The world’s first no star or zero-star hotel, also called Null Stern Hotel, is up and running in the town of Sewell. There are no separate rooms and bathroom is also shared. Interior is “decorated” with ducts and cables hanging from the ceiling.
Do you find these conditions too Spartan for your taste? With price this low, just $ 9-13 per night, it is better then sleeping in the dumpster. For Switzerland’s high living standards this place was a true marvel, a wonder from another dimension, so the place is booked for months ahead. Null Stern Hotel can accommodate 54 people at the same time.

The only view of the outside world it would offer would be from the monitors in the lobby and only lucky few would get to shower in warm water. With such amenities in place – needless to say – the worldwide buzz around the Null Stern Hotel is massive.

Frank and Patrik Riklin who own Atelier für Sonderaufgaben (studio for special works) in St. Gallen were initially looking for a place to lodge guest musicians who were invited to perform at a local venue. Since there was no room in Sevelen for a new hotel, someone suggested taking a look at an underground nuclear bunker.

After initial inspection to Sevelen officials, the Riklin brothers were told that there is no way anyone would want to stay in that hole. One thing lead to another, Frank and Patrik Riklin felt challenged, so they went and got paperwork ready and started thinking of the ways to make use of that chunk of concrete block.

There was only one requirement that Swiss army imposed upon new owners of the bunker – none of the walls can be removed and bunker must be ready to revert to its original purpose within 24 hours should there an attack on Switzerland.

Facing the biggest creative challenge of their lives, Frank and Patrik Riklin were not deterred and an idea of a zero star hotel was born. They gave it zero star rating so as not to limit themselves on what the place is offering.

In these difficult economic times, the opening of a zero star hotel could not have been timed better. Perhaps the Null Stern Hotel project will begin a whole new era of hotel accommodation that will reflect on people’s inability to afford extremely expensive accommodation offered by “regular” hotels.

It will be interesting to see how this idea takes off once it’s fully available. It was not so long ago when world’s first 7 star hotel (Burj Al Arab in Dubai, United Arab Emirates) opened for public and now we’re seeing the opposite end of it with Null Stern Hotel.