As Swiss Alp town Gstaad continues to draw in the glitzy crowd to its slopes, nearby hotel Huus Gstaad strikes a fine balance between Alpine retreat and kipping at a rich pal’s home. (You’ve all got rich pals, right?)
Actually located between the villages of Saanen and Gstaad itself, the seven-story design hotel — in classic Swiss chalet style — features 136 rooms with plush furnishings: think Hästens beds, wool blankets and warming pendulum lights. With a mix of traditional patterns and contemporary materials; Huus Gstaad’s communal spaces are the perfect place to end a tiresome day spent skiing or hiking mountainside.
Architect Erik Nissen Johansen led a gut renovation; which saw walls removed, windows enlarged and a sense of urban modernity added. Now, natural light floods in from every direction; and the views over the surrounding rolling hillsides are simply breathtaking. The hotel’s 400m2 living room — with the highest bottle wall in the region — is a great spot to enjoy a bit of the old après-ski; whilst a choice of four restaurants provides ample opportunity to tuck into Alpine flavours in traditional settings. A Finnish sauna, herbal steam bath, and ice fountain are just some of the offerings at the Huus’s 2,000m2, three floor wellness retreat.