Gstaad Palace

The Hotel

The Gstaad Palace was built in 1912–1913 by Robert Steffen and a consortium of local Saanenland families on the hill directly above what is now the Gstaad Promenade. The architect Karl Indermuhle designed it as a turreted alpine castle — a single, recognisable silhouette intended to be visible from every approach to the village. The hotel opened on 8 December 1913 with a single bath in each suite (the equivalent five-star promise of the era) and was intended from the outset to be a winter as much as a summer property. The Scherz family acquired full ownership in 1938 and the property has remained in continuous Scherz ownership and management for four generations: Ernst Scherz Sr. through the Second World War; Ernst Scherz Jr. through the post-war reinvention as a winter society resort; Andrea Scherz Sr.; and Andrea Scherz Jr., the current managing director. It is the only Swiss grand hotel of its generation still owned by its founding family.

The 90 rooms (split as 53 doubles and 37 suites) are arranged across the historic main building's seven floors. Categories run from the entry-level Cosy Doubles (around 26 square metres in the original turret rooms) through the Deluxe Doubles, Junior Suites, the named Tower Suites with their original turret architecture, and the headline Penthouse Suite — a 400-square-metre four-bedroom corner unit on the top floor with two terraces and the most published private view in the Alps. Every room has been brought to a contemporary five-star standard in the rolling refurbishment programme that has run continuously since 2003; the historic envelope, the suite layouts, and the grand ballroom remain as Indermuhle drew them in 1912.

Five restaurants and three bars run across the property. Le Grill (one Michelin star, opened 1968 as the hotel's grill room) is the historic flagship — chef Franz W. Faeh runs a French-Swiss menu with the strongest sommellerie team on the mountain. Gildo's Ristorante is the Italian destination, opened by Gildo Rachelli in 1971 and still at the upper end of the Italian dining scene in the Alps. Le Grand Restaurant is the all-day breakfast and half-board venue under the original chandeliers; La Fromagerie is the cheese-and-fondue specialist; the Sommer-Stübli is the summer-only outdoor terrace. The Lobby Bar is the after-ski drink; the GreenGo — opened 1971 — is the only true nightclub in the Saanenland and the closest thing the Alps have to a St-Tropez night in winter, running every night through the Christmas-New Year and February peak weeks. The Palace Spa runs across two floors with an indoor pool, the Gildo Rachelli outdoor pool, hammam, and 14 treatment suites.

Service is the inheritance: a hundred and ten years of Scherz training, the highest staff-to-room ratio in Gstaad, and the deepest set of local relationships in the Saanenland — ski instructors, helicopter operators, the polo committee, the New Year fireworks, the Saanen private airport. The position is the second piece of the inheritance: the hill directly above the Promenade gives every room some version of the valley view, and the three-minute walk down to the Promenade puts every Gstaad shop, restaurant, and ski lift inside the property's effective footprint. For the Gstaad booking that wants the inherited grand hotel rather than the contemporary chalet, the Palace is the only correct answer.

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