnhofstrasse, Baur opened the elegant Hotel Baur (now the Savoy Baur En Ville or “Baur in the City”) in 1838 at nearby Paradeplatz, a square built in medieval times that is now reputedly one of Switzerland’s most expensive pieces of real estate. UBS and Credit Suisse banks have headquarters there. Accused, among other things, of using Swiss banks for financial hanky-panky, perhaps the indicted FIFA bigwigs stayed at Baur au Lac to be near their money.
In actuality, the FIFA officials were visiting Zurich for their annual congress May 28-29 at FIFA’s headquarters across the city near, but not at, the sumptuous Dolder Grand.
Soccer is not the only international sport in which Switzerland plays a major governance role. This year marks the centennial of the International Olympic Committee’s headquarters at Lausanne.
From 1980 to 2001, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch lived at Lausanne Palace — IOC’s official hotel — where a suite is now named after him. Since 1993, the recently refurbished Olympic Museum, an interactive, high-tech homage to international athletics, has been next to sports-themed Olympic Park, just above the 134-square-mile Lake Geneva.
Of course, FIFA, Swiss and American authorities now are playing an international sport called “extradition.”
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