No five-star hotel had been built in Gstaad since the Palace in 1913 when The Alpina Gstaad opened in December 2012 on the Oberbort hill above the village. The project took the site of the old Alpina, a hotel from the early twentieth century that had closed, and two investors, the Gstaad builder Marcel Bach and the financier Jean-Claude Mimran, put several hundred million Swiss francs into replacing it.
History
The old hotel was demolished and the new one built over three winters, with a share of the site set aside for private residences that help carry the cost. The Alpina opened on 1 December 2012 as a luxury hotel in Gstaad built from the ground up, a rarity in a village where the grand hotels date from before the First World War. Six Senses, the Asian spa and resort group, took the spa as its first address in Europe. The two restaurants that matter most, Sommet and MEGU, both went on to earn Michelin stars within a few years of opening.
Architecture and design
The architects drew a cluster of chalet forms in local stone and timber rather than a single block, so that the hotel reads from the valley as a hamlet. Inside, reclaimed wood from old Bernese barns lines walls and ceilings, some of it carved, and the stone floors are local. The owners' art collection hangs through the public rooms, mixing contemporary works with older pieces, and the hotel has its own cinema and a wine cellar used for tastings. The look avoids the gold and velvet of the older palaces for wool, leather and oiled wood.
Rooms and suites
The 56 rooms and suites are lined with timber, most of them with a balcony or terrace facing the Saanenland, and many with a fireplace. The largest suites occupy the top floors with their own terraces, and the Panorama Suite has a private spa. Ceilings are low and warm rather than grand, and the bathrooms are in stone.
Dining
Sommet is the fine-dining room, with a Michelin star for its French-based cooking. MEGU, the sister of the Japanese restaurant of the same name in New York, holds its own star for sushi and robata cooking. The Swiss Stübli, in a room of old pine, serves fondue, raclette and the regional dishes guests expect in the Bernese Oberland. The Alpina Lounge and Bar, a cigar lounge and the wine cellar complete the set.
Wellness
The Six Senses Spa covers about 2,000 square metres with an indoor pool, an outdoor pool heated for winter, a hammam, a Himalayan salt grotto, a gym and treatment rooms. The programme follows the Six Senses manner of sleep, nutrition and movement rather than beauty treatments alone, and a yoga studio is part of it.
Weddings and events
The hotel has meeting rooms for boards and small conferences and uses its restaurants, the cinema and the wine cellar for private dinners. Celebrations are small by the nature of a 56-room house, and the hotel does not publish capacities.
Location
Alpinastrasse climbs from the Promenade, Gstaad's car-free main street, to the Oberbort hill, about five minutes above the village centre. Gstaad station on the MOB GoldenPass line is below, with trains to Montreux and to Zweisimmen for Bern. Saanen airfield, about 3 kilometres away, takes private aircraft; Geneva airport is about 150 kilometres and Zurich about 220. The ski lifts of Eggli and Wispile start in the village, and Glacier 3000 at the Col du Pillon is about 20 kilometres up the valley. The hotel opens for winter and summer seasons and closes between them.
