Aellenmatte “is an ambitious and forward-thinking project,” says local council president Toni von Grünigen. “It is especially progressive because it does not implicate any agricultural land: the project is to be realised on what is currently a car park, and it will not only positively impact the Saanenland, but the regions beyond it too.”

The Aellenmatte resort project is essentially a consolidation of four individual projects: the Swiss Alpine Village holiday resort, the Möserhof hotel, the redevelopment of the Saanenmöser train station, and the Bergbahnen Destination Gstaad’s (BDG) revitalisation of the Saanersloch base station. “According to cantonal building laws, traffic and housing developments must be coordinated supra-regionally. The structural plan for Aellenmatte synchronises these four projects to create a regional center for sport, leisure and tourism in Saanenmöser,” explains regional planning director, Walter Matti-Zbären.

“Swiss Alpine Village” Resort
The plans for Swiss Alpine Village are for a four-star holiday resort with serviced apartments on the current Saanersloch base station car park. The developers, Frutiger AG, are planning for a maximum of 150 apartments with a total of approximately 600 beds, and a 900-space car park. A resort shop, restaurants, gym and spa are also included in the plans. “The whole resort is to be pedestrian friendly, directly linked to the new Saanersloch base station as well as the train station,” explains Jürg Wanzenried, Frutiger AG’s spokesperson.

Wanzenried is convinced that this development would bring more visitors to the region. In fact, he expects it would generate up to 70’000 additional overnight stays and 35 jobs. “We want to strengthen the Saanenland’s position as a tourist destination. It is really important to us that the project has a positive impact on tourism over the summer months. We are convinced that the resort would have a significant impact on the BDG’s revenues. The mountain lifts should also benefit from the resort,” says Wanzenried. So far, estimates suggest that the project could sell up to 50’000 additional lift tickets.

Saanersloch base station
The second of the four individual projects that make up the Aellenmatte development is the new Saanersloch lift. The federal office of transport granted the project planning permission last September, and if all goes to plan, the current lift will be replaced by new 10-person cable cars by December 2018.
Redevelopment of the Saanenmöser train station

Thanks to the axle-gauge changeover point at the Zweisimmen train station, it will soon be possible to travel from Montreux to Interlaken without having to change trains. As a result, trains are getting longer, and that has an effect on the Saanenmöser train station. Matti-Zbären says that the MOB is planning on replacing the existing tracks with a dual track, and extending the platform to 220 metres starting in 2022.

Hotel Möserhof
The fourth part of the planned Aellenmatte development is the Hotel Möserhof, a 40 to 60 bed newbuild with a 60-car parking garage. The project was originally granted building permission in 1992 but construction never begun. The plans have since been revamped to fit in with those for the Swiss Alpine Village resort, and would allow for the two projects to share a gym and spa among other amenities.

A long road ahead
Costs for the entire Aellenmatte project are estimated to run around CHF 161.5m. Although the developers are optimistic about the project’s progress, there are still a number of approvals that need to be granted before seeking the federal office of regional planning’s approval of the project, hopefully by Q3 2018. Once that has been achieved, the next phase can begin: an architectural competition, applications for land rezoning, and eventually submitting the plans to the local community.

Anne Christine Kempton / AvS