We added a day in Zurich and booked the Ambassador at the last minute. We loved this hotel. The staff was so friendly and gave us a welcome drink coupon for the Opera Bar hooked onto the hotel. Our room was a nice size with adjustable beds. The bedding was very nice. The bathroom was a good size and had one of those new "wash and blow dry" toilets to try if you wanted to. There were cofee and tea making facilities and a TV that was also the internet. The location was pretty central. We didn't get breakfast included in the price but there were several cafes in the neighborhood to chose from.

I stayed at The Ambassador with my husband for 3 nights to celebrate our wedding anniversary back in April 2007 and was extremely disappointed at the time: tiny room, very narrow double bed with a bouncy mattress, lack of communication with the staff (they kept replacing two sets of towels with one and we had to complain every single day, often several times, toiletries weren’t replaced, several calls to get second bathrobe, never received a second pair of slippers etc). I subsequently posted a review here and was pleasantly surprised that the manager of the hotel got in touch with me within two days. He apologised and said that, being two people, we should never have been put in the room we were in as that was meant for a single person. My husband had been staying there the week before on business and had been allocated that room, and evidently the staff hadn’t bothered to put us in a larger room when I arrived. In fact, it seems there was a definite breakdown in communication at the time as my husband advised them twice that I was arriving, but they were extremely surprised when I arrived. Instead of putting us in a larger room they simply advised us that they would have to charge us more for the time I was staying there. The manager was very apologetic and offered us a free weekend including breakfast at the hotel. This time we experienced the treatment we would have expected in the first place: ARRIVAL On arrival we got a voucher for a glass of champagne, which was a nice touch. ROOM The room was clean, albeit not huge, and the bed was a proper big bed with two large mattresses, each with their own settings (with an electric control), so you could put up your feet or back etc. The bathroom we had was very small but clean and had everything we needed, including toiletries that were replenished. The hotel has an oldy-woldy feel to it and is a bit dark for my liking, but it is clean and has all the amenities. There is a bottle of water for free, though once that runs out you can easily just drink tap water – the tap water in Zurich is absolutely fine. The television had several international channels, though we didn’t watch much so I can’t remember which. LOCATION The location is good, right by the Opera and the lake (although I don't think any of the rooms look out over the lake directly, but we did see the lake from our room) and within 10 mins walking distance of the famous shopping street Bahnhofstrasse and 15 mins walk from the old town. Plenty of public transport, including an S-Bahn station a 5 mins walk away with a direct train to the airport. RESTAURANT Breakfast was a buffet and very nice with a selection of breads, genuine Swiss Bircherm?esli, fruit, fantastic Swiss cheeses, cereals, eggs and even champagne. We also had dinner at the hotel restaurant. Not cheap but it was delicious, and the restaurant staff very friendly. One negative point however: this is the first hotel of this category (and even lower categories) that we have come across where the guest is expected to take the laundry to reception, rather than it being collected. Not a huge deal, but not something you’d expect in this type of hotel.

I stayed at the Ambassador for two nights and enjoyed the stay. Service (front desk, restaurant, and housekeeping) was very good. Room was more than comfortable with all amenities except an iron and ironing board. Internet is not free. Great location and easy walking to public transit (Stadlhof) and old town. The opera is across the street and the lake is only 50 meters away. There's also an excellent non-smoking vegetarian restaurant in Tibits about a half block away. In short, this hotel is highly recommended if you can afford the 280 CHF/night pricetag (this is how much it was during my stay at the end of March/beginning of April).

I read the reviews about this hotel, which I know very well. It's all true, also the negative ones. I think it's a question of taste, if you like this place or not. For several years I had come with a group to the Opera hotel, merely because of the friendlyness of the management, which never failed to help me with my guests from all different countries. And there were quite difficult guests I have to admit. This year I changed them to be in the Ambassador, and well, it was even better. It's a little bit more expensive, but company pays. But it's better if you contact the hotel directly for a group rate. What I dislike is the high price for the internet connection (should be included in a hotel of this caliber) and depending on the room, you can hear the guests next door. However, the porters and the the whole team are very friendly and the restaurant downstairs is great. Some people prefer the Steigenberger, yes sure, it's nice, but here it's more personal and as I said, they make pretty every wish come true.

Stayed at the this small hotel for 4 nights on business in June 2007. Overall it was a very good experience. The room was quite small, but since I was traveling alone, it was fine for my needs. The bathroom was very small, the toilet is located directly in front of the sink and was very cramped. Three is a very nice glass enclosed shower, but the bathroom is so small that there was barely enough room to towel off after a shower. One of my traveling companions had the same class of room, but told me that her bathroom was bigger. The room looked away from the street into a courtyard. The courtyard is used for parking and garbage disposal of the main floor restaurant. At various points during the evening restaurant employees banged around in the courtyard disposing of garbage. This was unpleasant while it was going on, but didn't last very long. The hotel staff were very helpful and all spoke excellent English, as I speak no German and only rudimentary French. They even loaned me a plug converter so that I could recharge my North American voltage laptop and iPod. The hotel location is good. Not right in the midst of the old-town, but just across the street from the lake and within easy walking distance of most things. The train station a couple of blocks away runs directly to the airport, for only CHF6, this is far cheaper than taking a taxi which would be CHF80+. Overall very nice hotel, good location, very helpful staff. But noisy courtyard and tiny, tiny bathroom.