The Chedi Andermatt, Switzerland – alpine design meets two Michelin stars

Coco Chanel had a favorite hotel in Paris. Andermatt has The Chedi Andermatt – a place where you can ski down a 2,400-meter mountain, sit down for a two-Michelin-star Japanese dinner an hour later, and never leave the building. Opened in December 2013 and designed by star architect Jean-Michel Gathy, it’s the hotel that convinced a sleepy Uri canton ski village it could compete with Zermatt and St. Moritz – and mostly succeeded.

Here’s what a stay actually covers – the Alpine Junior Suite, the pools and spa, dinner at The Japanese, breakfast the next morning, and what the alpine-chic-meets-Kyoto design is really like in person.

So what actually is this place?

The Chedi Andermatt sits at Gotthardstrasse 4, roughly 1,440 meters above sea level in Andermatt’s Urseren Valley, wedged between the Oberalp, St. Gotthard and Furka passes. It’s a five-star deluxe property built by GHM Hotels, the first hotel completed under Andermatt Swiss Alps AG’s redevelopment of the village, and it fuses Alpine chalet architecture with Japanese-influenced interiors – think pine walls and gas fireplaces sitting next to low mosaic-stone tables and Hästens beds. It’s a seasonal hotel, typically closing for a few weeks each spring between the ski and summer seasons.

• 🏔️ Opened in December 2013, designed by architect Jean-Michel Gathy
• 🛏️ 119 rooms and suites, from 55 sqm rooms to a 318 sqm three-bedroom suite
• 🍽️ Three restaurants and bars, including a two-Michelin-star Japanese kitchen on-site
• 🏊 A 2,400 sqm spa with a 35-meter indoor pool and a heated 12-meter outdoor pool
• ⛳ An 18-hole championship golf course on the property for the summer months
• 🚡 850 meters from the Gemsstock cable car, with ski-in/ski-out access to the slopes

The Alpine Junior Suite

The Alpine Junior Suite runs 86 to 89 square meters, and it’s the first category where the hotel really stretches out. Warm alpine woods, natural stone, a fireplace and a proper separate living area, plus a large balcony that extends the room outdoors when the weather cooperates – views run either toward the Urseren Valley or the surrounding mountains depending on which side of the building you land on. Every room, regardless of category, comes with the same Hästens beds, soaking tubs and Acqua di Parma toiletries the hotel is known for, plus an iPad that controls the room’s lighting and blinds – worth learning before your first night, since the system has more layers than you’d expect from a light switch.

Beyond the Alpine Junior Suite

The room hierarchy at The Chedi Andermatt runs from the Alpine Deluxe Room (55-69 sqm) and Furka View Deluxe Room (58-69 sqm, top-floor with a double-sided fireplace) up through the Alpine Junior Suite, and eventually to the hotel’s showpiece: the Furka 3-Bedroom Signature Suite at 318 square meters, with its own private spa built in – sauna, steam bath and Jacuzzi included. It’s one of the largest hotel suites in the Swiss Alps, and it’s usually the one booked out first around the winter holidays.

Nightly rates

An Alpine Junior Suite runs around 1,200.6 CHF per night (about $1,497 USD / €1,281 EUR). Rates climb from there through the Alpine Deluxe and Furka View categories below it, and rise significantly toward the Furka 3-Bedroom Signature Suite at the top of the hierarchy – as you’d expect from a private-spa suite that size.

Lobby, the bar and the ski shop

The lobby sets the tone for the entire hotel – double-height ceilings, warm wood, and enough fireplaces scattered through the building (over 200 of them, by some counts) that you’re never far from one. The Bar & Living Room runs as the hotel’s main social space through the day and into the evening, and there’s an on-site ski shop for anyone who’d rather rent or fit gear five minutes from their room than deal with a village shop before an early lift.

Indoor and outdoor pools, sauna and the gym

The Spa and Health Club spans roughly 2,400 square meters – large by any hotel’s standard, let alone one this far up a mountain – and centers on a 35-meter indoor pool alongside a heated 12-meter outdoor pool with alpine views that make the cold walk out to it worth it. There’s a full sauna and steam area, TechnoGym equipment in the fitness center with personal training available on request, and the Tibetan Relaxation Lounge for Asian-inspired treatments. Cigar drinkers get their own dedicated lounge stocked with more than 900 cigars from 15 countries.

The courtyard

Tucked between the wings of the hotel, the courtyard is one of the quieter corners of the property – a spot to sit outside without actually leaving the building’s footprint, framed by the same alpine-chic architecture running through the rest of the hotel. It’s a small detail, but it’s the kind of space that separates a hotel this size from feeling like a hotel this size.

Dinner at The Japanese

The Chedi Andermatt’s in-house restaurant, simply called The Japanese, holds two Michelin stars and 18 GaultMillau points – the first Japanese restaurant in a Swiss five-star deluxe hotel to reach two stars. Chefs Dominik Sato and Fabio Toffolon run a menu built around omakase and kaiseki tasting formats alongside sushi and tempura, leaning on precision and ingredient quality over spectacle. It’s the destination dinner reservation on-property, and worth booking well ahead if you’re planning a stay around it – the room seats a limited number of covers a night.

Turndown service and in-room amenities

Turndown arrives in the evening with the usual small touches – lights adjusted, curtains drawn, a treat left on the pillow – but the standout detail is that in-room technology genuinely earns its keep here. The iPad master control handles lighting scenes, blinds and climate, and the minibar and amenities are restocked daily without needing to ask. Combined with the fireplace in most rooms, it’s built for the kind of evening where you don’t plan on leaving your suite again once you’re back from dinner.

Breakfast the next morning

Breakfast runs as a half-buffet format – a spread of pastries, breads, cheeses, cold cuts and fruit alongside an à la carte hot-dish menu cooked to order. It’s a format that works well for a mixed crowd of skiers who want to eat fast and get on the mountain and guests who’d rather linger over coffee with a view of the Urseren Valley.

Things to do around Andermatt

Winter is Andermatt’s main draw – the SkiArena Andermatt-Sedrun network runs over 180 kilometers of connected slopes, with the Gemsstock cable car 850 meters from the hotel giving direct access to some of the steepest lift-served terrain in the Alps. In summer, the same mountains open up for hiking through the Urseren Valley’s gorges and waterfalls, and the hotel’s 18-hole championship golf course takes over the space skiers use in winter. The historic Devil’s Bridge and the Urseren Valley Museum are both worth an afternoon in the village itself, and Andermatt sits directly on the Glacier Express route connecting Zermatt and St. Moritz – a reasonable way to bookend a stay if you’re combining it with another Swiss Alps stop.

Best time to visit

Ski season runs roughly December through April, with peak conditions and the busiest lifts typically in January and February. The hotel closes for a few weeks each spring between seasons, so late April and early May are worth checking directly before booking. Summer, from June through September, trades the skiing for hiking, golf and noticeably quieter roads into the village – a genuinely different version of the same hotel.

Frequently asked questions

📹 Video by ST Travel