Every year, the hotel scene eagerly awaits the opinion of Karl Wild’s jury experts. Ten hotels in the Destination Gstaad in three categories made it into the wreaths. Le Grand Bellevue in Gstaad even won Hotel of the Year.

Le Grand Bellevue shines as Hotel of the Year. The Sonntagszeitung, which publishes Karl Wild’s ranking, dedicated a double page. They call the Bellevue the “Grand Hotel of fairytale princes” because it was twice acquired by wealthy Gstaad friends. At the turn of the millennium, entrepreneur Thomas Straumann saved it from ruin. He renovated it from the ground up and appointed several directors.

After a decade of ownership, Straumann looked for new buyers and found them in Daniel Koetser and his father-in-law Rudolf Maag. Daniel Koetser was happy about the newly acquired hotel. It had always been his dream to own a hotel. Karl Wild’s press release says: “It should be spectacular, crazy, amazing.” First, Koetser remodelled the hotel and spiced it up with surprises and a fair amount of extravagance. Then he invested in the quality of service. After ten years, the hotelier’s enthusiasm and efforts are rewarded with the Hotel of the Year award.

One wellness hotel and three holiday hotels
The ranking distinguishes six categories: Nice-Price Holiday Hotels, Family Hotels, City Hotels, Wellness Hotels, Holiday Hotels, and Trouvailles. The Wellness & Spa Hotel Ermitage was the only wellness hotel to be distinguished, occupying twelfth place (previous year 9).

Three holiday hotels from Saanenland took places eight to ten: Le Grand Bellevue (rank 8/ previous year 9), the Gstaad Palace (rank 9/7) and The Alpina Gstaad (rank 10/8). The Park Gstaad is the only five-star hotel not listed in any ranking. The reason given is the planned sale.

More than a handful of nice-price hotels
The Saanenland stands for quality and luxury but there are also six awarded hotels in the nice-price category. The jury awarded the Spitzhorn in Saanen (rank 4/4), the Romantik Hotel Hornberg in Saanenmöser (rank 13/15), the Golfhotel Les Haut de Gstaad in Saanenmöser (rank 21/new), the Huus Gstaad in Saanen (rank 23/17), the Boutique Hotel Alpenrose in Schönried (rank 24/23) and the Hotel Kernen in Schönried (rank 31/33).

BASED ON AVS/BLANCA BURRI