Some of you know that we were huge fans of Swiss Historic Hotels and our goal is to stay at as many as possible. We like how much history is in the buildings and sometimes when we sit in the salons, I can imagine what the hotel was like way back when. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, new ones are added every year and at the rate they’re being added, we’ll never finish! To date, we’ve stayed at 12 of the hotels and eaten at 3, some more than once.
The Grimsel Hospiz was first mentioned in 1142 and has been was built in its current spot in the 1930s. Getting there in winter is a bit of an adventure as the road past Guttannen to the pass is closed in winter. We stepped into a bus at Innertkirchen which took us to the cable car in Handegg. We got off the cable car at the entrance to the gallery to the hydroelectric power plant Grimsel I. A small van took us through the gallery to the last cable car which dropped us off right beneath the hotel. From there is was only a short walk through some snow to the hotel entrance.
The hotel was fully renovated and tastefully decorated a few years ago. The rooms are very comfortable, there are games in one of the salons, books in the other, and paintings and drawings relating to the hotel, dam and surrounding mountains can be found throughout the hotel.
In winter, the hotel and the area around it slows down. It is a protected area, giving the wildlife the quiet time they need in winter. We didn’t realize that and had carried our snowshoes all the way there only to leave them in their bags the whole time. But that doesn’t mean we were bored. We spent a fair amount of time in the hot tub, reading and playing games. But I think the majority of our time was spent eating!
Food was constantly being offered and, it being so delicious, it was hard to say no. The day started with a breakfast buffet, moved on to a lunch buffet (soup, salad and main dish), followed by coffee and cake in the afternoon, then there was wine tasting before getting ready for the four course dinner at the end of the day. I can assure you, I rolled up and into bed after dinner.
When we weren’t eating, we enjoyed the sun either on the patio or by walking around the hotel and enjoying the views of the lake. We also signed up for a very informative tour of the hydroelectric power plant Grimsel I, which ended at the very spectacular crystal cavern.
My kind of vacation!