Switzerland Luxury Hotels
Sep 11, 2021 | 9:34 am
Sep 11, 2021 | 9:35 am
Sep 11, 2021 | 11:24 am
We stayed in the Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel, in a junior suite. It appeared to be the nicest hotel in Interlaken. Had a nice indoor/ outdoor pool spa area, after those long days walking. Good location. Our room was a bit dated, nice large functional bathroom, with a nice balcony overlooking the park where all the gliders land. We ate at La Terrese, which is their fine dining restaurant and it was pretty good. Breakfast was just ok IMO.
This hotel sorta reminded me of FS Budapest, but not restored and modernized as nicely, and it really needs to be updated now. I would definitely stay here again.
From Interlaken we took trains to Zermatt. This was a very easy process, and kudos to Switzerland for having all these trains, cable cars, funiculars everywhere. So efficient, so clean, timely! Their roads and tunnels could be set in a Sci-fi movie. No trash!
In Zermatt we stayed at the Hotel Riffelalp 2222. Once in Zermatt, you have to take the Gornergrat train to the Hotel Riffelalp (about a 10 minute process) Then from there you can walk or take the hotels Disney -like train. The Riffelalp is set above Zermatt affording you amazing views, especially The Matterhorn. Think Swiss Chalet mountain lodge.
Our room had a balcony which was a great place to take in The Matterhorn. The room was mountain/ lodge themed The bathroom incorporates a lot of the granite of the mountain area. May be a bit much for some tastes. But overall, the room and bathroom was warm and cozy, and a nice place to chill. Do Europeans like firm mattresses? I felt like I was sleeping on a ironing board.
The Riffelalp has two restaurants and a indoor / outdoor bar area, all nice. The place has a spa and relaxation area. Small outdoor pool/jacuzzi, with the perfect view of The Matterhorn if it's not cloud covered. The main downside is this whole spa/pool area closes around 6 or 7pm. An after dinner soak would have been nice for sure. Service, dining, atmosphere, breakfast was good.
The main potential problem is you're isolated from Zermatt. The Gornergrat train has regular hours, but around evening time it stops, and I believe at the earliest was a 2140 train back up. So after dinner in Zermatt at a very chic hotel ( can't recall the name) we found we were stuck in Zermatt after our early dinner. It was basically wait for that 9:40pm train or walk up. We even called the hotel to see what to do. They discouraged walking up. We should have found a lively bar in Zermatt and waited a few hours for that train. Instead, using our phones GPS we decided to walk back UP to the Riffelalp. When you take the Gornergrat train to the hotel it seems like a 5-10 minute ride, no biggie. Our GPS misled us to another Riffelalp, our cell signal cut out a few times, and it started raining hard. It was getting very dark, and the trail was extremely steep. It took us 1.5 - 2 hours up a very steep and muddy trail back to the hotel. After a huge meal, not ideal, and we should have listened to the hotel! Riffelalp Hotel has a wonderful setting, that sets it apart from most of the Zermatt hotels. It could be a bit too isolated for some. It's a nice hotel, but next time I'm going to stay in Zermatt proper.
paragliding over Interlaken
Victoria - Jungfrau Grand Hotel view
View from Grand Victoria Hotel
First Mountain
Above the village of Murren (James Bond viewing area)
Murren
Murren
Above Interlaken, paragliding take off point
Just above the Hotel Riffelalp 2222
From Balcony
Hiking above Zermatt
Zermatt
Sep 11, 2021 | 11:28 am
We all do obide by these few rules though, because this is still Switzerland 😁
From this coming Monday however, we need to show the Vax passport to enter pretty much any establishment. No big deal though, it's been well managed at anything I've been to recently and had to show it.
We're heading to the Dolder spa on Monday (it's a public holiday to let's the boys practice their gun skills) , and again, everything's normal there in terms of services etc.
How understand it is that cases are again relatively high, but the Vax is doing its job keeping most folks out of serious harms way.
Sep 11, 2021 | 11:34 am
Some folks gave us light grief on why the USA doesn't let Swiss / Europeans enter America. They felt it wasn't fair.
Sep 11, 2021 | 11:51 am
Sep 11, 2021 | 1:36 pm
Thanks,
RichardInSF, moderator, luxury hotels and travel
Sep 17, 2021 | 7:07 am
I couldn't help but to start my plan with 3 nights at PHV. Here is the problem: Our long flight from India lands at Zurich in the noon. With a 1-year old, should we spend a night or two in Zurich, before moving to Vitznau? The same applies while checking out from PHV, we would prefer spending a night in Zurich before onboarding the return flight. Experts, please let me know your thoughts along with hotel suggestions for Zurich. Baur au Lac and Dolder Grand seem to be the favourites here.
Sep 17, 2021 | 8:53 am
I couldn't help but to start my plan with 3 nights at PHV. Here is the problem: Our long flight from India lands at Zurich in the noon. With a 1-year old, should we spend a night or two in Zurich, before moving to Vitznau? The same applies while checking out from PHV, we would prefer spending a night in Zurich before onboarding the return flight. Experts, please let me know your thoughts along with hotel suggestions for Zurich. Baur au Lac and Dolder Grand seem to be the favourites here.
Sep 17, 2021 | 12:27 pm
My Zurich preference is La Reserve - superb location, lake views and great F&B (Peruvian roof top restaurant has been a real hit).
Sep 18, 2021 | 2:57 am
I couldn't help but to start my plan with 3 nights at PHV. Here is the problem: Our long flight from India lands at Zurich in the noon. With a 1-year old, should we spend a night or two in Zurich, before moving to Vitznau? The same applies while checking out from PHV, we would prefer spending a night in Zurich before onboarding the return flight. Experts, please let me know your thoughts along with hotel suggestions for Zurich. Baur au Lac and Dolder Grand seem to be the favourites here.
Sep 27, 2021 | 11:19 am
I recently stayed one night here during a two week Switzerland trip as we were re-positioning from the German area of Switzerland to the French speaking area, with two days in Zermatt as a quick stop over. This was, by far, the most enjoyable hotel I stayed at in my two week trip. I booked with Amex Platinum portal as I had a $200 fine resorts booking credit, and the $100 resort credit that you get from booking. I am not a super luxury hotel traveler (beyond the occasional St. Regis stay) so I don't know exactly how to compare this to other luxury hotels, especially in Switzerland. That said - I loved every aspect of this hotel even during COVID.
Check-in was great and attentive and made us feel like VIPs - even though we were in hiking gear from the day. We were able to make use of early check-in and late check-out to maximize the time in the room. The room was fantastic - we were upgraded to a balcony duplex suite with a skylight. This was a 1 bed, 2 bath lofted suite with a Matterhorn-facing balcony. The room itself was gorgeous and rustic with modern bathrooms - with a huge soaking tub (with bath salts provided by the hotel as an ammenity) and a very nice rainforest shower with a huge shower head and direct temp control of water. The shower and bath both had electronic panels where you could specify the temp of water to the degree.
The room itself did not have A/C but that is fairly normal in the mountains of Switzerland. Windows open felt nice, but as we were concerned about bugs - we asked for a fan and they brought us a tall tower fan that helped tremendously.
The mini bar had complimentary non-alcoholic drinks including cola, tea, and water - such a nice small perk. We ate breakfast and dinner at the hotel, making great use of the $100 Amex credit. At the end of the trip, they took us to the Zermatt train station in a little golf-cart type car.
Absolutely loved this hotel! Cannot recommend enough.
Oct 12, 2021 | 8:08 pm
Park Hotel Vitznau
Park Hotel Vitznau
Seestrasse 18 Vitznau, CH 6354
Park Hotel Vitznau (3 Photos)
Park Hotel Vitznau
Disclaimer - this will be long; TL;DR just below. Park Hotel Vitznau (PHV) doesn't need much introduction - it's been on my "stay list" for a long while now. I booked a few months back while looking for the ideal place for some R&R and nice outdoor activities.
TL;DR - I had a truly wonderful stay that ranks at the top of all hotels I've stayed at.
Pre-arrival communication with the hotel left a bit to be desired. Response times weren't horrible, but definitely not what I've come to expect - response times were 24-36hrs. And a few items that were confirmed via email were incorrect upon arrival.
Location
PHV is located in a sleepy town on the shores of Lake Lucerne. As I was traveling in "winter" season (really only early-October) there wasn't a whole lot to do in the town.
Transfers to and from Rotkreuz station are included in the rate (easily accessable to Lucerne, Zurich, ZRH, etc via train). Upon arrival from Lucerne, it took quite a bit of time to find the driver - nearly half an hour. Rotkreuz is not exactly a big station, so it took two phone calls with the hotel to establish exactly where I was and they had me go stand by a nearby grocery store so the driver could find me.
Once the Mercedes S600 showed up though, I was at-ease and happy to be taken care of. The driver was very polite and extremely apologetic it took so long to find him. We had a nice chat about the car and things to do in the area, and we arrived at the hotel about 20-25 minutes later.
Check In
Check in was extremely smooth. Upon arrival at the hotel, I was met by a member of staff who checked my Swiss COVID Passport and arranged for my bags to be brought to my room. I was immediately booked for a wine cellar tour at my time of arrival, so went ahead with that before returning to reception where they escorted me to my room to show me around.
Room
I booked through Virtuoso (our very-own BESVISOR) who did his thing and got me double? upgraded from a mountain-view junior suite to a full on mountain-view suite. PHV has 47 entirely different rooms, and in my case, I was assigned the Hertenstein Suite, named after a nearby peninsula that hosts a sister hotel.
The bathroom area is immediately upon entry. The design is somewhat odd in that the toilet is in its own room completely separate from the rest of the bathroom, across the hall from the shower facilities.
The hallway then leads to the living area that has a nice couch, several chairs, a table for two, and the mini bar (all included). Additionally, there is nice sized balcony again with some tables and chairs. The balcony offered a nice view of the mountains (pretty much across the street) and had the addition of the peaceful sound of cowbells when sitting outside.
The bedroom is separated from the living room by a sliding door and had a super comfortable bed and linens, as well as ample closet space. Though no iron that I could find, which was annoying.
Dining
There are four restaurants at PHV, focus ATELIER (two stars), Prisma (one star), Verlinde bar, and Grill Restaurant/Lake Terrace. Grill Restaurant and Verlind have similar menus with a focus on meat (they have a "meat sommelier"). Some of the items I had were bone marrow, wagyu flatbread, a carrot burger, and a club sandwich. I would rate food at both as being solid.
I also dined one night at focus ATELIER, which is a French-style restaurant with a focus on local ingredients. There are two menu options - seven courses for CHF225 or ten for CHF265. I had the seven course menu with highlights including foie gras ice cream, lightly-cooked local trout, and quail breast.
Lastly, one night I dined at Prisma which is described as "European cuisine meets Asian flavor" and has a selection of a few separate omakase menus ranging from two courses for CHF125 to five courses at CHF195. Calling them courses is a bit misleading since each course includes several "small" dishes, and I put that in quotes because it was a lot of food with each course. Highlights included veal tatar, scallops, and iced coffee with banana sorbet.
Service at focus ATELIER and Prisma were as you would expect for their respective Michelin Stars - focus ATELIER was technically on point and a bit more reserved whereas Prisma was still technically sound yet seemed more engaging and "familiar". And I mean that in a good way. Prisma suited my tastes a bit more, but both were worth the visit and I would gladly return.
Additionally, PHV has quite the wine cellar (six in fact) with about CHF21M in wine. The cellars largely focus on Old World, but they do have quite a bit from USA, Australia, and S. Africa. Prices were surprisingly reasonable. More than a few bottles under CHF100 including a lovely Premier Cru Burgundy that I had with dinner one night, They also offer private tours and tastings in the cellar. If you're interested in wine, I would highly recommend them.
Spa
The spa at PHV is world-class, and included all the amenities you would expect - sauna, sanarium, turkish bath, foot baths, tepidarium, and stunning infinity pool. Massage and beauty treatments are plentiful (for a steep cost). My back and neck massage was great.
Service
Service is what took this hotel up a notch. Preferences were remembered quickly and throughout the hotel as was my name. A couple examples - it was no issue to order a glass of wine on the terrace even though it was technically closed for the season; preference for water was remembered at each meal, as was my coffee order at breakfast; I was approached nearly immediately upon sitting in the lobby to do some work and offered food and drink, even with the lobby bar closed. The other piece that's hard to describe is just that they made me feel comfortable - service was never stuffy and they all seemed genuinely interested to help and serve. I'm younger and tend not to dress "fancy" by any means and sometimes feel like an afterthought at certain luxury hotels, but even coming back from a hike with dirty boots and clothes, they greated me enthusiastically and made me feel at home.
Overall
Even with a few hiccups with pre-arrival correspondance and the transfer, I was blown away with this stay. Hard product was great, location remote and stunning (in a good way), and the service ties it all together. My best stay yet.
Oct 14, 2021 | 11:37 am
Of the four, by far my bestt experience was at the Omnia. The hotel is beautiful, but some may find its modern style a bit too minimalistic. However, I found the wood tones and thoughtful touches (like the optional plush seat cushions for sitting on the terrance on colder nights) made up for the chilly design. Also, architecturally the hotel is amazing as it is built directly into a hillside over the main part of town. A pedestrian entrance can be found on a small side street directly in town. This, in turn, leads to a lift that ascends to the hotel lobby. Obviously views are amazing from the elevated location. However, the staff are the real stand out. We initially had trouble navigating the newly implemented rules requiring the Swiss Covid certificate. And the Omnia staff, starting with the hotel's managing director, Christian Eckert, and continuing with all front of house personnel, went out of their way to assist us. Christian even followed up on our behalf with an official with he Canton of Valais to verify our paperwork had been received and that our electronic certificates would be activated expeditiously as we were about to leave the U.S. We were greeted personally by him upon arrival too.
The Burgenstock is somewhat maligned on this board and we almost didn't stay there. I can understand the criticism about the place being frequently swamped by photo seeking day trippers and how that waters down the entire experience. But, given the current Covid situation, even though the hotel was quite busy, there were only a limited number of non hotel guests milling around. Also, social distancing driven capacity controls in the main dining areas dramatically limited any potential for crowding. So, we had no issues. Given its steep perch high above the lake, the views from the property are amazing. And our lakeside standard issue room was excellent. I say standard issue as it was the lowest level of room with the only upgrade being the view. And it was indeed stunning. The infinity pool is not to be missed either. We opted for the "photo permitted" late afternoon period to use the pool and were not disappointed (most other times of day no cameras are allowed). While clearly we weren't the only ones with the same idea, it was never very crowded even though it was a mild and clear day. Food at the restaurants was very good. We also very much appreciated the inclusive funicular and ferry service directly to the center of Lucerne. The combo ran so frequently scheduling was never an issue. The major downside of the hotel in my opinion is the outrageous price. Rooms were starting at approximately 1500 CF in late September. We only stayed a couple of nights but I recognize for some this steep price of entry would be a total deal stopper.
We also enjoyed the Chedi and the Eden Roc. The Chedi public spaces are really beautiful. Although small, we found Andermatt to be quite charming. We also appreciated the proximity of the train station (but not so close as to generate noise issues) and appreciated watching the trains make their way up the mountain. We took a ride on the Glacier Express to nearby Chur. In my opinion, the train itself is okay but nothing special, perhaps because we opted for second class given the relatively short journey time (approx two hours). Returning from Chur we took first class on a regularly scheduled non premium service which we actually enjoyed more. The food at the Chedi was outstanding. The creamy breakfast scrambled eggs were a treat each morning.
The Eden Roc design is reminiscent of Miami Beach mid century hotels (though no relation that I am aware of to the hotel of the same name in the South Florida location). Some may find it quite dated looking. However, the property is immaculately maintained and the style is just kitschy enough that for us it felt more retro than fusty or dated. Our room, while small, had been recently updated to a more modern style. The location is directly on Lake Maggiore and that is the highlight. Also, it is easy walking distance to the center of Ascona. The town itself is quite charming and we found it much more inviting than nearby Locarno. They have four on site restaurants. We ate at La Brezza, with its one Michelin star, which was excellent. On another night we ate at Marina. Talk about kitschy, with its 1950's aqua blue theme, this place veered almost too much in direction of the past. Food here was not as good but still okay. In contrast to all the other hotel stays, this property attracted a much older crowd who appeared to be coming here for years.
Last edited by wanderlustFL; Oct 15, 2021 at 5:38 am