The Swiss Alps are the great overlooked summer destination in European luxury. The winter crowds are gone, the hotels drop rates by 30 to 50 percent, and the mountains do a completely different thing in July than they do in February - hiking above the tree line, lake swimming at 1,800 metres, long lunches on a terrace with a glacier in the middle distance. Below are the ten alpine hotels our advisors book most in summer, and how to build a two-region Swiss trip that beats almost any beach.
Gstaad Palace - the summer version of a winter icon
Gstaad in summer is a different resort from Gstaad in February. The pistes become hiking trails, the town's chalet architecture looks even better in green, and the Palace - the fortress-like grande dame that dominates the skyline - drops its winter rates by about 40 percent. Rooms that go for CHF 2,500 in December can be had for under CHF 1,200 in July.
The hotel's summer programme is quietly one of the best in Europe: private hikes with the resident guide, a full mountain-bike operation, an outdoor pool with a mountain view, and Gildo's Ristorante on the terrace for lunches that turn into afternoons. Book a chalet suite for the extra space and outdoor terrace.
The Chedi Andermatt - modern architecture, alpine soul
The Chedi Andermatt is the outlier in Swiss alpine luxury - a Jean-Michel Gathy design that reads more Aman than grand hotel, with 106 rooms across a low-rise pavilion campus at 1,447 metres. In summer, the mountain-facing rooms open onto pastures rather than pistes; the outdoor pool is heated to 35 degrees and never crowded.
The property has one of the best hotel kitchens in Switzerland (four restaurants, a genuine Japanese chef in residence), and Andermatt as a village is a fifteen-minute walk with excellent alpine bakeries. Pair with a lakeside stay for a full week.
Bürgenstock Resort - the lake-and-cliff option
500 metres above Lake Lucerne, on a private cliff-top plateau reached by a funicular from the lakeshore, Bürgenstock is the most spectacularly sited hotel in Switzerland. Four hotels on a single estate (the historic Palace, the contemporary Bürgenstock Hotel, the Waldhotel wellness property, the family-oriented Taverne), an infinity pool that hangs off the cliff, and a spa the size of a small European village.
For summer we book the Bürgenstock Hotel for its lake-facing suites and the Waldhotel if wellness is the point. Take the funicular down to Lake Lucerne for the boat trips to Weggis, Vitznau (where Park Hotel Vitznau is a serious alternative) and the mountain railway up Rigi.
Badrutt's Palace and Kulm St. Moritz - the Engadine in summer
St. Moritz has spent a hundred years training the world to think of it as a winter resort. In fact, the town was built in the 19th century as a summer destination - the lakes, the light and the hiking are why anyone came here at all before skiing existed. Both the Badrutt's Palace and the Kulm Hotel open for a summer season (roughly late June through mid-September) with a completely different rhythm from winter: sailing on Lake St. Moritz, hikes up Piz Nair, the polo tournament in July, and rates that drop by 30 to 40 percent.
Book the Badrutt's for the lake-view rooms and the classic hotel theatre; book the Kulm for the quieter, more residential feel and the golf course access. Both offer Preferred Partner perks through our channels.
The two-region Swiss summer itinerary that works every time
The best summer trip we book combines a mountain hotel (Gstaad, Andermatt or St. Moritz) with a lake hotel (Bürgenstock, Park Hotel Vitznau on Lake Lucerne, or Grand Hotel Victoria on Lake Como just over the border). Four nights up, four nights down. The mountains for the hiking and the light; the lake for the swimming, the boat rides and the long lunches.
July is the ideal month - wildflowers are out, evenings are still cool enough for a fire, and the resort towns are lively but not overwhelmed. Book by March for July and August dates; the best suites at Bürgenstock and Gstaad Palace go early.
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