Hotels

Switzerland

My lists

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Badrutt's Palace

St. Moritz—that place of furs and slopes and lots of champagne—was nothing before Johannes Badrutt. He made this town when he persuaded a bunch of English tourists to try skiing. And today his legacy lives on as the definition of wintry European glamour. If you want to drink kirsch and see money ...

Baur Au Lac

It doesn’t get much grander than a 19th-century palace hotel in Europe’s banking capital. Baur au Lac, a Zurich institution since 1844, played host to pretty much anyone who was anyone, from royalty and heads of state to artists and Alfred Nobel. It’s kept itself in fine shape, and its antique-st...

Beau-Rivage Palace

One of the last of Europe’s traditional grand hotels, Lausanne’s Beau-Rivage Palace recalls the days of aristocrats traveling by coach; from within the gardens of the hotel’s ten-acre grounds, pressed up against Lake Geneva, it would be easy to feel a little bit lost in time. Vi...

Carlton Hotel St. Moritz

Please note: Carlton Hotel St. Moritz will be closed April 13, 2009 through November 26, 2009. It’s the rare classic grand hotel that actually lives up to its storied reputation — in this case it’s because the Carlton St. Moritz hasn’t been shy about renovating. On the theory th...

Eastwest Geneva

At first blush a Swiss luxury hotel seemingly named after a series of trade agreements might not sound like the most thrilling proposition. But Geneva is a town of subtler charms, and the same can be said for the Eastwest Hotel — which, to be fair, is rather more likely to have got its name from ...

Four Seasons Hotel Geneva

The Hotel des Bergues stood here on the shores of Lake Geneva back when the Four Seasons was still just a suite by Vivaldi — it was literally the first hotel in Geneva, and even now, post-renovation and under new management, it’s still, by many lights, the top luxury lodging in town. Even-keeled ...

Grand Hotel Zermatterhof

The Matterhorn is the focus; this imposing, eerie mountain peak, standing upright above the high Alps, is possibly Switzerland's most recognizable icon, and the high mountain town of Zermatt the Alps' classic resort town. The Grand Hotel Zermatterhof has been here since 1879, and was the favored ...

Hotel De La Paix, Geneva

One of Geneva’s original luxury hotels, the De La Paix has stood on this spot on the Quai du Mont Blanc since 1865. As a classic five-star, it wasn’t entirely without company — the shores of Lake Geneva are all but lined with luxury palaces — but now, after an extensive renovation, it’s staking o...

Hotel Les Trois Rois

There’s history, and then there’s history; there are old hotels, and then there are old hotels. Few, though, are quite as old as Les Trois Rois (or the Drei Könige, if you prefer), which has stood by the banks of the Rhine since the year 1026. The building, happily, isn’t quite that old, dating b...

Hotel Misani

Think of St. Moritz, and Swiss alpine resorts in general, and the word “affordable” might not leap directly to mind. For the most part it’s still very much an upscale destination, but just down the road in Celerina, one town over from St. Moritz proper, there’s a much more attainable option, in t...

Jiva Hill Park Hotel

We say Geneva for clarity’s sake but it’s worth knowing that the Jiva Hill Park Hotel is technically in France — it’s in the greater Geneva area, in the town of Crozet, just across the border, which looks out over the valley towards Lake Geneva. You’ll find it matters little, until you settle you...

Kulm Hotel St. Moritz

Please note: Kulm Hotel St. Moritz will be closed from March 29, 2009 to June 26, 2009. There are other luxury hotels in St. Moritz, but the Kulm can credibly claim to be the original. It was the first, at any rate, dating back to 1856, and if certain others are perhaps more recognizabl...

La Cour Des Augustins

Switzerland’s reputation as the land that time forgot might not be entirely deserved, but a look around the very traditional Geneva hotel scene is proof that it’s got at least some basis in fact. This is a city that, for all its classic architecture and grand-hotel opulence, could use a small bou...

Mandarin Oriental, Geneva

The Hotel du Rhône is what a business hotel should be. Anything but the usual faceless downtown office block, this one is located (as the name may imply) on the right bank of the Rhône river, a picturesque situation, yet still convenient to Geneva’s business district and shopping destinations—it ...

Park Hotel Weggis

Park Hotel Weggis opened in 1875 as Hotel Bellevue, and still retains its authentic Art Nouveau facade; but beneath the old-fashioned exterior is a boutique hotel in the most modern of styles. The contrast could not be more profound, and is a welcome surprise to pass from the exterior, with its t...

Park Hyatt Zurich

The brand-new Park Hyatt Zurich may be a new addition, but it’s already indispensable. It’s got an absolutely central location, just off the Bahnhofstrasse, and given the kind of hypermodern efficiency and grown-up modernism the Park Hyatt chain is known for, it’s a wonder this town’s high-flying...