Apartments Zürich

A local landlord's alternative to hotels and serviced flats

Apartments Zürich operates under the principle of "Zuhause auf Zeit" (home for a time): fully furnished, independent apartments scattered across Zurich's neighbourhoods, rented with flexibility for anyone arriving without a permanent lease. Unlike corporate housing chains or Airbnb's tourist model, this is a local Swiss firm that handles the paperwork as your registered landlord, acts as your personal contact, and treats each tenant individually rather than processing bookings through automation. The firm explicitly markets itself as "not Airbnb, not hotel, not WG" (not a shared apartment), positioning itself as a middle ground between temporary tourism rentals and traditional roommate situations.

The firm manages over 50 units across seven of Zurich's districts, with sizes ranging from 12 square metre shared rooms in a student house to full 38 square metre studios. Most cluster around Kreis 4 on Badenerstrasse and the Altstetten neighbourhood, though the portfolio includes units in the old town and the trendy Wiedikon quarter. The service targets people arriving for a few weeks or months (business expats, relocating professionals, students mid-semester), as well as companies placing temporary staff or project teams.

What arrival actually means here

When you land in Zurich without a Swiss address, this becomes useful immediately. The firm's defining promise is that it will carry out the official registration (Einzugsanzeige) as your registered landlord, so you can register your address before opening a bank account or signing an employment contract, without needing a long-term lease or waiting for a permanent flat to materialize. The website explicitly names this feature because the Swiss system, which requires an address for almost everything, is one of the first obstacles new arrivals face.

The apartments come with utilities included in the rent (heating, water, electricity, WLAN), so your monthly bill is just the stated price and a one-time processing fee of 200 francs after a lease is agreed. Weekly cleaning is included for short stays (under two months), and the firm offers to arrange viewings or a virtual walk-through before you commit. Check-in is after business hours (self-check-in at the building, then a personal meeting the next working day), and the firm promises responses to inquiries within 8 hours. All of this is designed to solve the practical friction of arrival.

The specifics the site publishes

Furnished means furnished: every unit arrives with pressed bed linen, towels, dishes, cutlery, pots, pans, soap, and a coffee machine. Kitchens range from a hot plate to a full oven (listed per unit). All units have free high-speed internet and a TV. The minimum lease is 30 days, though specific units carry different terms; a three-night last-minute booking costs 292 francs total (for which you get a 15 percent discount on selected dates). The website does not publish standard nightly or monthly rates, so exact pricing for non-promotional periods must be requested directly from the firm.

The firm divides the units into "Business Apartments" (studios and larger, mostly on Badenerstrasse) and "WG-Zimmer" (shared rooms in a student house). The studios range from 12 to 38 square metres and either have their own kitchen or a kitchenette. Availability windows are published per unit (most showing availability within two to three months). The website highlights its 4.9-star Airbnb rating and claims "personal support, not automated processing," with the same person handling your lease, your move-in, and your questions throughout the stay.

What the site does not settle

The pricing is the biggest omission. Every listing shows "Ab CHF .../Monat" (from CHF .../month) and "Ab CHF .../Nacht" (from CHF .../night) but no actual figures. The request form is the only way to learn the current prices for a specific unit and dates. For someone arriving with a tight budget, this means you cannot shop by price or estimate monthly costs without contacting the firm first. The last-minute example shows 292 francs for 3 nights, but the standard rates remain hidden.

The site publishes no term sheet, no cancellation policy, and no explicit cancellation fees beyond the 200-franc processing fee. It is unclear whether the cleaning service extends beyond short stays (the text implies weekly cleaning for short-term rentals), whether utilities can surge in winter, or what happens if you need to break the lease early. The firm's lease terms are negotiable ("flexible Kündigungsfristen ab 30 Tagen, je nach Vertrag"), but the website offers no templates or ranges. The site also does not state whether the 200-franc fee applies to all leases or only those over a certain length, and the language around "Bearbeitungspauschale nach der Zusage" suggests it is collected after the contract is signed, not upfront.

The website also does not clarify the registration process. While Apartments Zürich promises to carry out the "Einzugsanzeige" (registration notice) as your landlord, it is unclear how long this takes, what documents you need to provide, whether there are any additional fees, or whether the registration is completed before or after you move in. For someone landing without Swiss contacts or paperwork, these details matter significantly.

Who this serves and who it does not

This is a strong fit for anyone arriving for 2 to 12 months and who wants to be registered at a real address, move into a normal apartment (not a hostel or hotel), avoid the search for a long-term flat, and work directly with a real person. For expat workers, relocating families, and students who have landed a position mid-year, the combination of guaranteed landlord registration, included utilities, and personal support removes most of the arrival friction. The three-month runway is long enough to find permanent housing.

It is less suited to someone seeking the absolute cheapest option (short-stay bookings run at least hundreds of francs and neither is a bargain compared to business hotels), or to someone who knows they will be here for more than a year and just needs an immediate address while they search. For annual tenancies, a conventional long-term rental is usually cheaper. This also works best if you are mobile enough to consider any of the seven neighbourhoods; if you need a specific location or size, the 50 units across Zurich's districts may not include it.