GstaadLife

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.

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.

The construction markers are finally up for the next monster construction project in Saanenland. The development will be built at the east entrance to the village where 6 duplex and one triplex house are planned featuring about 80 apartments and space for offices. For details and pictures go to gstaad-saanen-site.ch. Any objections?

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.

For years we have waited for someone to come up with a plan and the permission to do something with that old, run-down Hotel La Gare in Saanen. Over the past decade, various architects have tried to get construction permission to rebuild the Hotel La Gare but so far no consensus could be reached. Now Fabian Reichenbach of the eponymous architecture firm based in Gstaad believes he has the answer, and is trying again with what is described as a smaller more 'Saanenlike' project. Coming in midst of the Saanen renaissance, this one feels like it has a chance, so let's hope for some sanity on the planning commission because anything is better than the current eyesore. 

The construction up at La Videmanette has moved into its second phase. After a highly successful first winter season, work has begun (with minimal disturbance to summer guests) on the next step, a tunnel that will offer immediate access to the slopes from the top station of the gondola rather than having to schlep skis and kids through the maze of outdoor diners on the terrace. There are also plans to improve the restaurant but we don't have the details on that yet.

 
After 4 months of renovation, Credit Suisse Gstaad is moving out of the containers in the railway parking lot and back into their newly-renovated chalet HQ on the Promenade this coming Monday July 27 2011. The inside has been completely changed - colored floors, wood furniture and leather surfaces. There will also be a new hospitality concept, with a floor manager to greet you as you enter the building to help you with your needs. Top stuff if they can do it effectively, but it could be quite a challenge to staff up for the extremes of low and high season in Gstaad...

The Institut Le Rosey has been in search of a new area for its Gstaad campus for a while now, and believes it has found it in the form of Schönried Erli (above the village of Schönried on the Rellerli side). Pictured above is a mock-up of how the campus is expected to look, a project which will be a joint effort of architects Benz Hauswirth GmbH, Jaggi & Partner AG and Chaletbau Matti AG. They have conceived a campus that looks like a mini-village with numerous buildings in the local chalet style set around a village square. The village itself will include living quarters for about 450 students and 100 teachers as well as the classrooms, cafeteria, sports facilities, and a parking garage for about 75 cars. The only discussion point amongst locals is the Hubelstrasse which is simply too narrow at parts for the kind of traffic expected. More as we have it.

 
We really don't know where to start with this one, and seeing as we already know what you're thinking, we'll save ourselves the effort.

Just in case you thought that the butcher in Rougemont has disappeared - no worries - André Reichenbach is still very much there - just across the road in the old Hotel Valrose until his old shop is completely renovated. So you can still get the finest cuts of meat and Birgitta's special home made frozen goods.