46°28′23″N 7°17′04″E / 46.4731462°N 7.2844935°E / 46.4731462; 7.2844935
Hotel in Gstaad, Switzerland
The Gstaad Palace is a luxury hotel in
Gstaad , Switzerland. It was opened in December 1913 and is known as a notable destination for various celebrities and politicians. It is a member of
The Leading Hotels of the World .
History
Alpine Suite Mountain View at the Gstaad Palace
In 1905, Robert Steffen, a local schoolteacher in Gstaad, purchased land on which to build a new hotel. He recruited investors from
Lausanne and
Geneva for the project originally called the "Royal-Hôtel and Winter Palace." The hotel was opened in December 1913,
[1] with a design from Dutch architect, Adrien van Dorsser.
[2] In 1915, it held a men's tennis tournament on outdoor
clay courts . The tournament would eventually become the
Swiss Open .
[3] Soon after the hotel's inauguration,
World War I broke out in Europe, inhibiting the Palace's success at first.
[4] It saw growth in the 1920s but was again hampered by the
Great Depression . Ernst and Sylvia Scherz took over as directors of the hotel in 1938.
[5] During
World War II , a vault in the hotel's cellar was used to safeguard money and other valuables held by the
Swiss Bank Corporation (now known as
UBS ). That vault is currently a
fondue restaurant.
[5]
Financial struggles associated with low patronage during the war prompted the hotel's majority owner to sell in 1947. The hotel has been operated by the Scherz family ever since.
[6] After the war, the hotel became a common vacation spot for royalty, including
King Leopold III , the
King of Afghanistan , and members of the
Spanish royal family . In the 1950s, Scherz helped establish events like the
Menuhin Festival Gstaad to increase business at the hotel.
[1]
The following decade, he brought in prominent entertainers to perform at the hotel, including
Maurice Chevalier ,
Louis Armstrong ,
Ella Fitzgerald ,
[4]
Marlene Dietrich , and numerous others.
[5] Scherz's son, Ernst Andrea, took over managing duties from his father in 1968.
[4] Throughout the 1960s and 70s, the hotel gained a reputation as a celebrity getaway destination. Actors like
Elizabeth Taylor ,
Richard Burton ,
Sophia Loren ,
Grace Kelly ,
Roger Moore , and many others spent a great deal of time there. In the early 1970s, the hotel opened its first nightclub, GreenGo.
[7] Exterior shots of the hotel appear in the 1975 film,
The Return of the Pink Panther , with
Peter Sellers in his role as
Inspector Clouseau .
[5]
In 2000,
Michael Jackson offered to purchase the hotel, but the owners declined.
[7] In 2001, Ernst Andrea Scherz handed over management duties to his son, Andrea Scherz.
[4] The hotel also added a spa to include
sauna and
hammam areas.
[8] In 2013 and 2014, the sixth floor suites were refurbished.
[8] It received a renovation in 2018 which incorporated more suites at the property.
[9]
In April 2022,
Roman Polanski began shooting the upcoming film
The Palace in the hotel.
[10]
Description
The Gstaad Palace was built in a
Swiss chalet style on a hill overlooking the town of Gstaad.
[8] It has guest rooms and suites,
[11] restaurants,
[12] a basement nightclub (GreenGo), a spa,
[8] a traditional alpine hut (Walig Hut), indoor and outdoor pools, and numerous other amenities.
[13] It is a member of the independent hotel collective known as
The Leading Hotels of the World .
[14]
References
^
a
b Mourby, Adrian (2 November 2017).
Rooms with a View: The Secret Life of Grand Hotels . Icon Books.
ISBN
9781785782763 .
^ Denby, Elaine (2 April 2004).
Grand Hotels: Reality and Illusion . Reaktion Books. p. 133.
ISBN
978-1861891211 .
^ Stephens, Thomas (23 July 2015).
"Advantage Gstaad: 100 years of 'unique' tennis" . Swiss Info . Retrieved 28 June 2019 .
^
a
b
c
d Potter, Everett (March 2011).
"Gstaad Palace" . Skiing Heritage Journal . Retrieved 28 June 2019 .
^
a
b
c
d Dütschler, Markus (7 December 2013).
"Das Schloss mit Glamour-Faktor" . Der Bund (in German). Retrieved 28 June 2019 .
^ Dreyfus, Évelyne (6 April 2018).
"Au Gstaad Palace en Suisse, le personnel chouchoute les stars" . Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 28 June 2019 .
^
a
b Romeyn, Kathryn (21 February 2017).
"Why Hollywood Stars Have Flocked to Switzerland's Gstaad Palace for 60 Years" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 28 June 2019 .
^
a
b
c
d Weakley, Cat (26 March 2014).
"The Gstaad Palace turns 100" . The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 28 June 2019 .
^ Gray, Christine (6 February 2018).
"New Classic Suites Unveiled at Gstaad Palace" . Jetsetter Magazine.
^ Pearce, Leonard (April 15, 2022).
"Mickey Rourke Joins Roman Polanski's The Palace, Which Has Begun Production" . The Film Stage . Retrieved April 26, 2022 .
^ Morris, Johnny (21 March 2017).
"Gstaad Palace" . The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 28 June 2019 .
^ Gillie, Rebecca (27 March 2017).
"Beyond ski: Old-world luxury at the Gstaad Palace" . The Week . Retrieved 28 June 2019 .
^ Sager, Nils (5 July 2018).
"Frischer Wind in altehrwürdigem Schwimmbad" . Jungfrau Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 28 June 2019 .
^
"6 grand old ski hotels of Europe" . Snow Magazine . 20 April 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2019 .
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