For the match against Serbia, the Swiss national team is staying at the luxury hotel Dolder Grand. At special conditions, as Murat Yakin's team is preparing for a women's team at the 2025 European Championship.
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- In a week's time on Friday, the Nati need a win against Serbia at the Letzigrund if they are to have any chance of staying in the Nations League.
- For the first time, the team will be playing at the Dolder Grand high above Zurich. "The hotel offered us special conditions for these six days, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to afford it," says national team media manager Adrian Arnold.
- The Dolder Grand is a team hotel at the Women's European Championship. Yakin, Xhaka & Co. are acting as hotel testers. According to blue information for the English women's national team.
175 luxurious rooms and suites, top gastronomy and a 4000-square-metre spa, its own golf course, an impressive art collection and a unique view of Zurich, the lake and the Alps.
The Dolder Grand luxury hotel has been perched high above Zurich since 1899 and is one of the best addresses in Switzerland. Oprah Winfrey, Nelson Mandela, Michael Jackson, John Wayne, Queen Silvia of Sweden, Luciano Pavarotti, Liz Taylor, Roger Moore, Prince Charles, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Rolling Stones, Justin Bieber and Rihanna have all been guests at the hotel. The list of celebrity guests at the luxury hotel could go on and on.
On Monday, the Swiss national team moves into the Dolder Grand for the first time. Murat Yakin, Granit Xhaka, Manuel Akanji & Co. are fighting against relegation in the Nations League as bottom of their group with one point from four games, but they will be staying like kings.
Rooms start at CHF 500 per night, while the most luxurious suites can easily cost over CHF 10,000.
This begs the question: how can the Swiss Football Association afford the Dolder Grand? Are the points and victory bonuses of the Nati stars so generous that the association can now treat itself to such luxury thanks to its meagre points haul? Along the lines of "5-star hotel for 1-point Nati"?
"Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to afford it"
Far from it. SFA head of media Adrian Arnold clarifies. "The Dolder is the team hotel for the Women's European Championship this summer. That's how the collaboration with the national team came about. The hotel offered us special conditions for these six days, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to afford it."
The Dolder has hosted countless illustrious guests from the worlds of politics, entertainment and sport, but entire football teams are rather rare. The Bayern stars stayed there in 2011. Arnold: "For the Dolder Hotel, hosting a national team for six days is a good test run for the WEURO25." According to blue information, Yakin, Xhaka & Co. are hotel testers for the English women's national team.
A win-win solution for everyone. Now Murat Yakin's team just has to turn all those stars into points. A win against Serbia on Friday at the Letzigrund and a place in the Nations League would still be possible in the final game against Spain in Tenerife on the following Monday.
