If the Gstaad Palace’s walls could talk… well, we’re pretty sure they’d never shut up. But trust us, you’d pay good money for the conversation. For well over a century, this world-famous Alpine gem (a place Julie Andrews called ‘the last paradise in a crazy world’) has hosted luminaries of every dazzling stripe, from Grace Kelly to Roger Moore and Sophia Loren, Jackie Onassis, Burton and Taylor – and even a certain Inspector Clouseau: its GreenGo nightclub, nestled deep in the basement, popped up in 1975’s The Return of the Pink Panther. We’re betting the late, great Peter Sellers’ appearance there went down like a ‘beumb’.
And let’s stay with that nightclub for a second, because, while Switzerland might be fabled for its precision timekeeping, there’s one place where its pedantry for punctuality has gone gloriously askew – the very same GreenGo Club, whose vibe and interiors make you feel like you’ve been transported back to 1971. Even today, it isn’t hard to imagine the place swarming with royalty, the European jet-set, Bond actors, Brigitte Bardot, Johnny Hallyday and others.
This is partly down to the club’s op-art logo and retro vibes, along with its none-more-1970s emerald-and-tangerine décor… and a dancefloor that hangs suspended over the Gstaad Palace’s swimming pool. The very same pool, incidentally, that Clouseau fell into, fully clothed, before putting on his kipper tie and Carlos-the-Jackal shades to strut his stuff on the dancefloor above.
And while the playlist might have changed, the clientele is reassuringly jet-set: think Mark Ronson, Poppy Delevingne, Lourdes Leon and Miuccia Prada. The design hasn’t changed either: every time the hotel suggested it, guests complained.
GreenGo’s dancefloor is device-free, which is just as well, because ever since the Gstaad Palace opened in 1913 (a time when monied Russian and Austro-Hungarian families would commandeer entire floors for winter), the hotel’s watchword has always been discretion.
In part, this is down to its mountaintop location: the exclusive eyrie looks down upon the Louis Vuitton and Hermès boutiques below. As such, its star wattage is unrivalled: Louis Armstrong, Edith Piaf and Ella Fitzgerald performed concerts here, while Princess Diana, Madonna, the Aga Khan and Liza Minnelli have all sashayed through its lobby. Not to mention Kofi Annan, Elton John, Paul McCartney and Diana Ross.
The Palace’s history dates to 1905, when local schoolteacher Robert Steffen bought some land on which to build a hotel. Opening just before World War I put a temporary cramp on the hotel’s style (as did the Great Depression), but in 1938, Ernst and Sylvia Scherz took over as directors, and the Scherz family have managed it ever since. The Palace’s semi-mythical status is further enhanced by the fact that the Scherzers only keep it open for half the year, during winter (December to March) and summer (June to September).
And winter is when the fairytale castle truly shines its magic. Guests who don’t arrive by private jet can be picked up from the train station in a horse-drawn carriage, and the staff lay on an annual pillow fight for kids, who will also love the hotel’s resident St Bernard dogs.
Guests can also wake to the jangle of cowbells up in the hotel’s Alpine Walig Hut (where the warden cooks a fondue) or trudge through the snow in the Palace Garden, admiring the Hauser & Wirth-curated art. After a day on the slopes, guests can indulge in après-ski sauna and massages at the Palace Spa with its log fire, outdoor Jacuzzi, hammam and “Cellgym” oxygen treatments (loved by astronauts and top athletes), which simulate the effects of high-altitude training via controlled supplies of oxygen.
And then? Well, there’s no other option other than to go-go to the GreenGo and party like it’s 1971. It might feel like a time-warp, but the hedonism keeps on going regardless…
