GstaadLife

A new chapter has opened not only with the JFK international school but also with its previous managers - the Lovell's. Well, Bill, Sandy, Bryce and Vicktoria Lovell started their own company - Lovell Camps which offer boys and girls from around the globe both summer and winter holidays. They told us that these camps combine sport, language, and outdoor and cultural excursions. More after the jump.

This past Thursday October 20 2011 at around 17:30 two men robbed a jewelry shop in Gstaad. They threatened the shopkeeper with a knife and tied her up before they got away with watches worth tens of thousands of francs. The cantonal police of Bern are asking for help in finding the robbers. In a press release they are described as possibly Russian, both between 30 and 35 years old. One is about 1.8m tall, slim, with a pointy nose and dark, short hair. He wore a dark brown leather jacket and dark trousers. The second robber is about 1.65 m tall and also slim. He has a flat nose and dark, black hair. He wore a dark jacket and dark grey jeans. Please call the Bernese cantonal police on 033 227 61 11 if you saw anything. 

Mark the date in your calendar: October 27 to 30 2011. Local businesses present themselves, lots of interesting stuff, food, shows, kids activities etc. Here is the program.

The Hotel Arc-en-Ciel in Gstaad is celebrating its 50th anniversary this Saturday October 22 2011 from 11:00 till 17:00. You can have a look behind the scenes, there will be music, a lucky wheel, pony riding, face painting, a bouncy castle, the famous electric cars, and a special pizza oven for the kids.

The cranes are gone and the press office of The Alpina Gstaad is going into overdrive. So the news is that everything at the first newly-constructed 5-star hotel in Gstaad in the past 100 years seems to be going smoothly. And they have found their managing director, one Niklaus Leuenberger, a Swiss who has managed hotels over the last 30 years throughout Asia and the US. There'll be lots more on this story in the next months. The grand opening is slated for December 2012.

Gstaad Saanenland Tourism has confirmed that room nights in the region are down compared to previous years. The blame appears to lie squarely with the strong Swiss franc, which makes visiting Switzerland in general and Gstaad in particular even more expensive than it used to be. The saving grace, according to Gstaad's tourist director Martin Bachofner, was that at least the Swiss guests have stayed loyal to the region, even as Euro earners, Brits and Americans have stayed away. Andrea Scherz, the director of the Gstaad Palace, spoke at length a out this topic earlier in the season in an interview with the Tagesanzeiger, reflecting the concerns of many of the region's hoteliers. For those of you who read German click here for the interview. Or here for our previous comment on this.

Olden renovation update: above is one of the first pictures of the main building. As you can see, it stays basically the same from the outside with the exception of the rooftop extensions. There are extensive plans for the inside, but the good news is that the restaurant as well as the bar area will stay exactly the same, (kinda like when they "re-did" the GreenGo). In a recent interview with our sister publication, the Anzeiger von Saanen, hotel director Ermes Elsener referred to the apartments in the planned chalets behind the main building as "lukewarm beds", defending the assertion that hotel apartments are part of the region's problem because they remain largely empty most of the year, so-called cold beds. Don't get us wrong we understand the need to rennovate, go with the times, and finally make some money with the hotel side of the business. It's just that everyone loves the place as it is, so there is real hope that the promises of keeping the building, the bar and the restaurants will hold. Building is scheduled to start in March 2012 with a plan for completion in December 2012 for the main building. The all-new chalets out back will take at least two years.

As expected, Roberth Speth's Chesery was yet again rated as the top restaurant in our region by Gault Millau - well, it simply is very, very good. We are also happy that the Chalet Hotel Hornberg in Saanenmöser is new in the guide - one of our favorite spots, with possibly the most underrated terrace in the whole of Saanenland. 

Bernie Ecclestone and Marco Piccinini, the two owners of the Hotel Olden want to renovate their hotel -- big time. Planned is a complete overhaul of the hotel and the restaurant area and the creation of four apartments and two chalets for long term rental - run by the hotel. The hotel itself wants to keep twelve suites. If you are asking yourself how all of this is going to be possible - well check out the poles behind the building right now. Let's just hope they don't renovate the ambiance.

Everybody talks about it - here is a movie about it - the planned cultural center known as Les Arts Gstaad. After the jump you can read a translated article about the first planning phase which appeared in our sister publication, the Anzeiger von Saanen.