"Glamour is built into the Gstaad Palace’s DNA: Liz Taylor and Richard Burton were regulars, and Michael Jackson wanted to buy it. But for all that, this hotel is more about quiet elegance than the flash-your-cash glitz on show in St. Moritz. For more than a century, Europe’s aristocracy has made a beeline for the palace, which towers over the impossibly pretty village where the likes of Prada and Louis Vuitton have quaint chalet shops. With its turrets backed by the majestic mountain scenery, it looks like something conjured up by Disney. The real magic, though, is inside. Since the 1930s, the Scherz family, which owns the hotel, has created less a grand institution and more a relaxed second home in the mountains, albeit one with a dress code. Generations of the same family visit year after year, greeting the staff like long-lost friends and congregating in the capacious lobby bar after time on the slopes or by the pool. Bedrooms have the feel of a Swiss chalet about them, with nothing too startling to detract from the Alpine panoramas. In the restaurant, often visited by English singer Robbie Williams, chef Franz Faeh’s food is served with theatrical flair. You don’t even have to open your menu before ordering—it’s that kind of place. It's the kind of place, too, where you can imagine a guest turning up with 150 suitcases, demanding liters of Evian water to wash with, or insisting their cat be fed 50 grams of caviar a day. This is a hotel where the extraordinary feels like an everyday affair. From $980. —Jane Knight" - CNT Editors
