In the case of hospitality, Switzerland is in a category of its own. Whether you’re checking into Zurich’s castle-like Dolder Grand, standing sentinel over Lake Zurich, or staying at Alpine ski-in/ski-out resorts, similar to Zermat’s indie-spirited Cervo, you possibly can almost all the time count on warm, intuitive service throughout your stay.
Why is Switzerland so service forward? For starters, the polyglot country has 4 official linguistic regions—Italian, French, Swiss German, and Romansh—plus a nationwide English fluency often spoken not simply to tourists but in addition as a neutral language between residents of those linguistic regions. Or perhaps it’s the nation’s humble Alpine farmer history and intentional lack of royal lineage that eschew snobbiness and elitism in favor of discretion and simplicity. Or possibly the presence of the world’s best hospitality schools helps visitors feel pampered and understood.
Add to the combo the world’s highest concentration of Michelin stars per capita—many for hotel restaurants—a geothermal landscape that sustainably fuels spas and thermal baths, and dopamine-inducing, cortisol-reducing Alpine vistas that chill out probably the most agitated travelers. Top all of it off with a heaping serving of local Pritzker-winning architects, and you’ve got a destination loaded with great hotels. For Afar’s latest installment of Hotels We Love, examine our 11 favorite Swiss hotels.
The Alpina Gstaad
- Location: Gstaad, Switzerland
- Why we find it irresistible: A sleek retreat with nods to tradition
- Loyalty program: I Prefer (Preferred Hotels & Resorts)
- From: $1,600
- Book now
Situated on a hill a brief walk from the too-pretty-to-be-real resort town of Gstaad, the Alpina Gstaad debuted in 2012 as the primary luxury hotel to open there in a century. It took the French and Swiss owners, who’re based in Gstaad, 15 years to create the six-story hotel on a five-acre plot in adherence with the town’s strict constructing codes. The lobby makes a grand first impression with its contemporary artwork, double-height ceilings, sleek central staircase, and use of reclaimed wood sourced from Switzerland, France, and Austria.
The 58 timber-walled rooms, suites, and latest residences, designed by Chaletbau Matti in collaboration with regional craftspeople, are mashups of up to date and traditional. Abstract paintings and marble and timber-clad bathrooms with large soaking tubs are juxtaposed with carved wood ceilings, hanging lamps fashioned out of embroidered leather cowbell straps, and painted wood cupboards inspired by the generations-old versions in Swiss Alpine homes. Gas fireplaces add an additional dose of comfort on cold nights. Read Afar’s full review of the Alpina Gstaad, and take a look at our full list of top ski lodges and resorts world wide.
Beau-Rivage Palace Lausanne
- Location: Lausanne
- Why we find it irresistible: Belle Époque hospitality for a latest generation of travelers
- Loyalty program: Leaders Club (Leading Hotels of the World)
- From: $710
- Book now
Lausanne’s iconic Beau-Rivage Palace is a master class in Belle Époque–era Swiss hospitality. It opened in 1861 and has run regal and robust ever since, with a guest roster of icons from Coco Chanel and Princess Grace to Grace Jones and Keanu Reeves. The 168-room hotel’s enviable location overlooks Lake Geneva, the snow-dusted French Alps, and the town’s leafy Olympic Park—a reminder that Lausanne is home to the International Olympic Committee.
But its modern amenities are much more impressive than its Alpine views and Corinthian-columned, marbled ballrooms. A sprawling Guerlain spa within the resort’s 10-acre park includes saunas, hammams, heated and thermal pools, and tennis courts. One restaurant (one in every of six on site), headed by noted chef Anne-Sophie Pic, has two Michelin stars. Interiors, revamped by Pierre-Yves Rochon in 2014, feature Murano glass chandeliers, parquet floors, stained glass domed ceilings, and tapestries. Sit on the wrought-iron balconies with signature canary-yellow awnings, enjoy a glass of chasselas from the neighboring UNESCO-listed Lavaux wine terraces, and get a success of sunshine.
Bürgenstock Resort
- Location: Lake Lucerne
- Why we find it irresistible: A renovated historic retreat with a standout wellness program and epic views
- Loyalty program: Leaders Club (Leading Hotels of the World)
- From: $1,230
- Book now
After a nine-year, $600 million face lift, the enduring Bürgenstock Resort endures as one in every of Switzerland’s most top hotels. Set on 148 acres of Alpine ridgeline peering over the sapphire-depths of Lake Lucerne (locally generally known as Vierwaldtattersee), Bürgenstock is a set of 4 hotels, 12 restaurants and bars, and a sprawling 107,000-square-foot spa (Europe’s largest) featuring hammams, saunas, and three pools, including an out of doors infinity thermal pool overlooking the lake and neighboring central Switzerland’s snow-capped Alps.
Each the 102-room Bürgenstock Hotel and the 160-room Waldhotel—a state-of-the-art medical spa and hotel—are the latest additions. However the historic Taverne 1879 and Palace Hotel, in-built 1904, are under no circumstances second best. Originally opened in 1873, the family-owned resort grew right into a playground where Hollywood royalty romped—Sophia Loren lived here for a few years while Audrey Hepburn married Mel Ferrer in a chapel on the property. It’s possible to reach by automotive, but boat arrivals cross the lake and result in a steep funicular, making a spectacular arrival experience. In 2024, the hotel launched sleep health programs and guided Hydrothermal Journeys, a resident water sommelier, and latest pickleball courts.
Cervo Mountain Resort
- Location: Zermatt
- Why we find it irresistible: A recent-feeling retreat with a younger crowd and Matterhorn views
- From: $395
- Book now
Not all Swiss luxury hotels are castles or palaces. This indie-spirited 36-room, ski-in/ski-out property—an elevator ride from the bottom of Zermatt’s Sunnegga funicular—is a cluster of six chalets abutting the larch woods and overlooking the Thirteenth-century, car-free village and ski resort of Zermatt. Its modern, explorer-themed rooms, with their gray palette and rough-hewn wood furnishings, offer a number of the town’s best Matterhorn views, some with fireplaces, all with balconies.
The 107-degree thermal bath outside the spa, with its twin yurts, is an amazing place to catch the alpenglühen on the Matterhorn, only visible during mornings. Cervo’s guests skew young, so the property focuses on experiences—e-bike tours, Bhutanese medicine baths, guided lake hikes, Matterhorn training treks, and yoga classes, to call a number of. Meals are a standout too: They’re a combination of traditional Swiss cuisine with Middle Eastern influences and Italian flair, a reminder that Italy is only a hike, ski slope, or gondola ride away.
Dolder Grand
- Location: Zurich
- Why we find it irresistible: A reimagined, lake-facing resort with serious wellness cred
- Loyalty program: Leaders Club (Leading Hotels of the World)
- From: $1,110
- Book now
The landmark 175-room Dolder Grand sits beside Lake Zurich and the Glarus Alps and has hosted everyone from Nelson Mandela and Albert Einstein to Leonardo di Caprio and Oprah Winfrey. It was originally a kurhaus (health resort) when it opened in 1899, even employing Dr. Bircher-Benner, the Swiss inventor of Bircher Muesli. Flash forward to 2008, when architect Norman Foster and Partners added two contemporary wings and completely revamped the interiors.
Rooms within the historic primary constructing skew traditional, with beige sofas and painted by hand wallpaper, while those in the brand new wing are spacious and ultra-mod, swathed in marble and sand-colored Jura limestone. The extensive art collection, featuring pieces by Duane Hanson, Keith Haring, and Niki de Saint Phalle, just isn’t to be missed. Neither is its Michelin two-starred the Restaurant, where roebuck meets buckwheat and truffle and desserts like fragrant forest strawberries with coconut and limoncello encourage. Better of all is the 43,000-square-foot spa, paying homage to its kurhaus past, with a gym, mind and body studio, 17 treatment rooms, and a middle for medical treatments and procedures, in addition to saunas, steam baths, aroma pools, kotatsu footbaths, solariums, and sunaburos, warm pebble beds to heat up your core.
4 Seasons Hotel Des Bergues Geneva
- Location: Geneva
- Why we find it irresistible: A chic retreat in the middle of Geneva that’s steeped in history
- From: $1,300
- Book now
How often are you able to stay in a hotel that hosted the inaugural 1920 meeting of the United Nations, then called the League of Nations? The revered 4 Seasons Hotel Des Bergues Geneva dates back to 1834, evident by its frescoes, high ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and gilded neoclassical facade; it became a 4 Seasons property in 2005. The hotel sits in the center of the town where Lake Geneva becomes the River Rhone. Its 115 guest rooms include 44 suites—all designed by Pierre-Yves Rochon—some with views of the French alps, Mont Blanc, Lake Geneva, and L’île Rousseau, a leafy island named after Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
The three level, 30,000-square-foot Mont Blanc spa contains a rooftop infinity pool, saunas, and hammams adorned in white Marmara marble and aged oak, while results-backed treatments include micropuncture mesotherapy, probiotic facials, cocoa wraps, and champagne grape seed scrubs. For a coupe of real champagne, head to one in every of the hotel’s three restaurants, including Izumi, serving Japanese Peruvian Nikkei cuisine, while Michelin-starred Il Lago cooks up Italian specialties like spaghetti alla chitarra and cacio and pepe potatoes.
