We have just returned from a amazing week in Gstaad, staying at Le Grand Chalet. We visit Switzerland every year and normally stay at a 5 star property. However, we have being searching for years for a "real high qualirty Swiss chalet experience" and with Le Grand Chalet we sure found it. The chalet is located about 10 minutes walk from the main street in Gstaad, up a pleasant narrow road. If you are travelling by car, one minute will take you up to the hotel. However, if you are walking it will take about ten minutes (15 minutes from train station) and the very steep last few hundred yards is worth the effort when you see the view. We walked it at least twice a day with two small children and it was no problem. If you are arriving by train, be sure to ask the hotel to collect you in their lovely new Mercedes mini-bus because dragging a case up the hill would be rather exhusting. The hotel is in a great location for three reasons. One, it is close to the village and at the end of the road from the hotel in the village is a co-op shop which is useful for buying cool drinks etc as well as the tennis courts for the Gstaad Open. Second, the hotel enjoys an amazing view. The hotel claims it is the best in Gstaad. This is surely true and I would even say it could be the best in Switzerland. Three, the hotel is located beside lovely meadows and on the edge of a network of walking / cycling paths -making it a wonderful location.
When we arrived, we were greeted with a lovely warm welcome and shown to our rooms. We booked two connecting suites overlooking Gstaad, Saanen and Schonried. The rooms were lovely, spacious and clean. The bathrooms were perfect with a great supply of toiletries. Our room overlooked Gstaad, Saanan and Schonried and got the sun from about 11am through to sunset. We had a lovely sitting area and a great balcony across south and west side of the chalet. It was some 2 metres wide and perhaps 20 metres long which connected to the balacony belonging to our children's room which overlooked the north west and enjoyed the morning and evening sunshine. There was plenty of deck chairs on the balcony so we enjoyed the morning sun on the balcony of our childrens room and the afternoon / evening sun on our balcony. Our stay was the first week of July so the temperatures were 20-30c. During our stay the rooms were perfeclty maintained twice a day. I needed broadband due to the fact I needed to do a hour or two of work each day. There is no irrating wi-fi here, but a proper modem and wired broadband which worked perfectly all week, very impressive! The room service was also very efficent. Few hotels can manage to do room service well, but the Le Grand Chalet does it perfectly. So the location is great, the rooms are perfect, the room service is efficent, what about the food? Well it was amazing. Probably the best I have ever tasted. We dinned every night on the terrace which has a perfect view. All evening we enjoyed the most amazing food while the waiters ensured that the sun never shone in our eyes by continually adjusting the sun umbrella's. The breakfasts were simple chalet style but even the fruit salad tasted of heaven. We stayed half board and they said we would have a three course meal, in reality it is a four course meal and the chef is amazing. They were very flexible each night in providing our two children aged 5 and 6 with a suitable meal. The children really enjoyed the hotel and outside the front door, overlooking the valley is a simple play park which the kids enjoyed. There is also a small pool for cooling off in the hot summer sunshine. I believe the guide books and other reviews do not fully do this hotel justice. In my view, this hotel is a real find, an amazing place to stay. The staff are great, the other clients sophisticated, the view is amazing and food fabulous. We certainly plan to return. The hotel is 4 star and if it had all the normal pretentious "bells and whistles" it would be 5 star, but then it would not be so charming.

We stayed in Le Grand Chalet for 8 nights in February and, overall, enjoyed our stay very much.

It is a cosy, small hotel. We normally stay in larger luxury hotels but Le Grand Chalet was recommended to us by friends who live in the area. Also, the 5 star hotels in Gstaad are very, very pricey in high season!

The main plus points for Le Grand Chalet are:
1) The really helpful and friendly service from everyone.
2) The food in the restaurant La Bagatelle is very good - 16 Gault Millau points.
3) Gorgeous views down towards the town of Gstaad and great walks immediately from the hotel itself.
4) We had a junior suite, which was spacious and had plenty of cupboard space, which is important with all the bulky ski-gear that needs to be put away.

So, why only 4 stars?

They didn't change the sheets for the entire week. I accept that a smaller hotel won't change the linen every day but I would have expected a sheet change at least half-way through my stay! They were also unbelievably mean with the solitary bar of soap. We had to rifle through our wash bags for soap we had taken from previous hotel stays, as we kept running out!

The bathroom was very dated and due for an upgrade.

The hotel's location is a mixed blessing, as it is isolated from the town. So, although you get a great view, you are also rather cut off in the Winter.

No indoor pool, which I really missed.

Although I would consider staying here again, I wouldn't feel very excited at the prospect. The plus points do significantly outweigh the gripes, but I have been spolit by the levels of luxury I have had in other hotels, so found the "niggles" rather irritating!

This is a small, intimate hotel with stunning views and impeccable Alpine style. The rooms are done in light pine and flowered-print fabric, reflecting the best of the heritage of the area, and perhaps the most charming hotel room I’ve ever been in. My room had a huge armoire, bed, and a sitting area with a table and chairs.

The hotel sits on a hill overlooking the town of Gstaad; walking downhill is fine, but the return trip is long and steep!

Its restaurant has 18 Gault Millau points, and I had perhaps the best meal of my life there on Christmas Eve. Very highly recommended!