Who needs skiing to enjoy a Swiss ski break?

The snow was two feet deep outside the breakfast window and getting deeper as it fell ever more thickly. Branches of majestic firs had a thick frosting and icicles clung to the hotel’s roof.

The eye-popping Bergoase Spa

It was a Christmas card come to life and exactly what I’d hoped for on my pre-holiday visit to the Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa: a kick-start to get me in the spirit of the season. All through the winter this Swiss oasis offers guests a stunning winter wonderland and the chance to ski in the Arosa-Lenzerheide linked ski area, with 225km of pistes.

The Tschuggen Grand is a five-star retreat high in the Swiss Alps. We’d come to sample the first snow of the winter at the hotel’s Private Mountain Event, when Arosa’s ski slopes are open only to guests of the hotel. Uniquely, the hotel even has its own mini-railway, The Tschuggen Express, to take skiers to the cable car, saving them the trek with skis.

Alas, the blizzard conditions made skiing out of the question for a fairly hopeless skier like me so I consoled myself with a brief hike and an indulgent lunch instead at the Hörnlihütte, a rustic century-old retreat at the highest point of the Hörnli ridge at 2,512 metres. I was assured that the views of the Graubünden mountains from its terrace are spectacular on a clear day, but we were kept entertained by the festivities of the Private Mountain Event, which included a children’s choir, a Swiss trio playing traditional music and a lively gondola party hosted by a DJ.

Slope off for some skiing (Picture: AT/Alessandro Della Bella)

The Tschuggen Grand has been a hotel for 100 years after being built as a health sanatorium. A fire in 1966 resulted in the hotel’s redevelopment as an unremarkable tower block, but its interior décor by Swiss designer Carlo Rampazzi makes up for its outer ordinariness. The Grand Salon packs a visual punch, marrying stately home vibes with modern flamboyance – knots of furniture in ornate fabrics contrast with walls painted in wide stripes, shiny modern art pieces and Murano glass chandeliers edged in pink. It was a majestic spot for pre-dinner aperitivi.

We didn’t go hungry once on our visit, with Tschuggen’s four restaurants offering myriad dining options. The two Michelin-starred La Brezza serves up two tasting menus (one plant based) with delicacies like ravioli with roe deer knuckle. The vast Grand Restaurant has enjoyed a recent refurishment to enhance its mountain vistas and there we enjoyed succulent veal, pappardelle with porcini ragout and a knockout Swiss nut torte. Lunch is best eaten at La Collina, serving hearty salads, soups and open sandwiches. At the newly refurbished Basement restaurant we enjoyed traditional dishes including herb salad with pickled vegetables and the local Pizokel, a tasty shredded buckwheat dumpling. You can divert yourself afterwards with a quick game of ten-pin bowling; there are two on-site alleys.

The inclement weather required me to spend many extra hours in the hotel’s Bergoase Spa, a sacrifice I embraced with enthusiasm. It’s the jewel in Tschuggen’s crown, a spa carved out of the mountain, its only visible outdoor feature a collection of striking glass and steel sails perched on the mountainside and providing extra light into the 5,000sq m complex. Indoors it's a beautiful space of natural materials – an undulating rock wall, maple ceiling and extensive windows create a retreat that mirrors the landscape, its vast shimmering pool surrounded by sun loungers. A whole floor below is dedicated to a sauna complex (throw inhibitions to the wind – nudity is compulsory), where in daily spa rituals staff members scent the hot coals. If you’re feeling shy, there’s a smaller spa but it’s women-only, or book one of two private spa suites – each comes with a personal steam room, Jacuzzi and sauna. Our suite was only a few steps from the spa, so we could nip between them in our robes.

Those seeking extra privacy can check into the hotel’s new mountain lofts, spacious apartments housed in a separate building and affording guests impressive balconies with all the benefits of the hotel. Decorated in luxe alpine style, each of the two-bedroom lofts comes with its own sauna.

A classy Tschuggen Grand Hotel junior suite

Watching snow fall from the comfort of a heated spa pool made relaxation at The Tschuggen Grand an alluring way to enjoy the wintry weather. All that five-star comfort and exceptionally friendly service made it impossible to regret my decision not to ski.

Tschuggen Grand Hotel offers rooms starting from CHF650 based on two adults sharing a standard double on a B&B basis. This rate includes breakfast, service & VAT, access to the Bergoase Spa and use of the Tschuggen Express. It excludes mandatory tourism tax - CHF 4.50 per person per day - applicable to guests aged 12 and over. tschuggen.ch

​