Planning a late-season Alpine break? Check into the Grande Dame of prestige Alpine ski culture’s centre of gravity.
How to describe Suvretta House to the uninitiated? Imagine the kind of elongated English country pile at which Bertie Wooster would spend weekends escaping the intentions of querulous aunts. Drape the entire façade in turreted, fairy-tale-tinged opulence. Finally, place the resulting edifice in a snow-dusted setting, 1,850 metres above sea level, in the heart of the Engadine valley in the Swiss Alps, close to a town that has gradually become amongst the world’s most mythologised since it hosted the first ever Winter Olympics almost a century ago.
For those late in the room, the story of Survetta House – one of The Leading Hotels of the World – begins in 1908, with hotel pioneer Anton Sebastian Bon realising that there was an appetite amongst well-heeled visitors to San Moritz for a hideaway, in the orbit of (but separate from) the paparazzi-soaked revelry of a town that had become the world’s first genuine winter resort 50 years earlier when Johannes Badrutt, founder and owner of the famous Kulm Hotel, bet a handful of well-heeled guests that if they came out in the winter they’d have a better time; if they didn’t, the bet went, he’d refund their staying fee (he won the bet).
The Suvretta estate, just two kilometres away, with its ‘bellavista’ over the lakes of the Upper Engadine, was the perfect setting. Thanks to the tireless labours of 400 workmen working from dawn to dusk, plans drawn up by architect Karl Koller came to fruition not much more than a year after the foundation was laid.
More than a century on, under the stewardship of Esther and Peter Eglil, Survetta House remains a Belle Époque grande dame of the mini-metropolis dubbed “the most fashionable village in Europe” by Life magazine in 1947: a superlative it can still lay claim to today. The hotel’s epicentre remains a grand lobby which first-time visitors often make a beeline to, enticed by the light drenched opulence visible past reception when you enter the building. Entering the zone, said first-time visitor till take in a vast space characterised by original wood panelling, wooden beams, coffered ceilings, plush floral carpets and upholsteries, antique crystal chandeliers and a gentle whiff of cigar smoke which – being these days a novelty indoors – feels charmingly rustic (even to this non-smoker).
Similar old-world opulence – rich timber panelling, plush carpeting, high-end furniture, heavy drapes, furniture that would look in situ in our very own Salle des Étoiles here in Monaco – reigns supreme, aesthetically, in the 181 guest rooms.
Back on the ground floor, Anton’s Bar (the source of it that aforementioned cigar smoke) is a cosy bolthole in which the smell of burned rolled leaf mingles with the dulcet tones of a live piano performance each evening. Following pre-prandial drinks here, guests may repair to the Grande Restaurant: a dining hotspot replete with more heavy draping, heavy oak, and a wonderful cassette ceiling. Presided over by Executive Chef Fabrizio Zanetti (a locally born culinary maven whose market-fresh Gallic cuisine has earned 17 GaultMillau points, we’re talking old-school dining (suits and ties are required for men), with the flambeeing of Crépes Suzette adding some table-side theatre to the antiquated, folksy charm conjured up by dessert and liqueur trolleys, constantly doing the rounds at the behest of waiters who have got being attentive without being obtrusive down to an art form.
For a less formal dining experience, head instead to Suvretta Stube, where Head Chef Martina Federici presents authentic Swiss specialities such as traditional cheese fondue or raclette, as well as sliced veal and the gypsy-style beef skewer. We recommend Suvretta Stube to new arrivals longing for, quite literally, a taste of exactly where they are in the world.
As for what the majority of guests have come here for, a few steps from a devoted ski hire and locker room (one packed with genuinely state-of-the-art gear – not always a given, even in the best hotels in this part of the world), a private ski lift transports guests right up the Corviglia slopes, making this St Moritz’s only ski in, ski out hotel. Winter antics aren’t limited to skiers: snowshoeing and curling are on offer, and there’s even an ice-skating rink next to a hot tub zone which itself resides next to a 25-metre swimming pool with integrated water jets, plus lactic acid-busting touches such as solarium and sauna with Finnarium, Sanarium, Vaporium or Caldarium settings.
Of all areas of the hotel, this spa area will undergo the most serious rethink when it comes to a major design transformation (the hotel underwent a light revamp in 2023) about to be undertaken by Swiss Architect Studio, Ritter Schumacher. Spanning three levels, the resulting wellness retreat will feature a hairdresser salon and nail bar, treatment rooms, an advanced fitness area, yoga rooms and terrace, steam baths and a women’s sauna as well as other new relaxation areas with views over surrounding forest and the Graubünden mountains.
A state-of-the-art FEKA system heating a new outdoor pool will showcase the hotel’s commitment to technology and sustainability: but, rest assured those visiting when the hotel reopens in December 2025: whatever the rest of the renovations entail, Suvretta House’s timeless yet rustic charm – anti-minimalism, as it might be called – surely won’t be compromised one iota.
