Location
Neuchâtel

Operator
Sandoz Fondation Hotels, Pully www.palafitte.ch

Maximum number of guests
120

Offer
One night without breakfast - per room (lakeside pavilion) from CHF 320.00   
One night without breakfast - per room (lakeside pavilion) from CHF 480.00     

Architecture
Kurt Hoffmann, Lausanne

On the occasion of Expo.02, the Sandoz Family Foundation built a 5-star hotel with 40 rooms on the lakeside near Neuchâtel. The hotel consists of pavilions, 24 pavilions stand on piles in the water with a direct drop into the lake, 16 further pavilions are built on the lakeshore.

The wooden elements for the construction of the hotel, designed by Lausanne architect Kurt Hoffmann, were developed in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. The staff is largely provided by the Lausanne Hotel Management School. State-of-the-art building services designed for sustainability have been implemented.

The hotel's original operating licence ran until autumn 2003, but the hotel's great popularity and innovative appeal encouraged the Sandoz Family Foundation to undertake the necessary changes to the building in accordance with regulations. The authorities subsequently issued the definitive operating licence.

^{Photos: © Sigrid Ostermeyer}