One hundred and thirty-six rooms in a contemporary alpine design hotel above Saanen — the Saanenland's most family-friendly luxury proposition, with a panoramic valley position, the HUUDspa, and the most credible activity programme on the mountain.
"The Saanenland's most quietly democratic luxury — a contemporary 136-room alpine design hotel above Saanen, the most credible activity programme on the mountain, and rooms at a third of what the Promenade five-stars charge for the same panorama."
HUUS Gstaad opened in December 2015 on a parcel above Saanen — the larger village two kilometres west of Gstaad proper that holds the Saanen private airport and the start of the Eggli ski sector. The property was a deliberate Saanenland statement: the first ground-up contemporary alpine design hotel of any scale in the region, conceived to demonstrate that an alpine luxury hotel could be modern in tone, family-friendly in operation, and priced to attract guests who wanted the Saanenland but wouldn't commit to the Promenade five-stars' rate cards. The architect was the Bern firm Bart & Buchhofer; the interiors were by the Zurich studio Atelier ushitamborriello, who applied a clean, light, recessive Scandinavian-alpine palette that has aged remarkably well.
The 136 rooms are arranged across the main building's five floors and a connecting south wing. The categories are deliberately legible: HUUS Standard (28-32 square metres, valley view, balcony), HUUS Plus (slightly larger, premium balcony orientation), HUUS Deluxe (corner units), Junior Suites (40-50 square metres with separate seating area), and the headline HUUS Suites (60-80 square metres with valley-facing terrace and freestanding bathtub). Every room has a private balcony, a pale oak floor, large picture windows, and a writing desk — a configuration that works equally for the family ski week, the solo writing trip, or the couple's wellness weekend. The connecting room configurations across the Plus and Deluxe categories handle three-generation parties without negotiation.
Two restaurants and a bar run on-site. The HUUS Restaurant is the all-day breakfast, lunch, and dinner room with an alpine-Mediterranean menu and the most reliable family-friendly dinner service in the Saanenland — children's menu, separate kids' dinner sitting, the unscripted welcome that the Promenade five-stars reserve for major bookings. The HUUS Bar is the lobby-level evening drink with the panoramic terrace. The HUUDspa runs across two levels with an indoor pool, outdoor whirlpool with valley view, sauna, steam, and seven treatment rooms — sized for the resort rather than the destination spa. The activity programme is the property's distinctive proposition: in-house ski instructors, the only on-site climbing wall in the Saanenland, e-bike rental, paragliding partnerships, fly-fishing, and a programmed daily schedule from 9am to 5pm that runs in winter and summer.
HUUS sits cleanly in the Saanenland mix as the value-and-modernity proposition. The Promenade is a six-minute drive (the shuttle runs every 30 minutes); the Eggli lift station is two minutes by car; the Saanen airport is five minutes. For the family that wants Gstaad in operational terms but doesn't want to spend ski-week-with-three-children at the Palace's nightly rate, HUUS is the most quietly intelligent answer in the village — and its activity programme makes it the genuine choice rather than the compromise.
For the family Gstaad-and-Saanenland booking that wants the experience without the Promenade five-star rate, HUUS is the obvious choice. The connecting Plus and Deluxe rooms handle three-generation parties; the climbing wall, the in-house ski school, and the programmed activity schedule give the children somewhere to be from morning to dinner; the children's menu and separate kids' sitting in the HUUS Restaurant means the adults get their dinner uninterrupted. The shuttle to the Promenade runs every thirty minutes.
The HUUDspa is the Saanenland's most reliable mid-tier wellness install — sized for the resort rather than the destination, but with daily yoga, the outdoor whirlpool with valley view, and a kitchen that handles plant-based and gluten-free briefs cleanly at the standard half-board level. Five-night programmes are when the activity-plus-spa schedule starts to compound; HUUS Suites have the freestanding bathtub for the post-yoga soak.
For the solo Saanenland trip — the writing week, the ski week alone, the post-life-event reset — HUUS is the strongest answer. The HUUS Plus rooms are large enough for the extended working stay, the WiFi is the strongest in the village, the staff handles the left-alone brief reflexively, and the activity programme means the day has a structure if the work doesn't fill it. The lobby reading room runs as a quiet co-working room from breakfast to early evening.
Schönriedstrasse 74
3792 Saanen
Switzerland
Saanen railway 3 minutes by foot; Gstaad Promenade 6 minutes by shuttle (every 30 min); Eggli lift station 2 minutes; Saanen private airport 5 minutes; Geneva airport 2 hours
136 rooms (HUUS Standard, Plus, Deluxe, Junior Suite, HUUS Suite)
HUUS Standard from CHF 380/night
HUUS Plus from CHF 460/night
Junior Suite from CHF 720/night
HUUS Suite from CHF 1,100/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Opened December 2015 (Bart & Buchhofer architecture, ushitamborriello interiors)
HUUS Restaurant (alpine-Mediterranean)
HUUS Bar with panoramic terrace
HUUDspa (two levels; indoor pool)
Outdoor whirlpool with valley view
On-site climbing wall, in-house ski school
E-bike rental, paragliding, fly-fishing
Programmed daily activity schedule
From CHF 380/night. Christmas-New Year is a five-night minimum and books five months ahead; the second half of January and the second half of March are the rate-and-snow value windows. Family-room categories book first.
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