The Dolder Grand, a spa hotel in Zurich on the hill above the lake

The Dolder Grand is a spa hotel on the hill above Zurich: you end up in the outdoor tubs, with the city spread out below. Hotel guests have the spa included; visitors take the Day Spa, CHF 290 Monday to Thursday and CHF 460 Friday to Sunday, spent on treatments.

Updated 13 October 202615 min readHow we write the guide

The spa terrace: the outdoor whirlpool, loungers under white parasols along the curved glass front of the spa wing, and the towers of the 1899 building above

Who the Dolder Grand’s spa is for

Why choose it

You want to swim, then warm up outdoors with Zurich at your feet, and have dinner without getting back in the car.

The Day Spa

When to look elsewhere

You want an outdoor pool to swim in or a cheap way in: 5 has the outdoor pool, and the Hürlimannbad costs CHF 42.

The other spa hotels

An 1899 health resort, with Norman Foster’s wings

The old Curhaus towers rise out of the woods. You walk through corridors full of art, go down to the water, and Zurich stays below, there to be looked at from the hill.

Heinrich Hürlimann, a Zurich entrepreneur, wanted it on the Adlisberg, above the city, and the architect Jacques Gros built it in the Swiss timber style of the day. The Dolder Grand Hotel & Curhaus opened on 10 May 1899 with 220 beds, 2 lifts, telephones and a funicular already linking it to town; in high season a double room cost between CHF 12 and CHF 20, the hotel’s history records.

Then sport and water grew up around it: golf in 1907, in 1931 an ice rink, at the time the largest in Europe, and in 1934 a wave pool in the middle of the woods, known today as the Freibad Dolder. Golf course and pool are both still there, a few minutes’ walk away.

Between 2004 and 2008 Norman Foster’s practice stripped away everything added after 1899, restored the main building and its 3 towers and set 2 new wings beside it. In April 2008 the hotel reopened with 175 rooms and suites and a 4,000 m² spa, and over 3 open days 12,000 people climbed the hill to see it.

Its salons now hold more than a hundred works of art, originals by Takashi Murakami and Salvador Dalí among them; The Restaurant, Heiko Nieder’s kitchen, has 2 Michelin stars and 19 GaultMillau points, and the Michelin Guide gives the hotel 2 Keys.

For the Dolder’s spa we read the 11 pages of the hotel’s website cited here, watched the 3 clips filmed in its pool, on its terrace and in the meditation room, and searched the 1,053 Google reviews with a text, back to January 2022, for what guests make of its size. On paper it is 4,000 m². In the reviews some call it immense, enormous, gigantic, and others find it small for a hotel this size.

6am to 10pm at the Dolder’s spa

From 6am to 10pm there is time for all of it: the indoor pool, the tubs on the terrace, a treatment between 9am and 9pm. The Day Spa opens the whole spa for the day; the Spa Lunch Break runs from 11am to 2pm.

6am

Doors open

At 6am the spa opens to everyone, and for hotel guests the gym never closes. On the day you arrive and the day you leave you can still use the spa, the hotel’s FAQ confirms.

7.30am

Breakfast at Saltz

From 7am to 10.30am, from the buffet and to order at the table. When your rate leaves it out it costs CHF 55 a person, according to Trip.com.

9am

The first treatment

The treatment rooms are open from 9am to 9pm. An hour’s massage starts at CHF 210, and for body treatments the spa asks you to arrive half an hour early: a shower, a cup of tea, then you begin.

11am

The day visitors arrive

At 11am, Monday to Friday, the Spa Lunch Break guests arrive, staying until 2pm. These are the hours when the spa is at its fullest, and the loungers can all be taken; to guests who point it out the hotel replies that it keeps its spa club small, on purpose.

1pm

Lunch at the Spa Café

At the Spa Café, from 10am to 8pm: bowls, sandwiches, cakes, juices and teas, out on the terrace too, which is kept for hotel guests and Day Spa visitors. The Day Spa credit does not count here.

4pm

The outdoor tubs

3 whirlpools on the terrace, at 15, 36 and 39°C, with the 1899 towers behind you. To swim, head back indoors to the pool: 25 metres, about 28°C.

7.30pm

Dinner without leaving

Saltz serves dinner until 10pm; The Restaurant, with 2 Michelin stars, opens Wednesday to Saturday, 7 courses at CHF 330. At 10pm the spa closes too.

The Dolder’s spa and the others in Zurich

The hotel up on its hill, the Dolder’s public pool 8 minutes’ walk away and, between the city and the lake, the other hotels with a spa.

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The Dolder GrandInside the hotel: 4,000 m² of spa, 6am to 10pm
Freibad Dolder603 metres, an 8-minute walk: the 50-metre pool, open in summer
HürlimannbadBeside the B2: 11 minutes and 5.0 km by car

The Dolder’s Day Spa, from the spa page

From outside there are 2 ways in: the Day Spa, for the whole day, or the Spa Lunch Break, at midday. What they include and cost, from the spa page as read on 27 September 2026.

On the spa page

The whole spa for the day: the pool, the Aqua Zone, the separate areas for women and men from 16, the terrace
The entry price, redeemable in full against one or more treatments, subject to availability
CHF 290 a person Monday to Thursday; CHF 460 Friday to Sunday and on public holidays
The Spa Lunch Break, Monday to Friday from 11am to 2pm: CHF 230, with CHF 210 of treatment
A bathrobe, slippers and a locker in the changing room

Hours, admission and rules at the Dolder’s spa

From the spa page, the treatment menu and the hotel’s FAQ, read on 27 September 2026.

Size	4,000 m², which Booking.com manages to render as “13 ft²” and “4,000 square yards”
Hours	Daily from 6am to 10pm; treatments from 9am to 9pm; the gym always open to hotel guests
The water	A 25-metre indoor pool at about 28°C, an indoor whirlpool at 36°C, 3 outdoor tubs at 15, 36 and 39°C
Swimwear-free	The Ladies’ Spa and the Gentlemen’s Spa, separate: sauna, steam bath, foot bath, aroma pool, plunge pool and solarium, from 16
Children	From 12, with an adult: pool, Aqua Zone, steam bath, sanarium, classes and treatments
Spa Suites	2 private 70 m² suites: the Superior CHF 350 for 2 hours, the Deluxe CHF 450, then CHF 150 and CHF 200 an hour
Treatments	Massages from CHF 210 for 60 minutes; Margy’s and La Prairie facials from CHF 260 to CHF 550
Hotel guests	Spa included, on arrival and departure days too; group classes free, booked once the timetable comes out on Sunday
Cancellation	Free up to 24 hours ahead; after that the treatment is charged in full

The spa in the woods, and the palace above Zurich

The spa’s indoor pool, its terrace with the outdoor whirlpool and its meditation room, then the palace from above, the rack railway climbing through the woods, the Carezza Suite, The Restaurant’s kitchen and Jani Leinonen’s stained glass.

**The 25-metre indoor pool, between its lit stone wall and a row of loungers**The Dolder Grand · 31 October 2025Watch on YouTube

**The spa terrace below the hotel’s turrets: loungers, parasols, then steam rising off the outdoor whirlpool**The Dolder Grand · 31 October 2025Watch on YouTube

**The spa’s meditation room, under its dome of mirror mosaic**from 0:05 · The Dolder Grand · 31 October 2025Watch on YouTube

Rooms with a whirlpool bath or a sauna

The spa can carry on in your room: with a whirlpool bath, or a sauna of your own.

A Junior Suite Grand in the wing: the bed and a curved wall of windows onto the balcony and the hills

The living room of a Suite Superior: cream sofas, a fireplace and French windows onto the balcony

Every one of the 44 junior suites has a whirlpool bath, and the Junior Suites Grand, 54–64 m², look out over the city, the lake and the mountains. In the historic building the Suites Superior, 83–156 m², add 2 fireplaces, one in the living room and one in the bedroom, a sauna in the bathroom and a butler. The Single and Double Rooms Superior have a bath and a shower, without the whirlpool.

The rooms and suites, with photographs

Other spa hotels in Zurich

Zurich’s other spas, in their own pages’ words: who can get in, and how many minutes’ drive they are from the Dolder.

Search for a spa hotel in Zurich and Expedia and Tripadvisor come first, then spa directories. The surprise is that the grand hotels on the lake have no spa: the Baur au Lac says so on its facts page, the Mandarin Oriental Savoy brings treatments to the rooms, and La Réserve Eden au Lac sends its guests to a gym outside. In town that leaves the Park Hyatt, without a pool, 5, with pools inside and out, the B2, with its baths next door, and the Crowne Plaza’s club; on the lake, at Thalwil and Rüschlikon, the Alex and the Belvoir.

Hotel	The spa, from its page	For non-residents	By car from the Dolder
The Dolder Grand	The Adlisberg, above the city: 4,000 m², with a 25-metre pool, 3 outdoor whirlpools and separate saunas for women and men; 6am to 10pm	Day Spa from CHF 290, spent on treatments	The starting point
5 Zurich	Friesenberg, below the Uetliberg: an indoor and an outdoor pool with a jacuzzi set in the water, sauna, steam room and 5 treatment rooms; 7am to 9pm	Day pass from CHF 50 on weekdays, from CHF 75 at weekends	16 min · 8.0 km
B2 Hotel Zurich	Enge: the hotel sends its guests to the Hürlimannbad next door, run by another company, with a rooftop pool at 35°C, 9am to 10pm	The hotel books entry at CHF 35; the baths sell it at CHF 42	11 min · 5.0 km
Park Hyatt Zürich	Enge, near the lake: sauna, steam bath, a relaxation lounge and Biologique Recherche treatments; no pool mentioned	Treatments only, booked by phone	8 min · 4.1 km
Crowne Plaza Zurich	District 4: the Holmes Place club in the building, with a 12-metre indoor pool, whirlpool, sauna and steam bath, from 16	Free for hotel guests; others need the club’s membership	13 min · 6.4 km
Alex Lake Zürich	Thalwil, on the lake: a small spa with a vitality pool looking over the water, sanarium, one treatment room and lake access	Only as the Day Spa Experience, with massage and lunch, from CHF 290	19 min · 11.3 km
Hotel Belvoir	Rüschlikon, above the lake: 400 m² including the gym, an outdoor whirlpool heated all year, 2 saunas and a steam bath; no pool	CHF 45 a day	18 min · 14.7 km

Minutes and kilometres by car from the Dolder Grand’s entrance to each hotel, calculated on 27 September 2026 with OSRM on OpenStreetMap’s roads, without traffic; Valhalla, which slows down more in town, gives 14 to 28 minutes. The hotels’ pages were read the same day, and each name links its own; for the B2, the baths’ price is the one on the Hürlimannbad’s page, which sells entry at CHF 35 only after 8pm. Read again on 12 October 2026, 2 of the 6 pages give a size: 400 m² of spa and gym at the Belvoir and 2,000 m² for the Holmes Place club at the Crowne Plaza; the other 4 give none.

What guests say about the spa
Of the 1,053 recent Google reviews with a text, 233 mention the spa, the pool or the saunas, giving them 4.4 on average. The pool, the terrace and the whirlpools win the praise. At peak hours the spa fills up, and a 60-minute massage costs from CHF 210.

Questions about the spa and the hotel

How to get in, what it costs, children, the outdoor pool that is not there, and the alternatives in town.

Can you use the Dolder’s spa without staying?

Yes, with the Day Spa pass: CHF 290 a person Monday to Thursday, CHF 460 Friday to Sunday and on public holidays. You have the whole spa for the day, and the full sum goes on treatments. Monday to Friday, between 11am and 2pm, there is also the Spa Lunch Break: CHF 230, with a CHF 210 treatment inside it. The Day Spa is requested through the form on the spa page.

Why does a Day Spa on a public holiday cost more?

Because public holidays are priced like weekends: CHF 460. The price is set by the day you go: before fixing a date, even for a Day Spa given as a present, check whether it falls on a public holiday. The spa page now says CHF 460.

Is there an outdoor pool at the Dolder?

Not one to swim in. Outdoors, on the terrace, there are 3 whirlpools at about 15, 36 and 39°C; the 25-metre pool is indoors. Google lists an outdoor pool and Forbes describes pools inside and out, but for swimming the hotel points you to the indoor pool. In summer there is the Freibad Dolder, the 50-metre public pool 8 minutes’ walk away, free for hotel guests; this year it closed on 13 September.

Can children use the spa?

From 12, with an adult: the pool, the Aqua Zone, the steam bath, the sanarium, group classes and treatments. The swimwear-free areas, the Ladies’ Spa and the Gentlemen’s Spa, are for those aged 16 and over. For younger children, aged 3 to 12, there is the Kids Room, staffed on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6pm.

Which other Zurich spa hotel has an outdoor pool?

5 Zurich, below the Uetliberg, 16 minutes’ drive from the Dolder. It has an indoor and an outdoor pool, with a jacuzzi set in the water, a sauna and a steam room, open from 7am to 9pm, and a day pass from CHF 50 on weekdays and CHF 75 at weekends. How big its pools are, and how warm, it does not say.

Do the rooftop baths belong to the B2?

Not any more. B2 Hotel Zurich says spa entry is not included in the room and that it will book it for CHF 35: the baths are the Hürlimannbad, in the old brewery next door, run by another company, with a rooftop pool at 35°C and a herbal steam bath at 42°C. The baths’ own page charges CHF 42, or CHF 35 only after 8pm.

What does a night at the Dolder cost in autumn?

Between €823 and €956 a night for 2 on the official site. On Google Hotels, on 27 September 2026, the hotel asked €918 for Wednesday 14 October, €823 for Saturday 14 November and €956 for Saturday 5 December; the cheapest seller had the same nights at €752, €687 and €781. The spa is included; breakfast is not.

Which room suits a spa stay?

A junior suite, for a whirlpool in the bathroom, and of those the Grand ones, which look over the city and the lake. For a sauna in your room as well you need a Suite Superior, which comes with a fireplace and a butler. The Superior rooms have a bath and a shower, without the whirlpool.

The Day Spa costs CHF 290 Monday to Thursday, CHF 460 Friday to Sunday

The spa on the official website

Written and checked by Lumina, independently of The Dolder Grand. Lumina sells no rooms or tickets: every link leads to its source.

Sources