Because the hotel was “built up” by management, and not bought by some cold financial transaction, there is an underlying humbleness to the way things are managed. Even in the forward to the book, "100 Years Gstaad Palace," Scherz’s father Ernst Andrea writes about respect, pride and being glad to be a “soup merchant.”
A Tour
Andrea Scherz greets me wearing an open-collared blue shirt, slacks and loafers—the Rolex GMT Master II on his wrist a subtle nod to his wealth and Swiss heritage. We meet in the cigar lounge just off the main bar area. Walls of windows look out onto the village of Gstaad below. A beach volleyball tournament is taking place and there are huge tents on the landscape. Paths wind down to the village from the Palace, which juts out from its perch on a rise, its white towers and turrets standing tall and in stark contrast to the greenery and homes. Chalets, all built in the same style of architecture by zoning code, lattice the hillside forest.
Scherz’s earliest memory of the hotel is Proustian. “I think my earliest was when I came for lunch,” he says, looking off and recalling a moment. “I walked up from the school with the farmers and the locals. I was like every other boy, but then I had lunch in the castle in the private dining room ... it already felt like home, the hotel.”
Scherz didn’t have a gilded upbringing. He worked his way up into his position, starting at the reception desk. His teenage son, he hopes, will follow in his footsteps.
In any case, Scherz knows I am there to write about the Palace as a potential venue for financial types. Like a proper Swiss gentleman, he efficiently swings his comments accordingly: “We have at least two financial and other true institutions who do family retreats, some sort of family office retreats, where they talk about inheritance or they talk about the future or where they try to educate the young or even the families how to cope with the current world,” he says, ticking off the property’s attributes for such affairs. “They also like to go up into the mountains or lakes and do some team building activities, or learn again about nature.”
Staid financiers don’t quite make for regaling stories, however. The most notable experience Scherz relays is about Margaret Thatcher.
“One wonderful day I had Lady Thatcher here,” he says. “She wrote part of her memoirs at the Palace. The British secret service was always around. One day one of the agents approached me and said, ‘Lady Thatcher and her husband would like to go to a little tour in a small airplane around the mountains.’ I had connections at the airport, and I called down there, and they said, ‘Sure, bring her along.’ I drove them by car in the hotel bus, Lady Thatcher in the back with her husband. We got to the plane and I said, ‘Here’s the plane, and enjoy your flight.’ And she said, ‘Hold on a minute, where are you going?’ I said, ‘If you want, I can wait for you here.’ ‘No, no, no, you come with us, so I know the plane is safe!’ I went with them. We went around the Matterhorn and we had a good chat. We really got on. It was so nice to be so close to such a personality and so down to earth.”
The same might be said of Scherz himself. In the age of “selfie” social media, you’d think celebrity pics would be rife at the Palace. (John Travolta’s marriage proposal to Kelly Preston, for instance, occurred at a New Year’s Eve party here.) Or you would think tweets are promoted. Or posts are boosted. But they aren’t.
“It’s very delicate. Discretion is a big part of our job,” Scherz says. “Sometimes my marketing team gets crazy with me, and they say, ‘Harvey Weinstein is here. We should put the picture on our social network, you and Harvey Weinstein. Can we get a picture?’ ‘No. Let them enjoy their holidays.’ We don’t bother them.”
Most VIPs arrive in winter between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Minimum stays during that time are eight nights, and there is a waiting list to even get a room. That is when prices are highest, too. But the Palace is worth the cost and the wait. It’s a treasure. It’s gold.
The Walig Hut
Winter may be high time in Gstaad, but summer allows for some special sorts of experiences. One is hiking. And the hike to the Gstaad Palace’s Walig Hut is not to be missed.
The hike to the hut—an old cow herder’s lodge—is a trek worth taking if a bit of exercise, a fabulous meal and serene views are your thing.
The hut was discovered and refurbished by Andrea Scherz himself. It remains rustic yet, in keeping with Palace decor, it’s luxurious as well. Guests can rent it by the night or simply hike up for lunch. Barbara Branco-Schiess, the rooms division manager who grew up in the nearby hills, guides you along points of interest with engaging stories of the locality.
A quick shuttle from the Palace to the foot of a path that serpentines up a short hill gets you started. Stop along the way and listen to the silence. Then allow the sounds of nature to seep in as you are surrounded by trees and pastures. You’ll step past herders’ homes and lush slopes. This is where cows are brought up several times a season to nosh on the grass. The diet allows the cows to produce a special alpine cheese. At a finely catered lunch at the Walig Hut, you’ll nibble on some of that cheese and perhaps wash it down with a glass of local wine before trekking back down the hill. Transport is always available if that glass turns into two or more.
Mountain biking, strolls and gondola rides all fit squarely with the village of Gstaad’s motto: “Come up, slow down.”
You can get to Gstaad by train or rental car. A local airport services private aircraft. Commercial flights into Geneva or Zurich are each about two and a half hours away.
For more detailed information, go to palace.ch.