Review - Grand Hotel des Bains Kempinski - Festive Season in St. Moritz
If you want to have a White Christmas™ in continental Europe, you either need to go up north to the country of reindeers or climb the snowy mountains of the Swiss alps. Especially in the first ski resort ever, St. Moritz, you are quite sure to have snow over the holidays with its 1800 m altitude. For this occasion I tested the Grand Hotel des Bains Kempinski. It’s located near the mineral springs in the lower part of St. Moritz where the alpine spa history of the town originated in 1831.
Atmosphere
This grand hotel was founded 200 years ago to host the illustrious guests who came for the healing waters of the paracelsus mineral spring. Thus, the style of the house is 19th century belle epoque at first glance. Over the years, though, several reconstructions added different designs which not always go well together.
The snow-covered park area with its evergreen trees was especially nice. Here you can stroll towards the actual mineral spring. In 1907, Europe’s oldest intact wooden spring tapping was discovered here. The structure is thought to date back to the year 1466 BCE. Even the Celts sought to improve their health with St. Moritz’s carbonated and iron-rich mineral water. The ancient spring tapping and its history are on display in Forum Paracelsus next to the hotel.
Room
The interior design of my room reminded me of the Adlon Kempinski in Berlin - elegant, but left in the 1990s. As mentioned before, it doesn’t quite fit to the rest of the hotel. Still, it was big enough, had a view of the park and a large bathroom. I slept very well on the comfortable bed, too.
Spa
The spa uses the actual healing spring water mentioned above in some of their installations. It boasts 2,800 m2 of wellness area, centred by a large pool. Unfortunately you don’t get a nice view here, you just look into the courtyard of the hotel. Other luxury hotels in St. Moritz are much better in that regard, e.g. Badrutt’s Palace or the Kulm hotel.
I think you will come out younger…
Dining
I had dinner in the casual bar restaurant, which had a good Indian curry and a piano player for the atmosphere. There is a fine dining and another informal restaurant in the hotel, but I haven’t tried them.
A Christmas tree welcomed me for breakfast. While the hall was grand and the choice quite good, the regular coffee was not. I had to order espresso for a much better experience. They also offered a Kempinski-labeled sparkling wine, which at first dissappointed me, since I expected the nice Mercier champagne that was served in the Adlon Kempinski. But then I tried the wine and it was actually quite good: fresh and light, good for breakfast. The buffet had enough choices and was of good quality. One service mishap happened, though, that also shone a light on the work atmosphere of the staff: at the beginning of the meal, I ordered dim sum (which was not being refilled on the buffet). When I finished my brekfast, they finally delivered the dim sum basket with a cheeky comment: “Waiters, you can’t trust them.” Well…
Skiing
In case you are going for the slopes, the Kempinski has a lift to the Corviglia ski area directly on the other side of the street. If you are skiing on the Corvatsch area, you can even end the ride directly by the hotel’s doorstep. Keep in mind though: this is a difficult black slope and to go up on this side, you have to take the shuttle.
Summary
| Hotel | Grand Hotel des Bains Kempinski |
|---|---|
| Brand | Kempinski and GHA Discovery |
| Good |
|
| Bad |
|
| CT Points | 90 |
The small town of St. Moritz (pop. 5000) has more luxury hotels than some capitals (there are four LHW hotels here!), but the Grand Hotel des Bains Kempinski is not the one I would choose for the real luxe feeling. Of course, their prices are a little more affordable, but the location is not ideal, if you want to be close to the action in the city centre. And you will find much better choices in town in terms of views, service and fitting interior design.
