Project: Alpina Gstaad

Another new build, the first five-star hotel to open in Gstaad in 100 years, will debut December 1st. The Alpina Gstaad features a traditional exterior – designed by local architectural firm Jaggi & Partner AG in Saanenland chalet style per local building code – but transitions to contemporary chic the moment you arrive in the curving subterranean porte cochere with its waterfall and skylight. It is constructed of massive blocks of Ringgenberg limestone from local quarries and leads to the open stairway to the lobby. There, walls and ceilings are decorated with antique wood reclaimed from Swiss farmhouses and columns are covered in Moore & Giles leather embossed with a marquetry pattern. The ceiling is adorned with a 350-year-old painting salvaged from an Italian church.

Old is also new in The Alpina Gstaad’s 25 rooms and 31 suites, their interiors designed by London-based Hirsch Bedner Associates with reclaimed wood accents and an antique armoire sourced specifically to accent the otherwise contemporary decor. “Ninety percent of the wood used for decorative purposes is hundreds of years old,” notes Nik Leuenberger, the hotel’s Managing Director, “including on the outside to give the building a look of authenticity.”

The balance of the hotel’s design and décor celebrates clean lines and muted colors with crimson red accents, what Leuenberger calls “alpine chic.” The most striking examples are: The 4,305-square-foot, two-floor, three-bedroom Panorama Suite, which features its own private spa on the second level; the 21,500-square-foot Six Senses Spa, which has 12 treatment rooms, including a hammam and a salt room, and occupies the hotel’s lower level with interiors by Thailand-based P49 Deesign and Associates; and the 44-seat MEGU restaurant off the lobby, with decor by French designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance that incorporates elements of Japanese kimonos.