DE S T INAT IONS
LEFT AND BELOW: Suvretta House is a five-minute drive from St Moritz
Tis building was restored and extended by long-
time St Moritz resident Norman Foster, and reopened for the 2017 World Ski Championships. Te décor acknowledges the Kulm’s world-class winter sports pedigree – both the legendary Cresta Run and famous Olympia Bob Run are on the hotel grounds. Ancient skis are stacked in corners, while early bobsleigh and luge sleds with upholstered seats hang from the ceilings. On the walls are black-and-white prints displaying the ways people found to have fun in the snow a century ago, from horse- drawn skiing to dinghy sailing on ice, as well as shots of skaters on the ice rink wearing plus fours and elegant hats. Te Kulm has a sister
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hotel – the Grand Hotel Kronenhof, a Belle Epoque masterpiece – in Pontresina, a wind-sheltered side valley about ten minutes’ drive from St Moritz. Even if staying in St Moritz you should visit Pontresina, which is very different from its glitzy neighbour, being a picture-postcard Engadine village of narrow streets lined with beautifully restored buildings sitting side by side with more modern ones built in stone. It’s a centre for outdoor activities, strong in the summer for walking and mountain biking.
(closed in summer, excellent in winter), to the lakes and mountains opposite. Its entrance lobby has impressive marquetry scenes of
St Moritz decorating the walls, carved wooden pillars and a stone staircase with an iron balustrade leading to wooden-framed glass doors into the main lounge. Tere you are greeted by a riot of contrasting patterns on floors, walls, furnishings and the many pillars in various tones of terracotta, yellow and red, all illuminated (partly) by a stained glass skylight in the ceiling. It’s a bold combination that gives an air of warmth and
intimacy and sets the tone for the hotel, which, for all the grandeur of its public areas, feels more homely than Badrutt’s, perhaps because there are also many private apartments in an annexe to the property. Like all the five- star hotels it has an outstanding spa and pool, and also a range of dining options, including the new Kulm Country Club that occupies the old ice pavilion overlooking a large expanse of green, which is used as an ice rink in winter.
MAR CH 2 0 19 Te hotel itself, with its beautiful Neo-Baroque
exterior, would make a great place to stay for a few days or at the very least to enjoy an evening’s dining, either in the Kronenstubli, a wood-panelled, intimate room in the oldest part of the hotel (1848), or the fabulously ornate Grand restaurant, with intricate chandeliers, original frescoes depicting the four seasons, and staff with gold epaulettes.
PRIVATE BOLTHOLE Back in St Moritz, another option is the Grand Hotel des Bains Kempinski down by the lake, but if you take a five-minute drive out of St Moritz you’ll arrive at Suvretta House. Built by hotelier Anton Sebastian Bon in 1912, the name translates as “house above the woods” and the experience of staying here is like being in a private house just outside St Moritz, with all of the advantages, save being able to stroll around the town. → CONTINUED ON PAGE 84
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