Sleeping beauty: Sophia Loren

Zurich, July 14 (AFP): Years after Sophia Loren graced the Dolder Grand hotel in Zurich with her presence, the bed the Italian actor slept in was snapped up by a fan at the renowned Swiss hotel’s closing sale for 1,000 euros.

The bed used by Elton John went for a few hundred euros more as furniture, silver teaspoons, plush tablecloths, and even the last few bottles the rich and famous left at the bar were snapped up before the venerable hotel shut down on Monday for a facelift.

Perched on a leafy hillside overlooking the city and Lake Zurich, the five-star Dolder Grand has thrived for 105 years on its reputation as one of the best hotels in the world.

The eclectic guest list has included German writer Thomas Mann, scientist Albert Einstein, US President John F. Kennedy, the Shah of Iran, Bill Clinton and Madonna.

Once the guests return in autumn 2006, their familiar surroundings — except for a few antiques and masterpieces salvaged for the re-opening — will have been whisked up by hundreds of bargain hunters who queued up on Saturday and Monday.

Buyers from as far afield as Germany and Italy flocked past Sophia Loren’s bed, which took pride of place in the restaurant.

Architect Norman Foster — who designed the new German Reichstag building in Berlin, the “Gherkin” skyscraper in London and Tokyo’s Millennium Tower — is being paid 100 million Swiss francs for the renovation. The Swiss National Museum in Zurich reportedly bought a typical old room to preserve a piece of history.