Short-term rentals serve business trips, between-lease gaps, expat transitions and renovation displacement. Each window has a best-fit provider.
1-30 days · hotels and Airbnb
- Aparthotels (ApartHotel, Welcome Hotels): nightly rates, with kitchenette
- Airbnb: legal but regulated · Zurich caps nights in some buildings, Geneva needs a permit. Prices per night vary by city and season
- Booking.com: filter for "entire apartment"
1-6 months · serviced apartments
- Visionapartments: furnished serviced apartments in several Swiss cities, including Zurich, Basel and Lausanne
- Welcome Hotels: similar
- aptari: the listings of Homegate, ImmoScout24, Flatfox and the cooperatives' own websites in one feed, with a filter for furnished flats, right next to regular listings
1-6 months · sublease
Cheaper. The main tenant offers their flat while they are away. The rules are strict: you need the landlord's consent (art. 262 OR, best in writing), and the sublet rent cannot be much higher than the main rent. Platforms: Flatfox sublease, wgzimmer.ch. See can I sublet.
Registration
- Stays under three months: whether you must register depends on the canton and commune · ask the local residents' office (Einwohnerkontrolle)
- Three months or more: you register with the commune; if your main home stays elsewhere, it is registered as a stay (Aufenthalt, art. 3 RHG) and the office may ask your host to confirm it. Aparthotels often won't support a registration
Cost benchmark
No official statistic publishes short-term rents. Compare offers per night or per month with the long-term rents on the city pages: the extra pays for furniture, utilities, flexibility and no application competition.