Dimitri Burkhard
Imagine a queen size bed with fine Egyptian linen sheets. Now, imagine a butler handing you a glass of sparkling wine. And now, remove the ceiling and the walls of your imaginary hotel suite. Et voilà: You're staying the night at the Zero Star Hotel.
We have previously reported on the Riklin twins, two performance artist brothers who had converted a nuclear fallout shelter into the world's first Zero Star Hotel in 2009. Well, they are back with another installation in the picturesque Appenzell region.
"Our artistic perspective is to go in the other direction. There is freedom in the 'zero' to define luxury anew." (Frank Riklin)
Zero stars, that's a joke, right? Think again: Guests can stay at this open air "suite" for 295 francs per night - butler in rubber boots included!
This is the great outdoors, so guests can expect unobstructed 360 degree views of the impressive Alpstein region. Oh, and there might be some occasional wildlife nibbling on their toes at night... Need an outhouse? It's a three minute walk through the darkness.
We award the Riklin's ingenuity five stars and hope that they will continue to surprise us!
(Photographs copyright nullstern.ch/Claudio Baeggli)
Winter stays would be fun!