Three towers on a wooded knoll above the village, lit at night like a stage set: the silhouette of the Gstaad Palace has stood over Gstaad since 8 December 1913. It is the luxury hotel in Gstaad that defines the place from a distance, and it has been run by one family, the Scherz, for three generations.
History
The Palace opened in the last winter before the First World War. Ernst Scherz took over its management in 1938, and the family has owned and run the hotel since; his son Ernst Andrea Scherz succeeded him, and Andrea Scherz, the third generation, has been in charge since 2001. The GreenGo nightclub opened in 1971 above the indoor pool, which is covered over to become the dance floor at night. The Palace Spa opened in 2007. The Walig Hut, an alpine cheese-maker's hut of 1783 at 1,700 metres on the slopes above the valley, was taken on by the hotel for dinners and overnight stays with no electricity and a wood stove.
Architecture and design
The hotel was built as a castle in the Swiss manner, with round towers under conical roofs rising from a chalet-style body of timber and render, and it is listed as a Swiss cultural property of regional significance. The Lobby, with its open fire and the view down the valley, is where the house gathers at tea time; Le Grand Restaurant beyond it has chandeliers and a terrace along the south front. Renovations have kept the public rooms formal while the bedrooms have moved towards alpine wood and checks.
Rooms and suites
The 90 rooms and suites look either down the valley to the village and the Saanenland or back to the mountains behind. The Penthouse Suite on the roof has its own whirlpool under the open sky, and the tower rooms have curved walls. Rooms have been renovated continuously; the current look is chalet rather than palace, with pine, wool and alpine colours, and the suites add fireplaces and balconies.
Dining
Le Grand Restaurant is the main dining room, with a dress code in the evening. Le Grill, with its open fire, serves meat and fish; Gildo's Ristorante does Italian cooking in winter; La Fromagerie, in a vaulted cellar beneath the hotel, serves fondue and raclette. The Lobby Bar takes over after dinner, and GreenGo opens later. Up the mountain, the Walig Hut serves dinners of local produce for small parties who walk or drive up, and can be slept in.
Wellness
The Palace Spa covers about 1,800 square metres with an indoor pool, a heated outdoor pool, a hammam, saunas and a gym. The hotel has its own tennis courts in summer, and the ski lifts of Eggli and Wispile start in the village below.
Weddings and events
Weddings take Le Grand Restaurant and the terrace in summer, when the valley is green, and the salons in winter; meetings and incentives use the hotel's function rooms, and the Walig Hut is used for private dinners of a dozen or so. The hotel does not publish capacities for these rooms.
Location
Palacestrasse climbs from the Promenade, Gstaad's car-free main street, to the hotel's knoll at about 1,050 metres. Gstaad station on the MOB line is below; the GoldenPass trains run to Montreux on Lake Geneva in about an hour and twenty minutes and to Zweisimmen for Bern. Saanen airfield, 3 kilometres away, takes private aircraft. Geneva airport is about 150 kilometres, two hours by car; Zurich about 220. The hotel opens for winter in mid-December and closes in mid-March, then opens again from mid-June to mid-September.
