18 of the best hotels in Switzerland, from city stays to Alpine escapes
Small but mighty Switzerland packs plenty of punch. Its landscape is a marvel, and some of the best hotels in Switzerland are also some of the most impressive in the whole of Europe. Jagged mountains and velvety green meadows meet vertiginous river valleys and serene lakes, agrarian cuisine and a thousand-year-long spa culture can be found in picturesque villages and sophisticated cities. Then there's the skiing, luxury shopping, chocolates and cheese.
Spring, summer, autumn, winter – there’s always a reason to visit and a hotel to suit, whether you’re looking for a stylish city break, hoping to explore Switzerland’s stunning countryside, planning an adrenaline-pumped winter holiday or seeking renewal at one of the country’s renowned spa retreats. In no particular order, here's our edit of the best hotels in Switzerland.
How we choose the best ski hotels in Switzerland
Every hotel on this list has been selected independently by our editors and written by a Condé Nast Traveller journalist who knows the destination and has stayed at that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider both luxury properties and boutique and lesser-known boltholes that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination. We’re always looking for beautiful design, a great location and warm service – as well as serious sustainability credentials. We update this list regularly as new hotels open and existing ones evolve. For more information on how we review hotels and restaurants, please look at our About Us page.
Paul ThuysbaerthotelBadrutt's Palace, St. Moritz
Featured in our Gold List of the best hotels in the world 2024
There are few places quite as iconic as this grande dame in St Moritz. Perched among the clouds at 6,000 feet, Badrutt’s Palace is set against a backdrop of craggy, snow-capped mountains with cascading views of the winding valleys and mirror-like lakes below. The hotel has, for years, been the go-to spot for those looking for a sophisticated Alpine escape (it opened in 1896) and it keeps going from strength to strength. At its core, it’s still the magnificent palace it’s always been, complete with turrets and twisting towers. But guests now have more choices to ensure that their stay features all their personal creature comforts. There are 11 restaurants, two bars, the oldest nightclub in Switzerland, a spa, a series of shops and, naturally, plenty of winter sports opportunities. It’s mountainside glamour at its most extravagant, a palatial fairy tale hidden in the Swiss Alps and surrounded by endless landscapes for hiking, trekking, skiing and even lake swimming in the warmer months. Betsy Blumenthal
Address: Via Serlas 27, 7500 St. Moritz, Switzerland
GEORGE APOSTOLIDISMandarin Oriental Savoy, Zurich
Zurich’s oldest grand hotel, built in 1838, is a rare jewel precisely set between watchmakers, fashion houses and chocolatiers in the city’s historic centre. Originally opened by baker extraordinaire Johannes Baur, the property – whose illustrious guest list included Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt and Charles Dickens – eventually fell into the hands of now bankrupt Credit Suisse before discreetly reopening as a Mandarin Oriental in late 2023. Paris-based designer Tristan Auer was tasked with transporting the interiors into the 21st century and has beautifully contrasted the original neoclassical facade with a soft blur of muted metallics, creamy marbles and aquatic greens and blues, echoing the city, mountain and lake views seen from the hotel’s sexy, though, sadly, seasonally dependent, rooftop bar. Alternatively, there’s Mandarin Lounge for frothy glasses of hot chocolate, the indoor-outdoor Savoy Brasserie and Bar for a relaxed lunch or dinner, and superb Italian fine dining at Orsini, where the staff are as sunny as the menu (langoustines in saffron foam, creamy sage risotto topped with raspberry dust, and lime chiboust with cherry stone ice-cream). All of the 80 rooms and suites, regardless of size and outlook, are tasteful and cossetting, with underfloor heating in the marble bathrooms, complimentary mini-bars stocked Petazeta chocolate and on-call non-surgical facelifts from the PhysioAesthetics Group. Lee Cobaj
Address: Poststrasse 12, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
Raphael FauxhotelLe Grand Bellevue, Gstaad
The 1912-built Le Grand Bellevue is as classic as it gets, but the walls behind its grand entrance are anything but dated and evoke the feeling of being in a timelessly eclectic townhouse, with a better backdrop. It's nestled in the Vaud Alps, a fairytale region whose architectural regulations have ensured that the postcard-perfect landscape will remain unchanged. Its well-being offering is the star of the show, and fitness facilities include everything from a light-filled Pilates studio to a SensoPro trainer, though it seems crazy to spend a second of cardio time inside. Luckily, the hotel’s Heli-hiking, padel court and exclusive access to the Swiss Open tennis centre court give guests many ways to break a sweat beyond the sauna. In an era of "the next best thing", what makes Le Grand Spa different is an unapologetic yet unstubborn homage to tradition. As the only Swiss Butterfly Mark-certified hotel with 100 per cent hydropower, Le Grand Bellevue is forward-thinking in the areas it should be – but pays a beautiful tribute to Alpine practices, albeit by using tried and tested brands of the zeitgeist, through a spa where the past, present and future coexist calmly. Tamara Southward
Address: Untergstaadstrasse 17, 3780 Gstaad, Switzerland
Grand Resort Bad Ragaz
There’s something intrinsically soothing about a Swiss spa; the brisk efficiency, the white coats, the sanitorium vibes. The rest of the world can be raging wildly, but all will be well for those surrounded by snow-capped mountains with a rug over their knees. And Grand Resort Bad Ragaz is no exception. Wellness seekers have been making a pilgrimage here since the 13th century, when the geothermally heated water at the Tamina Gorge was discovered. It’s not often somewhere that can be all things to all people and do it well, but high-octane, turbo-charged Bad Ragaz seems to have nailed it. Issy von Simson
Address: Bernhard-Simonstrasse 20, 7310 Bad Ragaz, Switzerland
hotelGrace La Margna, St Moritz
Is there any way of selling St Moritz anew? Since the Victorians, this exclusive location in the Swiss Alps has been the go-to for extravagant ski fanatics. Grace La Margna is a breath of fresh air in many ways – it thrusts new life into local landmark Margna Hotel with a modern extension paying homage to its previous incarnation, whilst looking firmly ahead. The light, bright modern spaces are a tonic to the more traditional world of St Moritz.
A short walk from the station, facilities include a high-end spa, many dining options from aperitivo to à la carte and a bar which should become a local hot spot in no time. There’s an on-site sports shop offering ski and e-bike rental, depending on the time of year, plus the hotel runs transfers to the local lift system, so you can be from your gourmet breakfast to the slopes in no time. We highly recommend the Old Fashioned at No. 5 and the truffle mac’n’cheese at Max MORITZ for some post-après replenishment. Matt Charlton
Address: Via Serlas 5, 7500 St. Moritz, Switzerland
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Mr.TripperhotelExperimental Chalet, Verbier
Parisian cocktail and hotel champions Experimental are behind this retro hotel that's arguably the coolest address in the ‘Alpine Ibiza’. And that’s cool, as in good-looking and fun rather than intimidating and aloof. This is a hotel for everyone and all ages, whether you’re here to ski and cold plunge, cocktail and club, or both. The visuals are seductively distinctive, mid-century-modern meets Instagram-interiors-porn meets alpine. The 39 rooms are a wonderful mix of charmingly retro and über cool, with the top-floor suites offering up private Jacuzzis on the terrace. Downstairs in the spa, the Jacuzzi strategically neighbours the bar, so from 6pm you can tap on the glass and order a cocktail via the window. With its game-changing Experimental Cocktail Club roots, the bar here is fittingly a destination in itself, as is the restaurant, Frenchie, from chef Gregory Marchand. At night, the after party almost always ends up at the Farm Club next door, a Verbier institution for over 50 years and a celeb hotspot.
The hotel’s ski concierge service is a real game-changer. Working with Les Ruinettes, all ski equipment hire – as well as any clothes or goggles – can be arranged at their store nearby. It's then all transported to and stored in the hotel’s downstairs ski room, cleverly kitted boot and glove warmers, as well as lockers. A free shuttle runs directly from the back room to the lifts nearby. Lauren Burvill
Address: Experimental Chalet Verbier, Rte de Verbier Station 55, 1936 Verbier, Switzerland
The Woodward, Geneva
This lakeside old-timer has seen many lives, though it has gone full circle, relinquishing its status as a swanky hotel with Como-like views from less Como-esque suites (the restrained Pierre-Yves Rochon sort that reeks of a mogul’s suburban home). The opulence is instead expressed through rich materials, from the hypnotic straw marquetry on the cupboards and sliding doors to the thick, creamy rugs warming perfect parquet floors. Head up to the sixth floor for a balcony overlooking sleepy Quai Wilson, or simply be comforted by the fact that all suites twist, in some sense, towards the lake. True to Swiss form, the hotel’s restaurants are not worth bothering to book a local haunt for, with L’Aetelier Joël Robuchon’s theatrical tasting menus delivered like little paintings to the glowy-sultry counter, and vegetable-led Le Jardinier bathed in that nostalgic Geneva light, with its more unbuttoned, brasserie character. And, as far as activities go, Le Spa Guerlain houses the most photogenic of pools – it once housed piles of cash as a bank vault – and is backed up by saunas, steam rooms and treatments where deliciously smelling Guerlain lotions and potions are lathered on with zero Swiss restraint in mind. Rosalyn Wikeley
Address: The Woodward, Quai Wilson 37, 1201 Genève, Switzerland
hotelThe Brecon, Adelboden
The follow-up to the Cambrian hotel is an altogether more considered project, swerving away from the usual Alpine clichés in favour of a clubby midcentury look assembled by Dutch-based design studio Nicemakers. Behind the classic chalet façade, the ground-floor living space, which flows from breakfast tables to dining room and bar, ripples with texture – bouclé fabrics here, Nordic Knots rugs there, crazy paving underfoot – and showcases vintage furniture alongside woodcuts and brutalist sculptures. Easy to imagine Tony Curtis here, resplendent in a roll-neck and perusing a ’60s copy of Esquire. The intention was to make it all feel as much of a private home as possible, with bedrooms clear of hotel clutter and a sense of relaxed, “just drop by” warmth. It’s adults only and, unusually, fully inclusive (from feasts of salmon and mountain cheeses to the Old Fashioneds), a concept at which some may baulk – until they remember their last restaurant bill in Switzerland. Maunder refers to The Brecon’s aesthetic as “Swelsh,” and, when you’re dallying in the terrace pool, with the flanks of the Bernese Oberland rising operatically above, it all feels pretty wonderful. Rick Jordan
Address: Dorfstrasse 88, 3715 Adelboden, Switzerland
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Courtesy Gstaad PalacehotelGstaad Palace, Gstaad
$$$Glamour is built into the Gstaad Palace’s DNA: Liz Taylor and Richard Burton were regulars, and Michael Jackson wanted to buy it. But for all that, this hotel is more about quiet elegance than the flash-your-cash glitz on show in St. Moritz. For more than a century, Europe’s aristocracy has made a beeline for the palace, which towers over the impossibly pretty village where the likes of Prada and Louis Vuitton have quaint chalet shops. With its turrets backed by the majestic mountain scenery, it looks like something conjured up by Disney. The real magic, though, is inside. Since the 1930s, the Scherz family, which owns the hotel, has created less a grand institution and more a relaxed second home in the mountains, albeit one with a dress code. Generations of the same family visit year after year, greeting the staff like long-lost friends and congregating in the capacious lobby bar after time on the slopes or by the pool. Bedrooms have the feel of a Swiss chalet about them, with nothing too startling to detract from the Alpine panoramas. In the restaurant, often visited by English singer Robbie Williams, chef Franz Faeh’s food is served with theatrical flair. You don’t even have to open your menu before ordering – it’s that kind of place. It's the kind of place, too, where you can imagine a guest turning up with 150 suitcases, demanding litres of Evian water to wash with, or insisting their cat be fed 50 grams of caviar a day. This is a hotel where the extraordinary feels like an everyday affair. Jane Knight
Address: Gstaad Palace, Palacestrasse 28, 3780 Gstaad, Switzerland
The Chedi Andermatt, Gotthardstrasse
Surrounded by mountains in the Urseren Valley, 90 minutes from Zürich, it is a bold and beautiful hotel that has it all: the looks, the location – and with 10 treatment suites that are bigger than most London flats, plus huge dressing rooms and private steam showers, the spa is the real winner here. The therapists are friendly and typically Swiss-efficient. Massages will leave you woozy and happy.
Outside the treatment room, life is no less fabulous. There is a hydrotherapy zone with an unbelievable number of baths and saunas, and the indoor swimming pool is covered by a glass roof. The gym is achingly stylish, but this is not a place to exercise indoors – take to the slopes instead. Harriet Compston
Address: The Chedi Andermatt, Gotthardstrasse 4, 6490 Andermatt, Switzerland
La Réserve Genève Hotel, Geneva
Low-slung and highly revered for its outdoorsy facilities, La Reserve Hotel and Spa Geneva occupies a sizable, green patch alongside its namesake lake. Interiors seize, (curiously but victoriously) on an Old World Africa theme, with gold, walnut and berry shades, glowing lanterns and dark polished floors reminiscent of the continent’s luxury lodges. Rooms either gaze down over the topiary-trimmed gardens or the lake, most with their own large terraces or balconies. And despite its spa’s eternal youth promise and four refined restaurants (the main act being the Cantonese, Michelin-starred Tsé Fung), the hotel is surprisingly family-friendly. Children can tear through the elaborate wooden playground, dive into one of two handsome pools, or embark on waterborne adventures aboard one of La Reserve’s vintage motorboats (allegedly an enjoyable grown-up activity too).
Address: La Réserve Genève Hotel, Rte de Lausanne 301, 1293 Bellevue, Switzerland
Kulm Hotel, St. Moritz
Along with Badrutt’s, Kulm Hotel St Moritz can be credited with establishing Alpine tourism (its Swiss founder Johannes Badrutt successfully convinced a few British aristocrats to winter here, and the rest is moonlight skating, snow polo, and Cresta-flavoured history). And as with Badrutt’s, the hotel benefits from its central location – a hair’s breadth away from the designer stores and the funicular, shooting svelte-dressed skiers up to the slopes. As the oldest hotel in St Moritz, the interiors are suitably opulent, particularly the lobby, whose pillars, chandeliers and velvet sofas stew in an age of silver screen icons and writers and artists propped up by aristocratic patrons. Despite its Olympic winter sport pedigree and general vintage, Kulm Hotel is no Luddite. Many of its rooms have received a fresh makeover, with a mix of muted tones, faded tartans and pastels reflecting the Engadin shades, while British designer Luke Edward Hall recently zhuzhed up Claudia Canessa’s Peruvian haunt, Amaru, with his hallmark eccentricity. Days on the slopes or larking about on the frozen lake St. Moritz are well rewarded at the legendary Sunny Bar (the official members' bar of The St Moritz Tobogganing Club), where British chef Tom Booton has conjured up some gastro-pub classics or in the valley-view spa, with its plugged-in treatment menu and seriously photogenic pool. Rosalyn Wikeley
Address: Kulm Hotel St. Moritz, Via Veglia 18, 7500 St. Moritz, Switzerland
Olivia Pulver & Sarah VoneschHotel Eden Roc, Lake Maggiore
Hugging the northern shores of Lake Maggiore, with views more commonly associated with the Italian lakes than Switzerland, Hotel Eden Roc fluffs up its feathers as the only beach-style resort in a country known for its Sound of Music hills and skiing. There is, in fact, a beach – real sand – a discombobulating row of palms and a private marina that Rivas zoom in and out of, their passengers sporting loafers and billowing linen. Inside, it’s a mishmash of contemporary and classic interiors jumping through the decades – spread across three buildings. Expect bold, patterned eclecticism in the main wing, and more muted hues in the two flanking it. And despite four superb restaurants, (including grand waterfront La Casetta and the perfectly French Eden Roc’s Swiss outpost), most of the activity takes place outdoors, whether water-skiing along the lake (easily organised by the hotel), or meandering through pretty gardens, towel in hand, for a Mediterranean-style morning on one of the beach’s Slim Aarons-style sun loungers.
Address: Hotel Eden Roc, Via Albarelle 16, 6612 Ascona, Switzerland
The Grand Hotel Kronenhof, Pontresina
Palatial, green-capped and meringue-domed, the Grand Hotel Kronenhof dominates the pretty Alpine village of Pontresina. Row upon row of windows peer down over the Rosey Valley and the crisp, twinkling River Flaz. The visuals are all fresh air and peak health before you’ve even opened the window of your plush, creamy room or been stopped in your front crawl tracks, with the spa’s vast glass-and-iron atrium dramatically framing the valley. The subterranean spa (seemingly carved into the hillside as a contemporary add-on), houses a knockout infinity pool that blurs into the mountainscape, various hot-and-cold water therapies (the floating grotto being a highlight) and cutting-edge treatments that say “I’m in Switzerland.” The great neo-baroque heft of a hotel above it, though, dates back to 1848, and has managed to blend its opulent frescos, pillars and chandeliers with contemporary furniture and, in the suites, creamy, orderly restraint. The Grand Restaurant, however, stubbornly grips onto its past life as a resplendent ballroom, where guests can slip into a bygone era with full silver service and the tinkle of piano keys. Rosalyn Wikeley
Address: Grand Hotel Kronenhof, Via Maistra 130, 7504 Pontresina, Switzerland
Mandarin Oriental Lucerne, Lucerne
So close to Lake Lucerne that the belle epoch building’s bow windows and ornate wrought-iron balconies are mirrored in the waters, this grande dame first opened its doors in 1906. Two World Wars and four financial crashes later, it’s one of three Swiss hotels belonging to Mandarin Oriental (complementing properties in Geneva and Zurich).
Inside, there’s a seamless merging of old and new from the icicle-white axiom entryway to the original coral scagliola pillars, to the curvaceous furnishings, to the elegant terrace scented by chestnut trees. All of 136 rooms and suites come with crisp modern interiors – fabric panelled walls, wraparound leather headboards, floating circular chandeliers – and truly epic views of Lake Lucerne and the majestic shards of Mount Pilatus, but the Panoramic Rooftop Terrace Suite with its secret upstairs terrace and copper dome is the one to splash out on. Lee Cobaj
Address: Haldenstrasse 10, Lucerne, 6002, Switzerland
Six Senses Hotels ResortsSix Senses Crans Montana
For a healthier take on the endless rounds of raclette and sinfully thick hot chocolate, Six Senses knows how to keep things lavishly light (and conveniently just above Crans Montana’s Cry d’Er Gondola, with balconies hovering above the slopes). True to the group’s form, this ski-in-ski-out hotel teases traditional chalet notions into a resolutely contemporary structure and interior, while keeping wellness, in its various iterations, front and centre. The spa has been known to lure the powder hounds back to base with its glossy outdoor pool, winking in the sunlight, a sensational indoor pool rippling below a MOMA-worthy wooden art installation and an invigorating, shoulder-lowering thermal circuit. It’s worth noting the hotel’s year-round appeal, with spring and summer peak hiking time, where the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc glow an ethereal green, and guests can slip into their riding boots for epic canters through the valleys.
Address: Six Senses Crans-Montana, Rte des Téléphériques 60, 3963 Crans-Montana, Switzerland
Beau-Rivage Palace, Lausanne
In plum position on the banks of Lake Geneva with the Swiss Alps jutting ahead, Beau-Rivage Palace is Lausanne's comfortingly old-school grande dame, where heritage bedspreads and canopy fabrics are synchronised and chandeliers glitter like opulent disco balls in the morning light. Split across two buildings (both with Haussmann good looks), suites in the Beau Rivage side lean confidently into the traditionalism, while the Palace buildings bear the fancy-but-fresh hallmark of French designer Pierre-Yves Rochon. A marble lobby, vast dome (La Rotonde) overlooking the gardens and its perfect slice of swimming pool, and Anne-Sophie Pic restaurant continue to thrum with the same European elite chitter chatter as all those years ago… it’s potentially less erudite, and slack on the dress codes, but it still buzzes with bourgeois energy. A small but significant techy feature in the Palace rooms is the ability to open blinds from the bed, revealing the lake in all its aquamarine glory and snow-capped mountains (a detail Coco Chanel would have almost certainly enjoyed during her decade-long stint as a resident of the Beau-Rivage Palace).
Address: Beau-Rivage Palace, Chem. de Beau-Rivage 21, 1006 Lausanne, Switzerland
Martin GardellianChetzeron, Crans-Montana
Around 15 years ago, looking out of the window during a meeting about what to do with Crans-Montana’s decommissioned gondola station, Swiss-Lebanese hotelier Sami Lamaa had the idea to turn it into a cracking hotel. He bought the derelict Sixties block on a spectacular 7,000ft-high mountain crest in the Swiss Alps and then sought feng-shui expertise from a sect of Taoist monks. Whatever they decreed appears to have worked: the soaring industrial building has been reimagined as a beautiful contemporary space. The restaurant was the earliest part to launch, upgrading regular ski-lunch stalwarts such as hot dogs and spaghetti bolognese to lobster bagels and slow-cooked lamb. The first of the now 16 bedrooms came a few years later – as Lamaa explains: “Everything starts with the food; it had to be perfect before we opened the hotel.”
Tucking into freshly baked bread and a fluffy breakfast omelette with spinach picked that morning, it’s easy to see his point. Although food actually plays second fiddle to the environment. The mountains are integral to the design: the concrete walls are bare of paintings; the towering porticos frame 25ft windows that flood the restaurant with a skyline of rocky peaks; solar and photovoltaic panels provide hot water and electricity; and the bespoke potions in the bathrooms, crafted with edelweiss, bottle the smell of the custom-made pine furniture. It’s about as ski-in, ski-out as you can get in winter, and in summer, four-wheel drives bump up the empty pistes delivering digital detoxers, climbers, romantics and foodies for hiking and yoga weekends. Just getting to the front door is an experience. Gabriella Le Breton
Address: Chetzeron, Chetzeron, 3963 Crans-Montana, Switzerland
