- Title: Swiss "zero star" hotel moves beds to great outdoors
- Date: 7th June 2017
- Summary: GONTEN, SWITZERLAND (JUNE 1, 2017) (REUTERS) ZERO-STAR HOTEL'S BUTLER CLIMBING THE HILL TO GET TO WALL-LESS HOTEL ROOM VARIOUS OF BUTLER ARRANGING THE BED (SOUNDBITE) (German) ZERO-STAR HOTEL PROJECT CO-CREATOR, PATRIK RIKLIN, SAYING: "We are artists, we are not doing this because we are hoteliers, because we say, hey let's do a hotel! What interests us is the intention in society. We have also called for the consequent liberation from real estate in society. That means a room with no walls and no roof is total liberation because you have no property to pay for, and this is where our artistic inspiration begins. The installation is transplanted into the landscape as a work of art that looks like photoshop planted in the landscape and now it is enlivened with real guests, with real butlers, with people who live in the Appenzell region." COUPLE MODELING FOR HOTEL ARRIVING AND CHANGING INTO SLIPPERS COUPLE EMBRACING, BUTLER STANDING AT EDGE OF HILL BUTLER SERVING WINE TO COUPLE IN BED (SOUNDBITE) (German) ZERO-STAR HOTEL PROJECT CO-CREATOR, FRANK RIKLIN, SAYING: "Our target always is society. What we always do is an intervention. We always try to put art in a daily situation and thus create various interactions with our work. We have had requests from all around the world. The bed is already 80 percent booked out. We have a few back-up nights so that when we start we have a few back-ups. People are coming from Iraq, America, Australia, Africa, England. Everyone, young, old. There is no target group." COUPLE DRINKING WINE IN BED / BUTLER LEAVING VIEW OVER ALPS COUPLE IN BED / WALL-LESS HOTEL ROOM IN MOUNTAIN
- Embargoed: 21st June 2017 14:49
- Keywords: Appenzell mountain Switzerland hotel art
- Location: GONTEN, SWITZERLAND
- City: GONTEN, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Human Interest / Brights / Odd News
- Reuters ID: LVA0016KA5E1L
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: An overnight stay in a double bed "suite" in a field costs 295 Swiss francs ($306), but you do get a drink on arrival, breakfast and the services of a "modern butler" - typically a local farmer in rubber boots.
He or she escorts guests to the site, provides weather reports and delivers local jokes through a broken-down TV set.
Welcome to the "zero star" hotel, a conceptual art project that lets guests bed down in the wide open spaces with unobstructed views of Switzerland's majestic landscape.
Created by twin brothers Frank and Patrik Riklin and partner Daniel Charbonnier, the project aims to explode traditional approaches to hospitality in the wealthy country known for its luxurious top-star mountain and lakeside resorts.
The minimalist project opens on Friday (June 9) in the rolling hills of the Appenzell region near Sankt Gallen.
An outhouse bathroom is a three-minute walk away at a nearby Alpine hut that serves as a backup in case of bad weather, which wiped out 37 of the 60 available nights outdoors last year.
Previous versions of the installation have featured beds in a nuclear bunker and at an elevation of 1,600 metres (5,250 feet) in the mountainous Grisons region.
This year's offering is nearly sold out after more than 1,300 requests for reservations from people as far afield as the United States, Australia, Iraq and Africa.
While art lovers vie for a night under the stars, Riklin said traditional Swiss hoteliers are not great fans of the project that stands normal customs on their head.
But Frank Riklin, this new concept is a way to of "mixing up the system to create a new reality". - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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