VISIONAPARTMENTS Zurich Brandschenkestrasse

The location is excellent, and I liked having a lounge with a bar and café on the first floor, since it gave me lunch, breakfast, and room-service options. The building is secure. I arrived around noon, but check-in doesn't start until 3 p.m.; there is a small place to leave your luggage while you wait. The spiral stairs lean inward, the lift is small, and the raised doorways are easy to trip over. I nearly fell the first time, so watch your step. A heads-up for anyone booking: this used to be Fleming’s Hotel, but the name and company have changed. If they don't email asking for ID before you arrive, contact them with your booking number and ID. The company I booked through was no help, but the staff sorted it out. Room access uses a unique code emailed on check-in day, which could be tricky if you're not comfortable with tech, and there isn't a check-in desk with someone to help. My room was very hot when I arrived. The thermostat took some figuring out, but I eventually cooled it down. The handheld shower was awkward to aim for washing my hair, and I'm tall, so I had to stand right against the far wall. There are no washcloths. The room has a mini-fridge, microwave, coffee maker, kettle, a few dishes, and a wine opener; the shampoo products smelled great. Hopefully this saves someone the confusion and hassle I had. I've been pleased with my stay so far.

The location is great, and the staff are doing an amazing job. There's a decent range of extensions, but the rooms were tired and weren't cleaned during my three-day stay. Breakfast was very basic, the corridors felt stale, and the whole place needs a revamp. We booked Flemings Hotel as a four-star property, but this clearly didn't feel like four stars. The advertising was misleading.

Rodrigo made a big difference to our stay. When the lift broke on our first day after another guest overloaded it, he apologized and explained that someone was coming to fix it. It was working again the next morning. Things like that happen, and as middle-aged guests we didn't mind the exercise up to the fifth floor, about 98 steps. The apartment was clean and mostly modern, and check-in and checkout were fairly easy. We felt safe, and the lobby is locked after hours. We came from the USA and wanted somewhere nice downtown near the old town, so the location suited us.

Our rooms were really dirty when we arrived. The bedsheets hadn't been changed, the bathroom had dirty towels in it, and the sink was filthy from the previous guests. We also got charged extra for an unexpected early check-in. When we asked the apartment managers to fix things, we had to download one site and then go through links to another. It was the worst experience we've had in Zurich.