Grand Hotel Zermatterhof was opened in 1879 making it one of the oldest hotels right in the heart of Zermatt. It was borne out of the civic community, which owns and buys the woods and land around the Matterhorn. When the church was given land, it decided to help the families of Zermatt by building the Zermatterhof in the 1920s. Several original families of Zermatt formed a cooperative and built the hotel on a voluntary basis, with the understanding that the families would benefit from the hotel forever. When tourism took off in the area, the Zermatterhof became the base of many of the winter guests.
What remains today has all the charm, glamor and tradition from those old days and it is still one of the most elegant hotels in the Swiss Alps. The original local families of Zermatt are privileged to celebrate certain events here, and member families of the old cooperative continue to benefit from the profits created by the hotel. Some employees of the hotel, including the Hotel Director, are descendants of the Zermatt families who built the hotel 135 years ago.
Grand Hotel Zermatterhof exudes elegance, sophistication and luxury. It is a five star hotel and the hospitality certainly matches that quality. There are 78 rooms in 8 different categories ranging from a Small Double room (20m2) up to a 65 m2 Chalet suite. Many of them have been recently renovated, although in slightly different styles. Some are more elegant and refined, where as the Chalet suites have been done in a modern, alpine style. Most rooms feel have a sort of elegant urban style with a touch of mountain.
Grand Hotel Zermatterhof has three restaurants, two bars and a smoker's lounge at this hotel. There's a traditional Swiss cheese restaurant, with a relaxed atmosphere. The second restaurant is called Brasserie Lusi – the word “lusi” is from the Zermatt dialect and means a “small folding lantern”, which was what the climbers used to light the way ahead of them. So they've taken from this, to create a welcoming and relaxed environment for a restaurant that feels very refined and smart. But the finest of all is the Alpine Gourmet Prato Borni, which has a modern alpine gourmet concept, and uses local products in innovative ways.
Grand Hotel Zermatterhof hotel has some fantastic spa services and wellness facilities, including a large indoor pool with a waterfall, a relaxation room, sauna, a whirlpool, steam bath, and an ice grotto. There's a full service spa which has a wide variety of beauty treatments and a menu of massage sessions on offer.
