Visiting Switzerland

A favorite hot spot for superstars who visit Switzerland and those who are simply rich and off the papparazzi radar, Gstaad is legendary for its exclusivity. It’s one of those places that raises everyone’s eyebrows. If you fall into the category of the average tourist visiting Switzerland, you’ve probably thought of visiting Gstaad just out of curiosity, and so you should but be warned that as a regular tourist or ski lover, you’re better off spending just two or three days maximum unless you want to go bankrupt. Internationally known for its super-rich loyal visitors, luxurious services, first class hospitality and ofcourse the skiing because it is a ski resort after all, Gstaad is basically Monaco with snow.

For members of the high social-class, Gstaad is a great escape from city life due to its seclusion, which offers a bit of peace unlike other Club Med spots like St.Mortiz. Gstaad visitors are extremely diverse, but all have one thing in common, money to spend. Some of the regular visitors to Switzerland’s Gstaad include Naomi Campbell, Prince Charles, Queen Sofia of Spain, Paris Hilton, Michael Jackson

and Richard White. If you haven’t gotten the picture yet, Gstaad is a resort where price is of no concern and limitless credit cards rule.

Everyone has heard something about Gstaad, so then is the ultra-glamour and ultra luxe really true or is it just overrated? To the casual tourist visiting Switzerland, the verdict is that it is true. Life here is expensive and caters to the wealthy so there is hardly a place for the average citizen other than blue-collar work. Gstaad is beautiful but it’s not a rare jewel. What makes this mountain village of 2500 inhabitants special is not so much the skiing or resort facilities but the added value of the cosmopolitan chic lifestyle and of course the hype over A-list celebrities, wealthy families, millionaire club members and royalty who visit season after season.

Yes, it is calm and relaxed but it also has another side that contradicts the ‘come up-slow down’ brochure quote, which is an overpriced, and very self-conscious atmosphere. In a nutshell, it is worth visiting for the sake of ticking off places on your world tour list but to really enjoy Gstaad, you have to be loaded. So what should you expect upon arrival?

When you get to Gstaad, you immediately feel the difference from the real world and the materialistic one. It’s almost like the air is made out of money here. Top-end cars roam around casually and people really do spend a month’s salary in minutes on designer clothing (to be worn on one-night occasions). It sounds surreal hut its reality. Fashion and jewelry stores probably outnumber restaurants and the tiny ‘main’ street is lined up with Hermes, Chopard, Prada, Cartier, Girard Perregaux, Trois Pómmes and about 7 Lorenz Bach boutiques. Woman aged 16 to 60 stroll around in chinchilla coats without the slightest guilt. It’s a place where the rich visiting Switzerland rub shoulders with their kind and less than a handful of regular visitors actually come with the intention to soak up the Swiss culture or mingle with locals. The rich clan prefer spending their days with the same crowd they got on the jet with so do not expect to come and make newfound friends easily. Funnily enough, though it is situated in the Bern Alps, the German part of Switzerland, the Gstaad crowd usually speak in English or French and you often here Russian and Arabic spoken. No surprise there! Overall the scene is international. All the wealthy from the four corners of the globe gather here from Greek heirs, Russian billionaires, Asian and African political tycoons to the British and Arab Royals. The resort itself offers a customized calm but there is a stress factor that manifests itself from the overly self conscious guests who subtly eye each other up to see you is wealthier. Gstaad is decidedly for upscale very upscale vistors to Switzerland.

A days schedule in Gstaad consists of either skiing in the morning and shopping in the afternoon or visa versa. Walking down the ‘very’ small main street, don’t be shocked if you come across pure breed dogs or rare bastards imported from far away lands dressed in thousand dollar Prada sweaters. After the morning winter activities, (skiing, sledging, cross-country, winter-hiking, climbing, tobogganing, heliski, curling, paragliding, snow golf, husky tours) the crowd here dine from a choice of 14 high end gastronomic restaurants and food like everything else in Gstaad is also pricey. For a simple apple pie in Gstaad, expect to pay 16.50 CHF rather than the 3.60 CHF you would pay in other towns. Luckily, for the common tourist who doesn’t want to spend too much on dinning in 5 star restaurants, there are actually two local supermarkets that sell food at normal prices (Migros and Co-oop, nationwide supermarkets). There are other Gstaad residents like Bernie Ecclestone, Elizabeth Taylor and Johnny Holiday who own private chalets here and can choose between a 5 star restaurant or have their lunch served by the fly-in chef who whips up vogue recipes. As a matter of fact even the guests who stay in hotels here, prefer to travel with their private chef and personal trainer. The entourage explains their choice of traveling to Switzerland in private jets.

So lets say you are an average tourist visiting Switzerland and you’re looking to experience the full blown elegant Gstaad life. You could stay at the Palace Hotel, if you don’t mind paying around 700 a night (the cheapest price for a single standard room). The most expensive room is of course the Penthouse priced at 13,900 CHF (for a 3 night stay). The Palace Hotel is ofcourse the crème de la crème on the

hotel list in Gstaad. Others are Grand Hotel Bellevue and Grand Hotel Park. At the Palace, guests are pleasantly treated well-catered for with arts and entertainment; for car fanatics there is an auction every December of Ferraris and Maseratis. You should probably skip that event if you are here as a simple tourist. If you cannot afford a Palace room or the Maesarati you can still visit the nightclubs. The club scene of the Gstaad Palace is the GreenGo club where the preppy youth, dressed in blinding outfits usually go to on weekends. As Gstaad is all about the laid-back atmosphere, a lot of ‘minors’ have no problem getting into the club, so you can forget your ID card, it’s only the credit card you’ll be asked to hand over for Don Perrignon bottles. Over all, after dark, while the youth are busy dancing and consuming overpriced beverages, parents attend orchestral entertainments for the sake of being seen out in the newly bought fur coat and latest customized watches. There are of course other places to go to at night apart from the Palace Hotel such as the Chesery and Le Cristal, but don’t expect to escape the GreenGo attitude because everywhere you go in Gstaad, you meet the same rotating crowd and lifestyle standards are all high.

Surprisingly enough, Gstaad also has educational facilities for those planning to find a residence in Switzerland; The Gstaad International School (GIS) and the prominent Institute Le Rosey. The Gstaad International School accommodates the preppy youth for a shocking annual fee of 74,000 and Le Rosey, which is well known for famous alumni like Winston Churchill, King Fouad Farouk of Egypt, Rainier of Monaco and Shah of Iran has their annual fees at 63,000 CHF. Their schedule seems normal; students study the expected subjects in the morning but unlike other schools, each school day from 2 to 5 students go skiin. Le Rosey’s actual main campus is in Rolle but in the winter they move to the Gstaad campus to properly accommodate skiing needs.

If you really want the full Gstaad experience, avoid visiting between seasons because Gstaad turns into a ghost town; Le Rosey School closes after the winter season draining out all the youthful life and the Palace Hotel operate on a seasonal basis and also closes from March till July. Some shops also close and reopen for the summer rseason.

Once the winter season is over, Gstaad switches to summer mode filled with the usual high-society activities; tennis, polo. For the occasional tourist visiting Switzerland there are actually some summer events worth attending like the Allianz Suisse Open (5-13 July), the SWATCH FIVB Beach Vollyball World Tour and the Hublot Polo Gold Cup in August (in the neighbouring village of Saanen). If you are not the sporty spectator type there is the Menuhin Festival from July to September but you better like classical music because that’s all there is. Finally Gstaad would not be Gstaad without gourmet menus. Apart from the world-known Gruyère cheese export and the year round exqusite cuisine, there is also the Davidoff Saveurs in July, a Gourmetweek with world famous chef invites of course! So whether winter or summer, there is always a chance to spot a famous face in Gstaad when you visit Switzerland’s luxury resorts.

Gstaad is a paradise for those with money but what is so special about it? Well, it’s ideal for fancy shopping, exclusive skiing, pampering and privacy- at a price ofcourse! People come here to relax, spend money and be seen spending it. The reality is that the rich and famous spend money on the same pleasures as the average Joe; the only difference is their limitless budget. Taste is another thing, but if you have money you spend it, and in Gstaad the services sector have mastered this concept very well. Gstaad is chic and the ingredients that makes it seem so appealing is the clientele, exclusivity and of course the media attention which keeps the buzz of its luxe lifestyle going. So for the curious tourist and average layman, Gstaad is probably a place you ought to visit just to say ‘I’ve have been there’ but it’s also worth going to get a good laugh from seeing superficiality in the flesh!