Chalet-Style Hotels in the Valais Mountains

Switzerland has drawn pleasure-seeking travelers since at least the early 19th century, and the Hideaway Report has surely been covering it for almost as long. I fall in love with the country again every time I return, whether I’m paying incognito visits to historic grand hotels or intimate mountain chalets. This time, a two-year-old resort drew me to Crans-Montana, a magnificent Alpine town in the French-speaking canton of Valais, where Zermatt tends to steal the spotlight.

Crans-Montana’s first hotel opened to tourists in the 1890s, and the area has since become a sophisticated leisure destination. It has hosted the annual European Masters golf tournament, and skiers compete in major competitions here. More surprisingly, it’s also home to high-quality vineyards. With around 300 days of sunshine per year, Crans-Montana is lovely in all seasons.

We stayed undercover at two chalet-style retreats, both surrounded by pristine forests and offering sweeping views stretching from the Pennine Alps to the Mont Blanc massif. One of them surpassed even my high-altitude expectations.

Six Senses Crans-Montana

Our first stop, Six Senses Crans-Montana, is a ski-in/ski-out resort set beside the Crans-Merbé-Cry d’Er gondola. The subterranean entrance of the 79-room hotel wasn’t particularly inviting, and the welcome ritual was a touch gimmicky: selecting a giant cowbell, inscribed with one of six senses, to ring your intention for the stay (“intuition” was the sixth, but of course I opted for “taste”). But the staff’s warmth and the beautiful interiors quickly won us over. We sank into cognac-colored couches with complimentary flutes of Swiss sparkling wine and gazed out at the mountain scenery beyond, the outdoor pool steaming in the foreground. The Zen-like atmosphere immediately inspired relaxation.

The staff flawlessly executed our check-in with a thorough property tour and room orientation, and throughout our stay, they never faltered. They greeted us by name and remembered seemingly every preference: our tastes in wine, our favorite outdoor table at the restaurant and even the route we chose through the spa’s water circuit.

Editor Photos (slideshow below)

Our Superior Terrace Room impressed me with its wall of windows, airy minimalist design and huge bathroom centered around a luxurious stone-clad soaking tub. The spacious private balcony featured a wonderfully comfortable daybed, though during our early-summer stay, the slope looked more like a worksite than a picture-perfect piste, with a steep, winding ribbon of gravel. Come winter, of course, the terrace provides a front-row seat to skiers carving their way down the mountain. During warm months, be sure to request a mountain-facing room on a higher floor.

Amenities abound at this Six Senses, notably Le Club Alpin’s lounger-lined outdoor pool; Wild Cabin, which serves contemporary Swiss cuisine in a double-height space flooded with light; and an open-air cinema. The real highlight, however, is the 21,500-square-foot spa. A ceiling of hundreds of illuminated wooden rods, suspended in stalactite formations, crowns its spectacular indoor pool. The Recovery Lounge is equally remarkable, outfitted with state-of-the-art biohacking equipment including red-light therapy masks, musical massage loungers, floatation pods and compression boots.

Six Senses Crans-Montana will please wellness and outdoors enthusiasts alike. Ski concierges tend to equipment and arrange lift passes, and in summer, e-bike tours, hiking and tee times at the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club near the hotel are available. The Travel Office can also arrange more exclusive activities ranging from private cheesemaking lessons to helicopter rides. Modern in style yet with a distinct sense of place, Six Senses’ design captures the rugged grandeur of the Swiss Alps. We wished that we’d booked a longer stay.

LeCrans

While Six Senses is the newest arrival on the Crans-Montana plateau, locals have great affection for LeCrans, which began as a pension on a family farm in the 1960s. It opened as a quintessential Swiss chalet-style luxury hotel in 2009, with a grand weathered-timber façade, decoratively carved larch-wood balconies and a gabled roof. Perched at 3,700 feet above the Rhône Valley, this property has some of the most spectacular panoramas of any hostelry in the Valais.

No one came out to greet us, so we parked and admired the breathtaking vista of the emerald-green Lac de Chermignon reservoir backdropped by rugged mountains. We headed into the spacious lobby, which had pine-paneled walls and an elegant wooden staircase, its flat-sawn balusters carved with intricate cutouts. At reception, the staff remained absorbed in conversation before eventually acknowledging us.

Editor Photos (slideshow below)

The 16 lodgings, most named after the world’s tallest mountains and mountain ranges, come with valley-view terraces. Stepping into our Deluxe Room – Kilimanjaro, I took in the view of dark-green forests and towering peaks framed by sliding glass doors, and I felt unexpectedly reverent. The minimalist décor and neutral palette of the walls and furnishings reinforced the sense that nature had been invited indoors. The room’s terrace was incredibly scenic, but only sparse trees and bushes separated our section from our neighbors’ half, where they chattered well into the night.

Our first evening, we indulged in the tasting menu at LeMontBlanc, the hotel’s semicircular Michelin-starred restaurant. Of the fancifully named courses, our favorite was Merci, Mother Nature, a zucchini flower set atop melted Sérac cheese and caviar. The next night, we read the à la carte menu with some disappointment; we’d already tried everything on it as part of the tasting menu.

LeCrans offers a cozy alpine décor, stupendous views and a justly acclaimed restaurant, yet it ultimately falls short of a recommendation. Like Six Senses, this property has a spa and heated indoor and outdoor pools, and its staff can arrange golf outings and aerial adventures like hot-air ballooning. But it delivers everything with noticeably less flair. I empathize with the warmth that many locals feel for this property, but LeCrans doesn’t meet Harper standards.