These Luxurious Hotels Around the World
For winter escape artists, the very best ski hotels have three things in common. There is a world of magic to doing either one. It isn’t that the slopes, the powder, the thrill of charging downhill is secondary, it’s that a cozy, character rich lodge with a long history has a way of nudging you to make it part of yours. Each of these resorts which include old school lodges, and even grand hotels have deep roots in their legendary ski towns.
From St. Moritz to Megéve, Aspen to Vermont, I looked for history and interiors that reflect their lineage. I sadly had to bypass older resorts whose interiors have been corporatized, aka rooms that feel a little like I’m trapped on a work retreat, complete with a glass top desk and pleather bench. Let find out These Luxurious Hotels Around the World below.
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These Luxurious Hotels Around the World
Hotel Jerome
Aspen, Colorado: Today, Jerome fetches upwards of $600 a night in the high ski season, thanks in part to a highly urbane and authentically appointed 2012 revitalization by Nevada-based interior designer Todd Avery Lenahan. He held true to the hotel’s lineage with a sophisticated collection of western art, Navajo rugs, and 19th century antiques. That is once of These Luxurious Hotels Around the World.
Badrutt’s Palace
St. Moritz, Switzerland: This grand hotel was opened in 1896 by Caspar Badrutt. His mother, Johannes, meanwhile, had her hands full luring the first English tourists to the now legendary ski town with the promise of winter sports like curling and toboggan runs. They both were successful, and their family spent the 20th century building the palace’s legacy in luxury sporting, all the while managing to throw epic parties. To understand the latter, we can’t overlook the elephant in the room, and that’s hardly metaphorical: A gentle giant was summoned one year from a traveling circus to deliver a gift to a guest’s birthday party.
Gstaad Palace
Gstaad, Switzerland: Though past guests have ranged from royalty King Leopold III, the Spanish royal family to celebrity Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, and Grace Kelly, the guest rooms have evolved through the years to retain a large measure of authentic, place appropriate character. For example, this corner, mountain view suite is dressed more for the opulent comforts of home than for the glitz of a posh hot spot.
Lake Placid Lodge
Adirondacks, New York: The lodge’s Arts & Crafts roots roar to life in its architectural elements and furnishings. Bespoke brick and millwork mingle with earthy hues and quirky American antiques in dining areas, gathering and game rooms, the wine cellar pictured here, and its 17 guest cabins and 13 suites.
Each is outfitted in furnishings made by local Adirondack artisans, continuing traditions that began as the area’s earliest tourists set out to traverse the idyllic and largely undiscovered wooded landscape.
Gstaad Palace
Gstaad, Switzerland: Louis Armstrong and Marlene Dietrich are among the luminaries said to have graced the halls and galas and dance floors of this five-star ski hotel. Though Gstaad’s global renown as a winter tourism destination was in its infancy in 1913 when the palace was built, the hotel was rooted in luxury from the jump.
Investors insisted upon central heating, a grand ballroom, and even an in house telegrapher, suggesting that even early 20th century Swiss vacationers weren’t immune to the demands of work while on holiday.
The Stowehof
Architect Larry Hess stumbled upon this hilltop in 1945, and shortly after designed what was considered a rather eccentric lodge set among the towering pines and maples. It existed throughout the latter half of the 20th century as a sometime hotel, sometime executive retreat and on occasion movie set, serving as the backdrop of 1981 Alan Alda and Carol Burnett film, The Four Seasons.
Thanks to new ownership and an overhaul in 2016 that seized on its fetching midcentury design, today it’s a flawlessly executed, era appropriate escape halfway between the world class northern Vermont slopes and the charming throwback village of Stowe. That is once of These Luxurious Hotels Around the World.
Post Hotel & Spa
Lake Louise, Canada: Speaking of serenity, the Post’s 25,000 bottle wine cellar has earned it repeat Grand Awards from Wine Spectator. The distinguished list is curated by the lodge’s owner himself, George Schwarz, a Swiss epicurean and ski enthusiast who together with his brother has owned the property since 1978.
