Hotel Review: Hotel Schweizerhof of Zermatt

Sometimes I stay in a hotel because I just need an easy and clean place to sleep for the night while other times, the hotel is a large part of the destination itself and a place where I am truly excited about staying.

For me, the Hotel Schweizerhof of Zermatt falls into the latter category. A while ago I looked through the compilation of properties that is a part of Small Luxury Hotels (SLH). Hyatt has a partnership with SLH for which it allows members to earn and redeem Hyatt points for various properties worldwide.

I wanted to have a relaxing ski vacation with my mother in Switzerland, particularly Zermatt, but I knew that there were no mass-chain hotels. When I came across the Hotel Schweizerhof, I was sold and excited to visit.

This article is part of my Trip Report: Skiing in Switzerland including:

• Lounge Review: United Polaris Lounge IAD
• Flight Review: TAP Air Portugal Long Haul Business Class Flight IAD-LIS
• Flight Review: TAP Air Portugal Intra-Europe Business Class Flight LIS-ZRH
• Lounge Review: TAP Premium Lounge Lisbon
• Hotel Review: Moxy Bern Expo
• The Trains of Switzerland: My Thoughts
• Hotel Review: Hotel Schweizerhof of Zermatt
• Skiing Zermatt in March: My Thoughts
• Going to Italy for Lunch
• Hotel Review: Sheraton Zurich
• Lounge Review: Swiss International Lounge Zurich
• Flight Review: United Polaris Business Class ZRH-IAD

Location

The hotel is well located in the center of Zermatt. It is less than a block away from the train station into town, so it was easy to simply walk over to the hotel upon arrival. Zermatt is a carless town, so while it is still possible to take small electric buggies to farther locations,, the walkability was very nice.

Further, the hotel was located close to the mountain. While not ski on/ski off, it was only about a block from the ski train and a 10-minute walk from a gondola up the mountain. Matterhorn Ski area was a little bit further away but was an easy 10-minute buggy ride (this is the best gondola if trying to get up the mountain and ski into Italy).

Walking to restaurants for dinner (or to the chocolate store) was very accessible, so overall the location was excellent for our needs. While I would have loved a ski on/ski off property, the proximity to the lifts was all we needed.

The Property

The Hotel Schweizerhof had everything you would expect in a luxury ski hotel and was very well created and maintained. Upon entering the lobby, you could already feel the warmth from the fireplaces as well as notice the beautiful woodwork and decorations.

The lobby had plenty of seating options as it converted into a restaurant during lunch and dinner hours. Further, the bar was stunning with great backlit marble. There were multiple restaurants on the premises , but I will get back to that later.

From the lobby, you could take a spiral staircase or the elevator down to the lower level where many of the hotels’ best features were located.

There is a ski rental shop on the lower floor, although we ended up renting our skis just down the street for a little cheaper. Looking back, I would have just rented from the hotel. It was not that much more expensive and definitely worth the convenience.

Next to the rental shop was the ski locker room. With your room key, you are able to access your assigned locker. It is divided into two parts, one with a boot holder and heater and the other with ample space to store skis and poles.

This room had direct access to the outside so you could go straight to the lifts after getting on your boots. The only downside I would say is that the exit did require going up stairs, something that is never fun when wearing ski boots. Further, there was not too much seating available in the locker room itself, but overall, it is a solid benefit.

A little further down the main downstairs corridor provided access to the pool and spa area. The pool was a gorgeous indoor pool with plenty of seating and available towels. The water was quite warm and great for a swim after a day of skiing.

To the left was a hallway that led to the spa. While we did not get any treatments during our stay, we did need to walk this way to head to some of the facilities. Past many of the treatment rooms, there are hot tubs, saunas, steam rooms, showers, and even an ice cold bucket of water that, with the pull of a level, splashes down over your head.

The hotel also had a gym, but I forgot to grab a photo. Overall, very solid amenities at this relatively small hotel.

The Room

The room we booked was a standard two twin room, except we lucked out with our room placement. We were given a room on the top floor of the hotel, which meant that we got vaulted ceilings, something that I thought added a lot to the character of the room.

Upon entry, there was a large coat rack and bench/shelf to the right. This was in place of an actual closet, but it provided us with ample storage for all of our belongings and ski clothes.

To the left of the entry was the bathroom. Lined in marble, it was very well appointed. Some highlights included the Dyson Hairdryer (the famous one on TikTok), as well as a towel heater next to the shower (although we did struggle to get it to work). I wish there had been more counter space, but the bathroom overall was really nice.

Further into the room were the beds, which were beautifully decorated with a fun Zermatt throw blanket. I found the bed to be quite comfortable and liked the linens as well. At the foot of the bed was a bench that matched the red of the headboard, a nice addition.

There was a small desk/make-up table with a mirror, TV and shelving across from the bed, on which I noticed a Marshall speaker With ease, I was able to pair it to my phone and enjoy music while we were in the room. I found that products like this and the Dyson hairdryer showed that the hotel was truly shooting for a very high-quality experience.

In the far left corner from the bed was a Nespresso maker with a cabinet and refrigerator below that housed the cups, glasses, Nespresso pods, sugar/sweetener, and milk. The Nespresso maker shared its location with the small bar that was stocked with various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and of course, snacks for purchase.

Another fun feature located in the room was the iPad on the right nightstand. From this, you could control everything in the room, including the TV and lights. I also found that it had Spotify, which was nice to pair with the speaker, although I believe it may have been logged into by a prior guest’s account.

Finally, there was a small sitting area with two chairs and a table. This is where our welcome amenity was left, a thoughtful touch by the hotel, as well as regularly refilled water bottles. 

Last, there was also a small deck outside, which was a great place to grab a glimpse of the mountains during sunset, but other than that it was a bit too cold outside to be usable.

Overall, the room was really well done, and I really enjoyed staying there.

Food and Beverage

In addition to room service, the hotel has 3 restaurants and during our stay we made an effort to try all of them. All of the prices were on the higher side, but nothing out of par with the rest of Zermatt.

The hotel lobby restaurant was named The Schweizerhof Kitchen, which is where we had our final lunch. It has a small but solid menu with the classics. While I enjoyed the food, I did not think it was anything particularly exceptional though I was a big fan of the gluten free bread.

The second restaurant is named La Muna, located in the rear of the hotel, which is also where breakfast was located. I am pretty sure breakfast is included for everyone, but not certain so don’t quote me.

The breakfast was a sizable spread with the typical cheese and meat options, as well as some fun yogurts and puddings. After being seated every morning, someone would always quickly come to ask if we wanted any variety of eggs, coffee or tea. I found the eggs benedict and the cappuccinos to be rather good.

It was not my favorite buffet, but I found out on the last day that there was a second room that had a few more options, and that it was gluten and nut free. I luckily got to enjoy some pancakes.

During dinner, the breakfast room doubles as an Asian Fusion restaurant. After looking at the menu, I was very excited to dine there, so I made a reservation. Unfortunately, I came to learn that given the heavy reliance on soy sauce in which many of the dishes were pre-marinated, and because the restaurant does not offer a gluten-free soy sauce option, there were very few dishes I could actually eat. That said, the food we were able to order was really good. My favorite was the varied mochi for dessert.

Finally, I saved the best for last. The hotel also has a fondue restaurant named the Cheese Factory. Just outside the hotel’s front doors is the entrance and steps leading down into this amazing establishment.

Maybe it is just my love for cheese, but this was one of my favorite meals in Zermatt. There were a variety of fondu options available and I was able to have gluten free bread and crudites. Of course, it’s not proper fondue without chocolate for dessert.

Overall, the food was very solid at the hotel. However, The different venues varied widely with regard to how accessible their menu was to individuals with gluten limitations.

Service

From check-in to check-out, all of the service we received at this hotel was excellent The staff were very helpful to all of our (very many) questions.

The waiters and waitresses (with the exception of the waitress at the La Muna restaurant who was blatantly rude), were all very knowledgeable about their menus and were quickly ready to make suggestions in order to modify a meal to meet my gluten free restrictions.

Also, the housekeeping was excellent. Not only was there twice daily service (something that is disappearing more and more in the US), but they were always very helpful and willing to work around our schedules. And best of all, anytime they knocked on the door they would offer us chocolate, and, of course, for turndown every night we were left with mini Toblerone bars. I am always a massive fan of chocolate on the pillows, so overall, very well done.

Booking

Booking was not as straightforward as I was hoping it was going to be. Ideally, I wanted to book with Hyatt points, as it is a category 7 hotel so the cost would be 25,000 to 35,000 points per night. However, it is nearly impossible to find availability with points.

Looking through much of the calendar, it seems that this hotel rarely releases award space to its Hyatt partner. Further, I was not able to book through Hyatt in order to earn Hyatt points for the reservation.

Rather than booking on the hotel’s website or through Hyatt, I actually booked with Small Luxury Hotels, which was running a great promo. They were offering to buy two nights and get the third night free.

It is a fairly expensive hotel. But, by booking the room far enough in advance, it was $410 per night. While pricey, given that we only needed to pay for two nights that reduced the cost greatly. I was also targeted with a spending offer on my credit card, which allowed me to take off another $50, leaving the final cost at about $257 a night after converting to US dollars.

If I wanted to use points, I could have charged it to my Venture card and used the purchase eraser feature to make it a “free” stay, but given the card linked offer, I was happy with the price.

The Last Point

My family’s skiing accommodations are usually home rentals in order to have more space and cook meals, so staying at a hotel while skiing, especially a luxury one, is always fun.

Waking up to breakfast in slippers before heading to your warm ski boots is something that I really enjoyed during our time.

Overall, Hotel Schweizerhof was very well constructed and I really liked the décor throughout. Add in some fondue and especially its location, and I would not hesitate to stay there again.If interested in a stay of your own, feel free to email me Payton@nonstoppoints.com and I may be able to offer some additional perks throughout your stay.