Great location, friendly staff

We only stayed one night before flying out but found it to be very reasonably priced for Zurich, central location is great - walk to main train station and shopping, restaurants and bars. The room was clean and the staff friendly. Would definitely recommend this hotel.

Nice, central and good value for money

5 minutes walk from Zurich Hauptbahnhof, safe and good location, very friendly and efficient staff during reservation process, check in and check out. Spotless clean rooms, good sized double room with up to date bath/WC. Good breakfast buffet, all in all a very pleasant experience.

A wonderful place to stay in Zurich

For as pricy as Zurich is, St. Josef is a wonderful find. We would definately stay again.

For the negative comments posted here about it being on the edge of the red light district, that is false. It is on the edge of Neiderdorf, a shopping and commercial district.

Bright, quiet with a helpful staff and a wonderful restaurant.

Good hotel

A very nice clean, modern hotel in a good location. Our family, two adults and two kids, stayed in a 4 bed room in a second building. The room was very spacious and nicely decorated. It is on a quiet street, but close to the train station and everything else. Staff is nice. They have arrangements for a shuttle to the airport. Very nice breakfast.

Couple of negatives. 1) The building has very poor soundproofing. We were on the first floor and people simply walking up the stairs or on the second floor created rather surprising amount of noise. Bothered my wife in the evening and woke me up in the morning. 2)They give you 1 key and you have to insert it into a special recepticle in the room to turn and keep the lights on. If one person goes out, they can't take the key and therefore cannot open the main building door when they come back. My wife had to knock on the window.

A minor note: At some point you have to go up about 20 steps between the train station and the hotel, i.e. don't count on simply rolling your suitcases.

A great find!

We'd heard it was impossible to find nice, reasonably priced accomodations in Zurich--but we did it. We spent one night at the St. Josef, a small, moderate hotel only 7-8 min. walk from the train station. The hotel and room were very clean and modern. Zurich is a very busy city but this hotel sits on a hill a bit above all the hustle and bustle so we didn't hear all the traffic noise at night. The hotel sits between the train station and the universities so you see a lot of college students heading to class. It was in a good neighborhood, off the beaten path, but near all the restaurants and trains. If you don't mind a little hike up the hill, this is a great hotel for the value and location. We paid $160 US per night with a full bath in the room and breakfast included. I would absolutely stay here again.

New and modern hotel with good location

Just stayed at Pension St. Josef in June 04, we love it!

Excellent location, close to train station, supermarkets (co-op city and Migros), restaurants, and shops. It was a little pricy but this is a pretty new hotel with everything you need in the room (coffee maker, TV, soap, shampoo). Things are in general quite expensive in Switzerland. We stayed in a room with private bathroom, no dirt or bad smell at all. Breakfast was good and plentiful with quite a lot of selections. I would recommend it if you are planning to visit Zurich.

Great stay in May '04

Had a great stay at the Hotel St. Josef in Zurich. The rooms were clean, and the hall bathrooms were spotless and modern. There is a good bit of street noise at night, but with the windows closed we slept like babies. For the price, the location is excellent - just 10-15 minutes' walk from the main train station. Staff was friendly and very helpful. Thumbs up!!

Good hotel at a reasonable rate

I have some accidental knowledge about rooms in Zurich: knowing we would be arriving late I booked our first night on-line and we landed in a horrible property (small, dirty and smelly), while paying about US$100 / night. The next morning we left that hotel (Krone Limmatquai) without even taking a shower and we started looking for another hotel.

After looking at six or seven properties, we decided to take a room at the St. Josef.

This is a great hotel, as far as small hotels go in Europe. I can't understand the complains of the reviewer that complains about "lack of room to swing a cat," the room appeared roomy enough to me, even including a seating area.

The rooms are nice and clean (recently renovated) and the bathrooms, while very small for American standards, are fully functional.

Our room was ADA compliant, thus it didn't have a shower pan. This is required by the regulations, so a disabled person can access the shower with a wheelchair. I don't know whether all the rooms are like that. Still, the lack of a shower pan wasn't a problem, the bathroom had a good drain and water didn't accumulate on the floor. There was also minimal splashing outside of the shower area.

The location is great, the property is five minutes from the Central Station and a few blocks away from Zurich's main nightlife street (bars and restaurants). The hotel is not in the red light district (I haven't seen anything innappropiate in two days), if it seemed that way it's because in Zurich everything is within walking distance. Probably the other reviewer should pick up his walking destinations more carefully... :-)

In fact the hotel is a block away from the university (I can't remember which one) and the Christian Student house... not exactly the Red Light district...

The area is safe and the staff is very friendly. The Continental breakfast was included in the rate (other hotels charge up to CHF 8 per person) and it was very good.

Now, on the negative side, I wish the hotel had a frigobar. There was a small fridge in the room, but it was empty. When I asked about it, they recommended I buy my own beverages at a supermarket two blocks away. This turned out to be a good idea: a bottle of water goes for CHF 3.50 in the street, while you can buy a 1.5 L bottle of San Pellegrino water for CHF 1.50 in the supermarket. Still, it can be an annoyance if you haven't provided for it.

I also wish rates were a little lower (CHF 170 for a couble room), but being Zurich one of the most expensive cities in the world, I guess this is what you should expect. If this seems expensive, check prices around and you'll see.

We couldn't find a better property at that rate. Other properties, still acceptable but not as good as this one, were only marginally cheaper (i.e. Bristol Hotel for CHF 160, not even close to the St. Josef.)

Summarizing, I would recommend this property to anyone. I may stay here again in future trips. As far as hotels go in Zurich, this is the best value for your dollar.

Great location and friendly staff!

I found the St. Josef to be a fabulous addition to my recent trip to Zurich. The location can`t be beat...just minutes from the main train station. The rooms and washrooms were immaculate and I found the staff sincerely friendly and helpful. I am online right now to make another reservation for an upcoming trip to beautiful Zurich. I highly recommend this hotel!

Janet Waldbillig, Vancouver, Canada

Don't go....

Too expensive, not enough room to swing a cat. Staff helpful. RIght on the edge of red light district. So ok if you like rent boys and old whores. Relatively clean, but really much better hotels in Zurich than this.