We booked the Hotel Excelsior via Expedia, and could find no reviews to help make the decision to stay or not. We could only go by photos and descriptions. This was our big winter holiday and stayed at the Excelsior for 10 nights. They advertise as a 4 or 5 star hotel depending upon the rating systems, but my husband and I, who've stayed at dozens of highly rated hotels and resorts over the years, found the hotel overall a great disappointment. The net experience: If another Arosa hotel had a room available, we would have gladly paid a bit more for a more comfortable bed, room and a smile of welcome (geniune or not).

The furnishings, interior decor and architecture of the building look and feel like they've not been upated since the 1960s. This could be somewhat charming, i.e. like the old Savoy in Maderia which is being torn down, but instead just looked unkept. The public areas and bedrooms, especially the tiny bathrooms are well worn and tired looking. The hotel management were cold, unfriendly and completely unhelpful in every possible opportunity to prove otherwise. The hotel claims ski-in and out, but this is only possible if willing to ski-down one way along a busy street, and remember to catch the appropraite lift so that you can ski down from the top of another busy, narrow street. Not at all safe. On the other hand, the hired staff - mostly brought in from Southern and Eastern Europe - were extremely helpful and delightful.

It was obvious after a few days, that many of the guests -mostly Swiss and Germans - have been coming to this hotel over many years, if not generations. These staff were always waited on first, given preferential treatment and service. Only those non-regular guests who flashed the cash, i.e. a wealthy American couple with about 4 children and 2 nannies, seem to get good service, i.e. private dining room in Swiss lodge room, meals to the rooms, etc.

The highlight of the stay, other than superb skiing conditions, was the hotel's New YEar's Eve Gala. They brought in an American jazz/blues band, decorated up the piano lounge nicely and get top marks for making an effort to pair my husband & I with an English-speaking Swiss couple. We danced the night away and forgot our grumbles and throughly enjoyed the music.

On the food side: The hotel only served a cold, continental breakfast with an appalling selection of fruit. So for those wanting a hot, full English or American breakfast to stoke up the energy levels for a full-day of skiing - forget it! The afternoon tea is rather nice, but be sure to be first in the queue or else all the cakes and sandwiches are gone in a flash! Evening meals - we did not choose 1/2 board, and only ate dinner at the hotel a few times. The menu varied depending upon if it was Mexican, Thai, French, etc. night. And depending upon the night, the quality of the food varied. Don't recommend Mexico night!

The in-door pool and "spa" were a total joke. Freezing cold pool water, no hot jacuzzi or whirlpool to soak aching muscles and fat, naked men seem to live on the dry sauna. We did the best we could in our our minute bathroom tub. :-)