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In October I wanted to do a gew days of holiday. After long considerations we decided to go to Italy again. One of the reasons were we didnīt make it to the northern Toscana in July. Also itīs easy to reach for us by car and the weather is normally quite good in October.
After many changes we finally booked:
1 night at Chedi Andermatt
6 nights at Belmond Villa San Michele Fiesole (Florence)
4 nights at Splendido Portofino.

Why? Andermatt was always interesting for me and as Florence it at least a 12 hours drive for us (sometimes even 14) we wanted to do a positioning night. Villa San Michele was also always interesting for me and as we mainly anted to see sights like Prato, Pistoia, Lucca or Pisa we thought it would be an advantage not to stay in the middle of a city. Splendido Portofino finally was on my list for many years, now it was time and I decided to open my wallet.

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How did you last 4 nights in Portofino without murdering any Milanese? I'd have blood on my hands on day 2.

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I didnīt even mention any Milanese I had more a problem with hordes of passengers from cruise liners. One of them even spitted a yellow mass on my GFīs arm. Now Iīm lucky I wasnīt there, I guess there would have been a problem. Incredible, not only in the present time.

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Summary of why I avoid Portofino and anywhere with a cruise ship like the plague! But looking forward to the TR!

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After an uneventful drive we arrived at the Chedi.


The lobby is "alpine" I would say, but quite cozy.














I canīt say itīs my favorite lobby, but itīs a coherent concept.
There is a kind of garden with a basin which serves as ice ring in the winter.

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I booked a Deluxe Suite which is the most common room in the hotel. As I knew before there was no upgrade and I got a room at the first floor.

I always like it when I have a second toilet.


The layout of the 110 sqm suite was a little wired as it was mainly one room including the bathroom.





The sofa is big, but a little uncomfortable. Same with the table with its 2 benches. The chairs look a little scuffed which could be intended. There is only one televison to turn between living- and bedroom which seems understaffed.
There is also a small kitchen in the living room, but due to the positioning ob the table with bench itīs impossible to open it.

Iīm not a fan of the combination of bed- and bathroom. Nevertheless the shower was huge, the toilet was quite transparent and the door were not installed for privacy reasons.








Due to the cold temperatures the balcony was not useable, I guess the view from the upper floors is better.



Minibar was included which is always nice.

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The Chedi is a wellness resort, you already saw a view of the pool from the lobby.
The way to the SPA is stylish.


The indoor pool is huge, but we found it a little bit cold.


The outside pool is 36 degree warm.


Even as you have to walk a few meters through the cold air it was very popular and full of people.

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Andermatt is a quite small town, on German we say "Dorf". Nevertheless they have some historic buildings.











The church St. Peter and Paul


with a small funeral chapel.

Andermatt is also known from the Bond movie Goldfinger and there are some buildings connected with the movie. At Hotel Schweizerhof the press conferences took place.

At the Hotel Bergidyll the crew including Conery lived, his suite is still in its original state and can be booked.

And on the way back we saw this:

A Bond exhibition in Andermatt. OK, we canīt go home! We must go back to the museum.....

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It were only a few meters to the Talmuseum were the exhibition takes place. Itīs located in the Suworow-Haus from 1786.

The entrance fee was 7 CHF, which isnīt really cheap. The museum shows something about the regions history and the living of a PAtrician family in the late 18th century.










The Bond exhibition was in the basement and showed some original artefacts like the historic gas station (quite cool), some clothes and other stuff.





There was also an interesting text that no one was ready to house the crew first, as people didnīt believe in the solvency of the British studio. Here is the text (on German only).

HawaiiFlyerDC8

Interesting and very nice photos. Thanks for posting.

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The Chedi has 2 restaurants on site. The Japanese holds a Michelin star, so we decided to dine there.

They tried to give it a Japanese flair.


You can choose dishes from an a la carte menu or from the Kaiseki-Kappo Menu. 4 courses are 170 CHF, 5 courses 200 CHF and 6 courses 230 CHF. So Swiss prices....
Service was friendly, but not 100% professional. Sometimes they stood around and talked about private things or what different phrases mean in a job reference.
It started with an Amuse Bouche


Scampi tempura and caviar

Modern sashimi (lobster, salmon and tuna)

Dragon roll (shrimp, salmon, cucumber and avodado)

Scallop with Shiso, caviar and beurre blanc

Different sushi

Udon with japanese mushrooms and truffle dashi

Now we had to wait nearly an hour for the main course. The waiters talked about it with each other and blaimed the kitchen. Also not professional.
Black cod

Fried fish role

Pre-dessert

White chocolate, mango, green tea

Japanese cheesecake

The dinner was with excemption of the long wait good, of course (as usual in Switzerland) the prices were too high. At least they didnīt charge one course, perhaps as compensation.

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Breakfast was served at "The Restaurant" It was a self-service buffet.






They even have a cheese tower. Unfortunately the offerings inside were quite ordinary.



You could also order dishes, but some came with an extra charge what I think is strange with the charged rates.

Some closer looks.



Quality was good, overall a nice breakfast.

GregWTravels

Interesting to see your report on The Chedi Andermatt. I've never been, but do love a mountain, alpine hotel. Based on your photos, unlike you, I really liked the aesthetic of lobby and the shared spaces. Though the room looked too stark and a bit too stylish and not cosy. The town looks lovely though, and didn't realise the 007 connection.

Looking forward to hopefully being back in the mountains again this winter. It's been too long.

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Donīt get me wrong, I didnīt dislike the lobby. It fits to the mountains.

Pausanias

The long sequence in Goldfinger when Bond in the Aston is following the villain in the vintage Roller was shot in the Furka Pass, a few miles west of Andermatt.