At the Zero Star Hotel in Switzerland, you can spend the night in a nuclear bunker and it won’t cost a bomb.
The sun has set on the eastern Swiss village of 4,000 souls and hardly a person is to be seen on its narrow streets.
However, there is a small buzz by the community’s bomb shelter — the new Zero Star Hotel conceived by artist brothers Frank and Patrik Riklin is having a test night before launching operations full time.
PHOTO: AFP
For 10 to 30 Swiss francs (NT$275 – NT$825) budget travelers can rent dormitory style rooms in the bunker that offer basic comforts.
“There is a choice between four types of beds: single, bunk, double beds and rustic, wooden country beds,” said Patrik.
Each Swiss community has a nuclear bomb shelter for its residents, built during the days of the Cold War.
With the threat of nuclear confrontation gone with the collapse of communism, the bunkers are viewed by most Swiss towns as nothing more than a deep hole in the municipal budget.
“The town asked us to convert the bunker and we decided to launch the zero star concept,” said Frank.
The only condition the town placed on the twin brothers was that they make it available within 24 hours in case of an emergency.
“We want to be the opposite of the palaces in Dubai,” said Patrik.
Interest and demand are strong they say, pointing to 50,000 clicks to their Web site over the past month.
(AFP)
在瑞士這家由原子彈防空洞改建而成的「零星級旅館」中，你可以經濟實惠的價格住上一晚。
這天傍晚，這個有四千居民的瑞士東部村落，狹窄的街道上人煙稀少。
然而，社區防空洞讓這個地方稍稍活絡了起來──由藝術家兄弟檔法蘭克和派屈克•瑞科林籌劃的新「零星級旅館」，現正舉辦正式營運前的試住活動。
旅客支付十到三十元瑞士法郎（新台幣兩百七十五元到八百二十五元）的租金，就可入住這個地下碉堡的團體寢室，裡面提供基本舒適的設備。
派屈克說：「我們提供四種不同的床型：單人床、上下舖床、雙人床和鄉村風木板床。」
瑞士各區在冷戰時期都建造了原子彈防空洞供當地居民躲避。
隨著共產主義瓦解、原子彈攻擊的威脅解除，瑞士多數市鎮將這些地下碉堡視為消耗地方自治預算的無底洞。
法蘭克說：「該市請我們改建這個地下碉堡，於是我們決定提出這個零星級旅館的概念。」
該市對這對雙胞胎兄弟提出的唯一條件，就是必須二十四小時開放地下碉堡，以防緊急事故發生。
派屈克說：「我們希望將它打造成與杜拜豪華飯店相反的旅館。」
他們表示，從過去一個月他們網站的點閱率高達五萬人次看來，大家對這個概念的興趣和需求都相當濃厚。
（法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）
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