The Swiss-owned hotel asks guests to reflect on social, economic, and environmental questions during their stay
There are all kinds of offbeat hotels in the world, but this one, is the simplest kind. The Null Stern (meaning Zero Star) is an offbeat hotel in Switzerland with one room that has no walls or roof. Yep, there is just a bed for you and your partner.
The Swiss concept artists’ hotel room is essentially a double bed on a platform, with two bedside tables and lamps. There are no walls, ceiling or doors to provide any privacy or shelter.
Brothers and conceptual artists Frank and Patrik Riklin, who partnered with hotelier Daniel Charbonnier to create this hotel “room,” are perfectly aware that you won’t be sleeping peacefully in their newest hospitality experience—but that is exactly the point. “In view of the current world situation, there is no time to sleep,” the brothers said in a statement. The open-air suite—which is located between a gas station and busy intersection and purposefully lacks a door, ceiling, or walls—is designed to keep you up so you have time to contemplate current social, economic, and environmental issues.
This room is another iteration of the founders’ “zero real estate suites,” which they launched back in 2008 as part of their Null Stern Hotel. The first three suites, which include a queen bed on a platform and two nightstands, all make use of the Swiss Alps and breathtaking Saillon landscape to create picturesque overnight stays in a glamping-like experience. Currently, there are over 6,000 guests on the waitlist eager for the opportunity to spend an evening at the non-traditional hotel.
Switzerland’s landscape continues to be the wallpaper of Zero Real Estate suites, without walls or roof. This summer and for the first time, “Null Stern – the only star is you” will feature the Zero Real Estate suites in French-speaking Switzerland, in the picturesque region of Saillon in Valais. The Zero Real Estate suites will be open from July 1 to September 18, 2022.
Although the hotel lacks many common amenities, guests may find comfort in an on-site butler who will play a “central role,” in the experience, according to Charbonnier. Null Stern’s slogan, “The only star is you,” is a key philosophy at the alternative accommodations, where the founders strive to put the guests at the center of the stay. At all of the zero real estate suites, a butler provides meals and facilitates other requests from guests during their stay. At the anti-idyllic suite, the butler “provides a sense of security and care in an environment of insecurity,” Charbonnier said.
Staying at the anti-room costs 325 Swiss Francs, which is around Bt 12,000.
