Why book
Forget glitzy St. Moritz—Gstaad has a sophisticated, ‘old-money’ vibe, and this castle of a hotel is at the centre of it.
Set the scene
Towering above the pretty alpine village of Gstaad like something out of a fairytale, the palace is two hours’ drive from Geneva, or three hours by train, with a change at Montreux. Whichever way you approach it, you’ll spot its Disneyesque grandeur long before you arrive. The hotel in turn is dwarfed by the majesty of the mountains behind it—the kind of scenery you might expect to find snow queens in winter, and Heidi gambling in alpine pastures when the weather turns warm. It’s a ten-minute walk down the hill to Gstaad itself, with its charming chalets and obligatory flowers tumbling from the balconies; guests get a complimentary transfer from the station.
The backstory
Built in 1913 after the train line from Montreux was extended to Gstaad, the palace soon became the place to see and be seen, with everyone from Liz Taylor and Richard Burton to Maggie Thatcher paying a visit. Frank Sinatra has burst into impromptu song in the bar, Michael Jackson offered to buy the hotel and Robbie Williams (who has a place nearby) is a regular in the restaurant. Anyone who’s anyone has danced at GreenGo nightclub. Movies, too, have been set here, including The Return of the Pink Panther and most recently the 2023 Roman Polanski film The Palace, starring John Cleese. It’s a true family affair; not only has the Scherz family, now in their third generation, been running the palace since 1938 (later buying it in 1947) but generations of families treat the hotel as a second home.
Owner and hotel manager Andrea Scherz describes the look as mountain chic with a British touch, and that pretty much sums it up. It’s certainly understated rather than in-your-face luxury. The capacious lobby bar with its carved wooden pillars and enormous open fire is as much decorated by its famous guests as it is by its fabrics and paintwork—it’s like Europe’s parlor for posh people watching. Vintage photos on the walls portray members of the Scherz family as well as famous guests including Roger Moore and Louis Armstrong.
The rooms
All 90 rooms come with an Alpine view, and many have either balconies or terraces from which to enjoy it. In contemporary chalet style, with beamed ceiling, wood details and botanical prints, they come in 13 different categories, from ‘cosy’ to the rooftop penthouse, including a number of spacious suites. You’ll find USP ports in the bedroom and double sinks in the bathrooms, many of which have both a tub and shower. Guests tend to book their favorite room year in year out. Scherz’s favorite room (and the one actress Victoria Principal favors) is Number 709, with its bathroom in a turret.
Food and drink
There’s plenty of theatre to go with your food in the superb Grill restaurant—smoked salmon is carved at the table, langoustine deshelled, and steaks flambeed with panache. Chef Franz Faeh originates from Gstaad but spent more than a decade working in Asia, which explains the number of delicious Asian dishes on the menus, including sea bass medallion Hong Kong style with pak choi, soy and mirin sauce in The Grill and a papaya salad with shrimp in the Grand Terrace restaurant. As its name suggests, this restaurant spills into the outdoors; it serves everything from a croque monsieur to potatoes with caviar. In the winter, there’s also a fondue restaurant and an Italian.
The spa
With its indoor/outdoor hydrotherapy pool giving onto a pleasant sun terrace as well as an art-deco style indoor pool with an adjacent bar, this is a spoiling spa whatever the season. There’s a pocket-sized gym with a stairmaster, but with nature’s own step machine out in the mountains, it’s largely unused. An indulgent treatment for two comes in the form of the hammam experience. This is nothing like the harsh skin scraping you might get in Morocco or Turkey; two hours of bliss starts with a footbath and progresses through a calming blue room followed by a gentle body scrub with Moroccan black soap. Then, after time in the steam room and a dip in a firelit private pool, a full-body massage.
The neighborhood/area
Gstaad’s pedestrianised high street is a who’s who of haute couture, with every brand from Prada to Louis Vuitton housed in cute chalet shops. New to the fashion parade this summer is Max Mara. This clearly isn’t somewhere for casual shopping—to exercise your body as well as your bank account, the nearby mountains offer winter skiing for all levels. In summer, a single cable-car journey up the Wispile might cost $40, but the panorama is priceless. It’s a three-hour hike to the lake of Lauenensee, or jump off at the middle station and feel the wind in your hair as you scooter down to the bottom.
The service
It’s not unusual to see repeat guests greet staff members with a hug. This is a hotel where guests demand—and get—rooms customized to their needs, whether that extends to the design of decorations on personal Christmas trees or ordering gallons of Evian water to wash in. Pets are coddled too: one French aristocrat insisted that her cat have 50g of caviar a day. It’s not unusual for people to arrive with 100-150 suitcases for the season, which staff will unpack (the hotel also offers free luggage storage for up to 20 years). Scherz is frequently seen around the hotel greeting guests like old friends. If you’ve got a food allergy, rest assured; they know about it at the restaurant without you having to brief each waiter.
For families
Children can groom and walk St Bernard dogs, make their own mocktails and meet llamas and alpacas as part of the fun and varied activities at the complimentary kids club (10am-9pm). In summer, families gravitate to the Olympic-sized pool with traditional changing rooms and everything from diving boards to DJs, not to mention a café serving burgers and chips. Almost 60 per cent of rooms can be interconnected; some have sofa beds. There’s also a kids menu.
Eco effort
If you think the water in the 50m pool is a tad on the chilly side at 23.5C, that’s because heating the fresh mountain water further is against the Gstaad Palace’s eco-friendly ideals. In the summer, windows rather than a/c provide natural air conditioning for the rooms, while in winter, wood chips are used to heat the hotel. Guests can borrow Wili Wili Tree backpacks made from sustainable materials for mountain hiking. Sometimes, luxury service takes precedence over sustainability—a sign in the hotel bathrooms, where toiletries still come in plastic Molten Brown bottles, informs guests that sheets will ‘only’ be changed every two days unless they object.
Accessibility
Lifts and wide corridors are wheelchair friendly but there are no adapted accessible rooms.
Anything left to mention?
The hotel has its own mountain chalet, the Walig Hut. Guests can drive or hike there for private lunches and dinners; a family of four can also stay the night.
Palacestrasse 28, Gstaad, 3780
Switzerland
http://www.palace.ch/en/home/
+41 33-748-50-00