THE HOTEL Checking into the Grace La Margna in St Moritz, you’ll want to kick off your shoes and curl up in front of the living room fire. This is hardly the typical vibe in St Moritz, Switzerland’s most bougie ski town, but this hotel does things differently. About to embark on its second winter season after opening last year after a long refurbishment, the boutique property captures the feeling of unwinding at a friends’ house for the weekend, albeit a friend with a fairly decent decorating budget and impeccable taste. London and Athens-based Divercity Architects added the new Grace Wing to the original La Margna hotel which has overlooked St. Moritz train station since 1906. La Margna’s classic belle époque glamour and delicate art nouveau feel is now accentuated with the sweeping contemporary lines of the new wing, with its floor to ceiling windows and views of the lake, all with flawless Swiss hospitality.
THE LOCATION St. Moritz is one of Switzerland’s most glamorous ski resorts, helped by its designer boutiques, Hauser & Wirth gallery and smattering of grand dame hotels complete with white-gloved doormen and chauffeured Rolls Royces. It is also where many argue British ski holidays were born. It is home to some serious skiing, and with 300 days of sunshine a year and powder through until April, its appeal is obvious. At 3,303m, Corvatsch has 130km of slopes, while this winter the Corvatsch Park will host the halfpipe and slopestyle events of the FIS Freestyle World Championships held in Engadin. The ungroomed beauty of Diavolezza meanwhile offers Switzerland’s longest glacier run, eight kilometres of some of the most breathtaking views in the Alps. With a ski shop on site at the Grace including lockers assigned to each room and a shuttle to the mountain, getting ouof town and to the lifts within minutes is a piece of cake. This winter, the resort will draw in more US visitors as it joins Zermatt as part of the Ikon Pass, giving holders seven unrestricted days with no blackout dates to use between the nine ski areas that comprise St. Moritz, while Ikon Base pass holders get five days. For those for whom a glacier run isn’t adrenalin enough, St. Moritz is also home to the infamous Cresta Run, a toboggan track that will transform you into a human torpedo as you’re thrust headfirst down a polished ice channel reaching speeds of up to 140 km per hour. I’d recommend double checking your travel insurance before signing up.
St Moritz undoes its stuffy reputation at the Grace La Margna
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THE FOOD AND DRINK The bubbly served is Gusborne English sparkling. Why, as General Manager David Frei pointed out, why would guests want champagne when they can drink that anywhere in the Alps? The Bar carries 725 wine varieties and 20 different sakes; you’d be remiss not to try their excellent Martinis. Alongside The View, the hotel’s main restaurant serving up Mediterranean fare and pizza, downstairs guests will find the cosy MaxMoritz fondue bar (though you’ll smell it before you see it) and this season marks the opening of Beefbar, Riccardo Giraudi’s steakhouse complete with private dining and live DJs. The hotel is peppered throughout with a vast collection of art, from striking modern pieces from Deodato Arte, the leading pop and street art brand in Italy, to mesmerising Alpine imagery from local photographers like Jürg Kaufmann.
HOW TO GET THERE St Moritz is four hours from Zürich by train, with a change at Chur. Rooms at Grace La Margna start from £630 per night; gracehotels.com. Flights to Zürich with Swiss from £72 one-way. Swiss.com.
