Hotel Chesa Grischuna

I have stayed at the Chesa Grischuna more than a dozen times over the years. When I heard that the second generation of the founding Guler family had sold it, I was worried that major and worrisome changes were afoot. When my wife, her sister, and I visited in August, my trepidations were put to rest. The main dining area and the rooms remain thankfully as they were. The differences that I saw were that breakfast is no longer a buffet in the main dining room, but rather one floor above where one orders off the menu in what used to be a little used area and, secondly, that the hotel offered no other meals than breakfast on Mondays and Tuesdays. This latter was a problem since we were only there four nights, two of which were Monday and Tuesday! Had we known, we could have altered our itinerary accordingly.

Wonderful historic hotel which has cleverly avoided the lure of "modernisation" which has killed the atmosphere of so many other once great Swiss hotels: no cheap plastic furniture or supermarket music blaring from loudspeakers here! Instead, wonderfully warm, wood-panelled interiors with artwork everywhere you look, all the way down to the bespoke crockery and cutlery. Delicious high-end food worth its 14 points in the Guide Millau and an impeccable service round off the wonderful experience!

This is one of the few hotels on the official Swiss historic hotels list and it is absolutely unmissable. Housed in a gorgeous building, everything about the hotel breathes historic from the old telephone center on display to its beautiful restaurant and its super cool bowling alley. If staying there, it is definitely a great idea to enjoy dinner in the house as well. The food is absolutely superb and their wines list even includes some top wines in small bottle version. The breakfast is tremendous with an absolutely fantastic birchermüsli. And if all of this isn’t enough, Barbara whose family has owned the hotel for generations, is the ultimate attentive hostess, making sure all her guests have the ultimate experience. I would not consider another place if visiting Klosters again.

With great anticipation, we booked a weekend at the Chesa Grischuna. A house with a long and glamorous past in new hands to revive the glamour of days gone by. After all, crowned heads and Hollywood stars used to dine and sleep in the Chesa Grischuna. We were greeted by a house with a patina that had settled over everything over the years without looking dingy. Staff who operates close to the guest but seems somewhat unguided. Rooms with original furnishings from the 30s with newer, meanwhile aged bathrooms but good beds. And a breakfast that was good but complicated to order. A place for lovers of historic houses, then, for whom tradition and patina are not a flaw but an expectation. Even if we didn't feel anything of Greta Garbo, Gene Kelly, or King Charles III, we were at least taken back to our childhood by the wall paintings of Alois Carigiet. So why the low rating? Past and patina aside, CHF 490 per night is too much for a room in the Chesa Grischuna without any ifs and buts. The new owners will have to go over the books again. Not only will we not come back a second time, but also no recommendation a first time. It's a shame because the house and its staff deserve it.

We went here for some apres spontaneously and we’re pleasantly surprised! It looks like a place where a lot of older Swiss would hang out but it’s really quite funky inside and there was a Pianist playing live! Be careful to make sure to bring a mask as they are really quite strict on COVID regulations. Word to the wise, The whiskey sours are bloody delicious.