It looks like a publicity stunt for a hotel chain. Stick a bed on a Swiss mountain, get the attention of the world’s media and – boom – viral marketing. A couple of days later, bung the first ad on TV and let Lenny Henry take over. “You can really breathe in a Premier Inn,” he’ll say in his purple pyjamas. Cut to the bed and a lone, bemused cow.
But that’s not it. The Alpine “room” is the idea of twin concept artists Frank and Patrik Riklin, who make a habit of parodying – and annoying – the luxury hotel industry. “We are making a statement of the antithesis of the megalomania of this time,” says Patrik, who occasionally reaches for Google translate while speaking from his home outside Zurich.
The room, which was booked up all summer, within days of its July opening, is part of the brothers’ slightly mad Null Stern, or “zero star” concept (“the only star is you”). It sprung from their Studio for Special Works in 2008, when they put beds to sleep 14 in an underground nuclear fallout shelter near St Gallen.
Almost 3,000 guests stayed during its year of operation, paying £15 a night. It was the world’s first zero-star hotel, at a time when luxury chains were inventing sixth and even seventh stars. The world’s media lapped up the novelty, but there was method behind the reinforced concrete.
“The zero means freedom from the absurdity of the star system and questions the idea of luxury,” says Patrik, 43. “It’s a new space and you can decide the value.” The hotel, launched soon after the global financial crash, was also a comment on the value of real estate – a cold war law requires new Swiss buildings to house nuclear shelters, but most are redundant.
For phase two, the artists looked up, to another abundant source of space in Switzerland. “The mountains are the imaginary building of the new Null Stern,” Patrik says. “It looks like a fantasy but it’s a serious statement – a fantasy you can sleep in.”
Local farmers take it in turns to be butlers, wearing bow ties, white gloves and work boots. They serve a breakfast of local produce. A restaurant, 10 minutes’ walk away, has toilet facilities, but otherwise, weather permitting, guests are left under the stars.
The “room” costs almost £200 a night – the view isn’t bad, after all. But, says Patrik, in 2010 the brothers turned down Russian investors who wanted to buy the zero-star idea from them. “It would have been the death of our identification as concept artists,” he says.
The Riklins have, however, partnered with a like-minded hospitality consultant, and plan to put 25 beds in different valleys. “Maybe Switzerland can be the first country to become a hotel,” Patrik says.
The zero-star idea has not always pleased the establishment, though. After the bunker went viral, Patrik says the body responsible for the star system threatened to sue them. “We were a threat to the business model,” he says. “That’s when we knew we were doing something interesting.”
