Hotel Palafitte
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
ABOVE: If you stay at the Hotel Palafitte,
splurge on a lake pavilion. INSET
BELOW: The bottom of Lake Neuchâtel, viewed
from a floor-level window.
By Durant Imboden
 Switzerland
is justly celebrated for its hotels and modern architects, and the Hôtel
Palafitte shows what can be accomplished when
hoteliers and designers collaborate with a budget of 20 million Swiss francs.
The hotel, which lies on the outskirts of Neuchâtel in French-speaking
Switzerland, is one of the most distinctive hostelries that you're likely to
encounter. It's also said to be the only hotel in Europe that's built above
water, with 24 of its 40 "pavilions" or junior suites perched on pilings over
Lake Neuchâtel.
Why it was built
The Hôtel Palafitte was built as a
temporary structure for Expo.02, a Swiss exhibition that took place in 2002. It
was financed by the Sandoz Family Foundation (which also financed the
Riffelalp Resort above Zermatt) and designed
by architect Kurt Hoffman of Lausanne, Switzerland.
The goal was to create a
state-of-the-art, 21st Century hotel using "sustainable architecture" that would
allow the hotel's components to be rebuilt or recycled after Expo.02. In the
end, the hotel was such a hit with architectural critics, guests, and local
tourist officials that the Swiss government granted permission for it to stay
open despite laws that normally forbid structures over public lakes.
What makes it unique
Besides having an aquatic setting, the Hôtel
Palafitte makes use of environmentally friendly features such as solar panels
for hot water and electricity, heating with biogas from kitchen waste, and
rainwater collection for toilet flushing.
The hotel was also designed as a
showcase for Siemens electronic technology, although some of the leading-edge
features from Expo.02 (such as biometric fingerprint scanning in lieu of room
keys) have fallen by the wayside for reasons of practicality or privacy. It's a
hotel that would appeal to a Google engineer, a Microsoft programmer, or the
kind of person who enjoys choosing TV channels with a remote that works like a
Palm Pilot.
Next page:
Rooms at the Hôtel
Palafitte
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Neuchâtel - 27
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