Kulm Hotel St. Moritz
St. Moritz, Switzerland
★ Verified by our editors · September 2026
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The verdict
Johannes Badrutt founded it in 1856, and in 1864 made the bet that invented winter tourism: English summer guests who came back in December and did not like it would have their costs refunded. In 1879 its dining room had the first electric light in Switzerland. Today it has three MICHELIN Keys, the Cresta Run and the old Olympic bobsleigh track at its door, and a Kulm Country Club pavilion renovated by Norman Foster.
History you can use: the Cresta, skating on the natural rink, and a grand hotel with a sense of humour.
You want a design hotel: this is a 19th-century grand hotel, and it is proud of it.
Watch the Cresta riders from the Kulm Country Club terrace in the morning, and ask for a room on the lake side of the main house.
The rooms
Rooms and suites in the original house, many facing south over Lake St. Moritz and the Corvatsch massif, with pale wood and Engadin fabrics in the renovated ones.
The setting
At the top of St. Moritz Dorf, beside the start of the Cresta Run and the Olympia Bob Run, with the natural ice rink and the hotel's nine-hole golf course below it.
The food
Several restaurants in the house and at the Kulm Country Club, from the grand dining room to the club's grill. Afternoon tea and the bar are part of the St. Moritz day.
Getting there
About three and a half hours from Zurich by train via Chur; the hotel meets guests at St. Moritz station. Samedan airport is fifteen minutes away.
Good to know
Seasonal: it opens in December and for the summer. The Cresta Run admits guests to watch but not all to ride; ask the concierge.
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