SWITZERLAND Historic hotels

Jaded business travellers are fond of complaining that, inside and out, one hotel is just the same as another. Indeed, although accommodation is an important consideration for most people when they’re planning a holiday, once they’ve decided on a destination and a budget, the only criteria they apply are a clean, comfortable room (a hearty breakfast is a bonus) and a not-too-inconvenient location. Certainly, it’s unusual for someone to look for a special hotel first and only afterwards to plan their itinerary.

But then the Swiss have always been a bit different. And, as the members of the Swiss Historic Hotels association are keen to show, exploring the history, culture, food, architecture and natural beauty of a particular region needn’t end when you step inside your hotel. In fact, it can begin there.

Martin Küttel, president of the association, points out that "tourism started in Switzerland" insofar as it was one of the first countries — back in the nineteenth century — to formally recognise the benefits of tourism and to promote itself as a tourist destination.

People came from all over Europe to breathe its fresh air and bathe in the restorative waters of its springs. English gentlemen with adventurous souls couldn’t resist the mountaineering challenges posed by the Alps. Moreover, since the Napoleonic and then civil wars in the first half of the eighteen-hundreds, Switzerland has enjoyed a protracted and unrivalled period of peace.

So tourism has been a major feature of Swiss life for a long time. As a result, the historic hotels of Switzerland have a surprisingly significant place in the tale of events that have shaped the country over the last 150 years.

Küttel’s own establishment, the Hotel Paxmontana, is a prime example. High on a hill above the small hamlet of Flüeli-Ranft — not so much a town as a vague collection of buildings set amidst the rolling green hills of central Switzerland — the Paxmontana has its origins as a kurhaus (literally "cure house").

There were many such places in Switzerland at the turn of the twentieth century, where ailing Europeans could escape the threat of tuberculosis in the urban centres and spend the summer months walking and bathing during the day, and smoking and gambling at night (go figure).

St. Moritz; the place to 'see and be seen'

Altogether different is the renowned Badrutt’s Palace Hotel in glossy St Moritz, where the rooms are high-tech and luxurious. St Moritz is a must for those who want to 'see and be seen' in the winter skiing season, and the Palace’s five-star credentials match the most glamorous elements in town.

It wasn’t always like that. Until the 1860s, St Moritz was a small village that drew a few summer visitors. Then, one year, it so happened that a group of English hikers were sitting by a fire in Johannes Badrutt’s Kulm Hotel on the eve of their departure and expressing their reluctance to leave as the hiking season ended. The proprietor overheard them and, to their disbelief, related how winters were actually sunny and warm in St Moritz, with short-sleeves and sunglasses the order of the day.

To prove his point, he made a bet with them: they would return at Christmas time, and if the weather was as he described it, they would stay with him for free; if not, he would cover their travel costs. He was right, of course, and the English guests were duly wowed — thus, legend has it, alpine winter tourism was born.

Badrutt’s progeny went on to found the Palace, and the rest is, well, a long catalogue of the rich and famous: Marlene Dietrich, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Brigitte Bardot, Alfred Hitchcock, John Lennon... the list includes many current glitterati but, disappointingly for gossip-mongers, the staff at Badrutt’s are far too discreet to reveal any names.

"… small, unpretentious, family-run affairs…"

Fortunately, not all of the Swiss Historic Hotels are prohibitively expensive or exclusive to VIPs; many of them are small, unpretentious, family-run affairs. In Klosters, another of Switzerland’s premiere skiing resort towns, there is the Chesa Grischuna, which has also been graced by the 'who’s who' of film stars and royalty but wears its star-studded history with humility.

Owner-manager Barbara Rios-Guler, who inherited the hotel from her parents, grew up in the post-war years when Klosters was known as 'little Hollywood on the rocks'. She will relate, in an off-hand way, how Greta Garbo took her shopping for a black dress; or, when asked about the town’s connection with the House of Windsor, she will shrug her shoulders and say that Prince Charles is a very nice man and perfectly down-to-earth. Other well-known names in the guest book at Chesa Grischuna are Audrey Hepburn, Gene Kelly, David Niven, Julie Andews, Irving Walsh and Bing Crosby; even the Aga Khan makes an appearance!

If you want to follow in the footsteps of more intellectual luminaries, try the old-world charm of the Hotel Schweizerhof in Flims, with its belle epoque façade, ornate fountain, broad stairs and grand reception area. Friedrich Nietzsche, Albert Einstein and Marie Curie are among those who are associated with its story, having visited Flims to take in the mountain air and admire the emerald-turquoise waters of the pristine Caumasee lake.
source:http://travel.iafrica.com/destin/europe/225118.htm