when my husband and i first discovered zurich (read about that trip HERE) we fell in love with the city. we describe zurich as a kind of ‘posh’ berlin – the ideal mix of swiss beauty and the kind of underground creativity berlin is so well-known for. there are so many coffee bars, independent boutiques and cool restaurants to discover, obviously 25 hours is way too short to do it all. especially now that we’re traveling with a little munchkin in tow, who straight out refuses to sleep in her stroller (except while we’re on a tram, then she stands no chance). still, we thought it was important to introduce her to the kind of traveling we like to do from very early on, so one fine day in august we booked ourselves into the 25 HRS HOTEL where we’d had such a good time a few years ago.

let me start off by saying that the 25 hrs in zurich is just the best for traveling with kids. there are toys in the lobby, the staff is exceptionally accommodating and understanding, and the quirky interior is a dream for little ones easily mesmerized by bright colors. furthermore, we were provided with the best baby cot we’ve ever seen in any hotel so far (with an actual decent mattress!) we brought our baby monitor but as we had expected, the signal didn’t carry from our room to the downstairs restaurant, so we used the (great and free) wifi to download THIS APP to keep an eye on a napping juliet during breakfast and dinner.

the NENI restaurant is probably my favorite part of the hotel – the breakfast buffet has everything you could possibly dream of – from scrambled eggs and bacon to cinnamon buns, and from freshly squeezed juices to champagne – and the menu for the rest of the day offers a variety of modern middle-eastern tapas. our room wasn’t spectacularly big, but even witht he baby cot and our stroller wedged in there, it never felt cramped thanks to the large windows and huge bed. for any new parents traveling with babies soon, i wanted to repeat my little thermos lifehack – we asked the nice kitchen staff to fill it with boiled bottled water so we could bring it up to our room and would be able to fix juliet’s bottles right there. anything that saves you from making the trip to the deserted kitchen in search of a microwave in the middle of the night, am i right? another hack i recently discovered is the CLIMAKID sleeping bag. i’ve told you about their rompers before HERE, but now they also have a great sleeping bag that helps kids regulate their body temperature. handy when you’re traveling and you only have partial control over the climate in your hotel room.

we spent so much time in the hotel, hanging out in the lobby waiting for juliet to wake up from her morning nap (she’s the devil incarnate when she skips that one), taking our sweet time for breakfast and dinner, and just relaxing with juliet in our room, spreading her toys out over the bed. when we ventured out, we decided to turn around the seat of our BUGABOO stroller for the first time, so that she could see whatever we could see walking through the city. best. decision. ever, as she seemed much more entertained for a much longer time than ever before. we even got the chance to grab a few very good cups of coffee at MILCHBAR, BOVELLI and APOTHEKE (our favorite), and to hop into NEUMARKT 17 and PRINT MATTERS!

juliet is wearing a star print romper by h&m, a pink aymara cardigan via PETITJULE.COM and the sweetest little BRIAR HANDMADE bonnet // we’re using the BUGABOO CAMELEON with the extendable sun canopy and a JOSEFINA diaper bag // in juliet’s cot you’ll see the CLIMAKID sleeping bag, her DOUUOD doudou, the BUGABOO woolmark blanket and HUXBABY cross blanket // juliet’s toys are from DONE BY DEER, JELLYCAT, FABELAB, ANNE-CLAIRE PETIT, SOPHIE LA GIRAFE and OLI AND CAROL // photos by stephanie duval and matthias rabaey