The lady I met one late weekend afternoon is extremely special - not only because she kept a lovely, charming aura, like a young girl, even though her architectual work so far includes some of the most spectacular buildings of all Switzerland.

The enigmatic FIFA headquarters at Zurichberg struck me the most - looking like the stronghold of a James-Bond-Villain; I lived in that area when it was still under construction and used to pass by, while running through the forests that surround this monument of power and international networking; I even had the chance for a private sightseeing tour with some lawyer friend - and will never forget the precious materials, the spacious rooms and the emphasis of discretion and mystery.

The project Tilla Theus implemented 25 years ago in the center of Zurich´s famous old town is quite the opposite. And was something nobody really did before her: she thought about and then build the first Boutique Hotel in the world, without even knowing that this idiom exists.

The task was to combine nine different, somehow connected houses, all about 500 years old, to create one very special hotel. A lot of stairs, different levels, completely different conditions - from completely ramshackle to surprisingly beautiful beneath a terrible surface - let her create 49 rooms, everyone different from the other.

She wanted to create a hotel, she herself would stay in, when in town for work or fun; a place, where cultural interested people with an eye for decor and architecture, would love to come again and again.

Listen to our conversation, more than 30 years after a young Tilla Theus accepted this challenge - and find out more about the special spirit of Widder Hotel.

Meet the magician, who created it.