A Quiet Corner of the Oldest Swiss City

Beautiful view of Innsbruck, Austria with mountains and clouds in the background.

Hotel Drei Könige sits on Reichsgasse 18 in the 7000 Chur postcode, tucked into the historic Altstadt of Graubünden. The official address reads Reichsgasse 18, 7000 Chur, Switzerland, placing the property right at the pedestrian heart of what the hotel itself describes as the oldest city in Switzerland. The setting is unmistakably old town: narrow lanes, a continuous run of catering addresses within a stone's throw, and a streetscape that has clearly welcomed travelers for more than two centuries.

A Building That Has Been a Hotel Since 1793

The defining feature of Hotel Drei Könige is the building itself. According to the property's own history, the house was opened as an inn in 1793 by Zunftmeister Conrad Bavier, who placed the sign of the three kings above the door and gave the establishment its name. State archive records confirm that Bavier converted his inherited family house into a Gasthof with that distinctive three-kings sign. The hotel has remained in this same building ever since, making it a living thread running through more than two hundred years of Chur's urban story.

The family Schällibaum ran the house for three generations before the current owners were able to purchase it in 2005. Since then, the property has continued to operate in the sameAltstadtbuilding, under the same name above the door. It is described by its owners as afamily-runestablishment, with hospitality described as a tradition.

Details Hidden in the Walls

One of the most intriguing features of the property is the layer of history concealed inside its structure. The owners note that the walls contain details most guests never notice: what they describe as Chur's oldest surviving hotel room, a Festsaal that reportedly alternated between being part of a monastery and serving as a seat of government, and — according to legend — an underground passage that once connected the bishop's residence with the hotel's cellar. These touches give the building a character closer to a small historical site than to a standard urban hotel.

Individually Styled Rooms and a Dining-Laden Neighborhood

The official description highlights individually furnished rooms suited to a range of budgets, and points visitors toward the surrounding Altstadt food scene. Mapped nearby catering places are densely clustered around the hotel: Flavour (about 25 m), Veltliner Weinstube zum Stern (about 28 m), Djaoprayah (about 31 m), Café Patschifig (about 43 m), La Vita (about 60 m), Controversa (about 67 m), Cramerei (about 77 m), Kulturpunkt GR (about 81 m), Obelisco (about 110 m), bytes (about 115 m), Restaurant Calanda (about 122 m) and il passaggio chur (about 130 m). The property itself frames this as more than ten restaurants within roughly a two-minute walk of the entrance.

A Tradition of Hospitality in Chur's Altstadt

The phrase Gastfreundschaft seit 1793 appears prominently in the hotel's own materials, and the property is presented as a traditional inn in the Chur old town. Its location inside the Altstadt, its continuous use of the same building since 1793 and the small historical features woven into the fabric of the property together form the core of its identity. The current owners took over the house in 2005 and continue to run it within those same historic walls.

Practical Considerations

The address to use is Reichsgasse 18, 7000 Chur, Switzerland, in the canton of Graubünden. Nearby dining options and other details reflected in mapped listings may change over time, so it is sensible to confirm specifics directly with the hotel when planning a stay. The hotel's own pages are available in German, English, French and Italian, and the address given by the official site matches the structured location record for the property.

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Place data: Geoapify and OpenStreetMap contributors.