The Gstaad Palace is a luxury hotel in Gstaad, Switzerland. It was opened in December 1913 and is a destination for various celebrities and politicians. It is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, a hotel marketing organization.
History
In 1905, Robert Steffen, a local schoolteacher in Gstaad, purchased land on which to build a new hotel. He recruited investors from Lausanne and Geneva for the project originally called the "Royal-Hôtel and Winter Palace." The hotel was opened in December 1913,[1] with a design from Dutch architect, Adrien van Dorsser.[2] In 1915, it held a men's tennis tournament on outdoor clay courts. The tournament would eventually become the Swiss Open.[3] Soon after the hotel's inauguration, World War I broke out in Europe, inhibiting the Palace's success at first.[4]