Renowned for its breathtaking scenery, immaculate alpine communities, and first-rate hospitality, Switzerland has a wealth of outstanding lodging. From modern retreats to old castles, these hotels offer the ideal mix of elegance, comfort, and Swiss appeal.
Pace over buttercup-strewn yodel-country for fondue and génépy lunches in mountain lodges, easing into pancake-flat, crystal lakes, ripping down cruisey slopes with mountain scenery rushing past. From frozen lake polo events to toboggan club memberships, Switzerland’s magnificent landscape helps to explain why it is known as the playground of Europe where wintertime capers continue. Here is also where the tired come to rejuvenate, blasting their sooty lungs with fresh mountain air and hammering the cortisol with jets, hot-and-cold water and consistent pummeling in the nation’s world-class spas.
List Of Top 10 Best Hotels In Switzerland 2024
1. Badrutt’s Palace
Few sites quite as famous as this stately dame in St Moritz are found anywhere. Situated at 6,000 feet amid the clouds, Badrutt’s Palace is silhouetrically against a backdrop of jagged, snow-capped mountains with mirror-like lake vistas below. Opening in 1896, the hotel has been the preferred destination for people seeking a classy Alpine vacation for years; it is still going from strength to strength. Fundamentally, it is still the great palace it has always been, with turrets and winding towers. But visitors now have additional options to guarantee that their stay will include all their personal conveniences.
There are eleven restaurants, two bars, the oldest nightclub in Switzerland, a spa, a range of stores, and, naturally, lots of winter sports possibilities. Mountainside glitz at its most lavish, a magnificent fairy tale buried in the Swiss Alps surrounded by unceasing scenery for hiking, trekking, skiing, even lake bathing in the warmer months.
2. Experimental Chalet Verbier
Arguably the hippest address in the “Alpine Ibiza,” Parisian cocktail and hotel champs Experimental are behind this throwback hotel. And that’s great since it’s good-looking and fun rather than scary and aloof. Whether your reason for visiting this hotel is ski and cold plunge, cocktail and club, or both—everyone and all ages can stay here. The images are sensually arresting, mid-century modern meets Instagram-interiors-porn meets alpine. With the top floor suites featuring private Jacuzzis on the patio, the 39 rooms are a fantastic combination of gently nostalgic and über cool. From 6pm you can tap on the glass and get a cocktail via the window since the Jacuzzi cleverly positions the bar downstairs in the spa.
With its game-changing Experimental Cocktail Club roots, the bar here is appropriately a destination in itself, as is the restaurant Frenchie, run by chef Gregory Marchand. The after party nearly always ends at the Farm Club next door, a Verbier institution for more than 50 years and a celebrity hotspot at night.
3. GRACE LA MARGNA, St Moritz
A brand-new avenue starting in 2023 Officially the first luxury hotel launching in the city for half a century, GRACE LA MARGNA is the newcomer on the block in St Moritz. In many respects, GRACE LA MARGNA breathes fresh life into local icon Margna Hotel with a modern expansion honoring its past glories, but looking boldly ahead. The tonic to the more conventional world of St Moritz is the airy, bright modern spaces.
From the station, facilities include a high-end spa, various dining options ranging from à la carte to aperitivo, and a bar that should quickly become a local popular spot. A quick stroll from the station Apart from the hotel runs to the local lift system so you can be from your gourmet breakfast to the slopes in no time, there is an onsite sport shop providing ski and e-bike rental depending on the time of year. For some post-après refreshment, we especially suggest the Old Fashioned at No. 5 and the Truffle Mac’n’Cheese at Max MORITZ.
4. Le Grand Bellevue, Gstaad, Switzerland spa
Although the Le Grand Bellevue erected in 1912 is as classic as it gets, the walls behind its grand entry are far from antiquated and inspire the impression of a timelessly eclectic townhouse with a better backdrop. It is tucked away in the Vaud Alps, a fairytale area where architectural rules have guaranteed that the postcard-perfect scene will not alter. Though it seems absurd to spend a second of cardio time indoors, exercise amenities include everything from a light-filled Pilates studio to a SensoPro trainer. Its well-being offering is the star of the show. Fortunately, the hotel’s Heli-hiking padel court and special access to the Swiss Open tennis center court provide visitors several options to burn off extra calories outside the sauna.
In a time of “the next best thing,” Le Grand Spa distinguishes itself with an unreserved but dogged respect to tradition. 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. As the only Swiss Butterfly Mark-certified hotel with 100 per percent hydropower.
5. La Réserve Eden au Lac, Zurich
From 1909, the Eden au Lac stood as a lakefront monument. Architecturally, it is lively in the belle époque style – almost, for Zurich at least, to be flouncy. While the most scenery-starved rooms on the “city” side seem snug rather than poky, private rather than caged in, on the lakefront even the smallest rooms enjoy great views. In the city, its low fuss and high polish mix is unusual.
6. Hotel Longemalle
In Geneva’s posh shopping areas, Hotel Longemalle coexists peacefully with Celine, Prada, Versace, and the like; its classical chocolate box exterior – curving windows, striped awnings, pointed rooftop – makes an outfit as elegant as any in the neighboring windows. Inside, meanwhile, this snug store feels more homey than high-end. Less than a minute’s walk across the square, the family-owned establishment has long-standing hotelier proprietors divided between here and the swanky Hôtel de la Cigogne. Their own artwork fills the walls of the staircase, including framed pictures of their own family, and we know they pop every day simply to say hello.
7. Casa Caminada, Fürstenau
Skiers in Switzerland’s Pinot Noir-producing Rhine Valley used to have a single motivation for leaving the glitter of St Moritz and heading an hour west to the understated 16th-century castle Schloss Schauenstein with a three-Michelin-starred restaurant. Andreas Caminada, its chef, is now providing them with an incentive to spend the night. He opened the magnificent Casa Caminada on the castle grounds in October 2018 in a born-again barn, where urban elements moderate the rustic ambiance and authenticity replaces the musty pleasures common in Swiss mountain-palace hotels.
Ten sun-flooded rooms above have original exposed beams, accentuated by furniture crafted specifically by nearby carpenters and recovered larchwood-parquet flooring. Patricia Urquiola included orange tweed sofas and brass and magenta linen loungers for soaking sunlight or reading a book to soften the machismo and give polished Italian design. Unanticipated and excellent. Popular with hikers, the airy new café is a nasty-delicious substitute for the sophisticated cuisine of the main castle. Serving with knock-out views of the surrounding Piz Beverin and Lenzerhorn mountains, there are buttery and crunchy maluns (crumb-like dumplings made with shredded potatoes), ravioli stuffed with dried pears taken from gnarled trees in the castle courtyard, and walnut tortes baked in a volcanic stone oven.
8. The Woodward, Geneva
Though it has gone full circle, giving up its reputation as a posh hotel with Como-like vistas from less Como-esque suites (the restrained Pierre-Yves Rochon sort that wreak of a mogul’s suburban house), this lakeside old-timer has seen many lives. Rich materials, from the mesmerizing straw marquetry on the cupboards and sliding doors to the thick, creamy carpets warming flawless parquet flooring, express the wealth instead. Go to the sixth story for a balcony with a view of peaceful Quai Wilson; alternatively, find solace in the knowledge that all suites slink, in some way, towards the lake.
9. Gstaad Palace, Gstaad
First you glimpse the Palace on the hill when driving across the Bernese valleys and up the steep and curved roads. The charm of it is in the same time fairy-tale pastiche and ageless classic: the vertiginous dimensions, the glitteringness of all. Families have been visiting for years; the hotel initially opened in 1913; along with fallen royals, fashion designers, and movie stars, families have been here. It is still rarefied yet louche and glittering. There used to be no other hotels of significance in shockingly beautiful Gstaad. Though the Palace is still queen, a true grande old dame with a glitter in her eye, now there are several.
10. La Réserve Eden au Lac, Zurich
From 1909, the Eden au Lac stood as a lakefront monument. Architecturally, it is lively in the belle époque style – almost, for Zurich at least, to be flouncy. While the most scenery-starved rooms on the “city” side seem snug rather than poky, private rather than caged in, on the lakefront even the smallest rooms enjoy great views. In the metropolis, this mix of minimum fuss and great polish is unusual.