Hôtel des Horlogers

Audemars Piguet Has Its Own Hotel in the Historic Center of Switzerland’s Watchmaking Industry

"Set about an hour's drive north of Geneva in the Vallée de Joux, the 50-room hotel opened in May 2022 and was designed to one day decompose back into the landscape; everything inside is natural or biodegradable — from wood harvested from surrounding fir forests and walls of local stone to cotton Literie Bonnet bed linens, carpet glue and even the hotel's pencils (guests are encouraged to take and plant them, with thyme seeds inside a capsule at the tip). On a tour ahead of the opening, general manager André Cheminade told me a stay at the property has "a smaller environmental footprint than if you were to pitch a tent in the valley." Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group to meet Switzerland's Minergie-ECO standard, the décor leans into the Risoud forest with a lobby hung with a tree-root sculpture and a front desk shaped like an unfurled ammonite fossil embellished with large mushrooms; there are intentionally no oversized wall clocks, and watches appear only in library books or on guests' wrists. As Audemars Piguet's first hospitality project (the luxury watch brand was founded nearby in 1875), the hotel also connects to the region's watchmaking heritage and features menus from French chef Emmanuel Renaut." - Heather Greenwood Davis Heather Greenwood Davis For more than 20 years, Heather Greenwood Davis has been sharing stories that connect travelers with the places they visit. She is a contributing writer and on-air storyteller for National Geographic and a feature writer for national and international publications. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines