Visiting Swiss Historic Hotels

My husband and I have a hobby: we like to stay at historic hotels. Not only do we try to stay at hotels which belong to the Swiss Historic Hotel society, we also specifically pick hotels which have a history and have been around for a while. Not only in Switzerland, but in any country we visit.

Flipping through two books on historic hotels by Roland Flückiger-Seiler during our last stay at a historic hotel, we realized how many beautiful hotels once existed. Many of them either burned down or were demolished after World War II. These buildings which were once state of the art are part of our heritage and need to be protected.

I have always been intrigued by historic buildings. Not only because they are an inspirational source for architectural photography, but also because the way they were built fascinates me. These buildings were made to last. Forever. These buildings seem to pull me towards them. Sitting in the library of an old hotel, I can imagine guests from days gone by laughing and talking about what they saw and did.

Our adventure into the world of historic hotels began when we were married at one. Our first “official” historic hotel was the Grand Hotel Giessbach. Since then we have returned several times. Grand Hotel Giessbach was built in 1873/74 and closed in 1979 as it was supposed to be demolished and replaced by a modern building. But it was saved in 1983 through the Giessbach Foundation and now belongs to the Swiss people.

Since then we have visited 18 hotels belonging to the Swiss Historic Hotel Society and many more not within the society. The list grows with each year. Some are no longer on the list and some we have visited multiple times.

Following are images of some of the Swiss Historic Hotels we have stayed at.

Klosterhotel St. Petersinsel (1530)