Christmas at the Gstaad Palace, With a New Hand in the Kitchen
The 1913 hotel opens on 15 December, with a new kitchen chief and a jacket rule that still applies.
Some grand hotels reinvent themselves every few seasons. The Gstaad Palace prefers continuity. It opened in December 1913 as the Royal-Hôtel and Winter Palace, on a hill above the village. The Scherz family has run it since 1947, and Andrea Scherz has been general manager since 2001. A family hotel of this size and standing is now rare in the Alps.
The season
The 2026-27 winter season runs from 15 December 2026 to 7 March 2027, so Christmas falls in the hotel's first fortnight, when the house is at its most festive. There are 90 rooms and suites, six restaurants and four bars. The evening dress code remains: from 19:00, gentlemen are asked to wear a jacket in Le Grill, the Bar du Grill and the Veranda of Le Grand, and hoodies and sports shoes are not welcome. Room rates usually include a daily dining credit and access to the spa.
The news
The real change is in the kitchen. Franz W. Faeh, the culinary director, retires after a career of nearly 50 years. His former right hand, Luca Gatti, takes charge of the 55-strong brigade from this winter, having become executive chef in September. Regulars will watch closely, because the hotel has had a strong run. Last winter set a record of more than 6,530 overnight stays at 84.37 percent occupancy.
Small pleasures
The hotel has history in its foundations. A cellar vault that held valuables for the Swiss Bank Corporation during the Second World War is now a fondue restaurant. GreenGo, the nightclub, dates from the early 1970s. Dinner upstairs on Christmas Eve, then downstairs for the late part of the evening, is still the right order of things.
