The Badrutt's Palace Hotel is a historic luxury hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The hotel opened in 1896 and has 157 rooms, of which 37 are suites. The majority shareholders are Hansjürg and Anikó Badrutt. The hotel has seven different restaurants: Le Restaurant, which serves French cuisine and international cuisine; the Renaissance Bar; La Diala, which offers a light Mediterranean cuisine; La Coupole/Matsuhisa@Badrutt's Palace, an exclusive venue in belle époque style; and the Chesa Veglia, the oldest farmhouse in St. Moritz, built in 1658, with three additional restaurants and two bars.
History
The history of the hotel and the family Badrutt started in 1856, when Johannes Badrutt bought a small guesthouse in St. Moritz and started to rebuild it, to create the Hotel Engadiner Kulm, which is today known as the Kulm Hotel St. Moritz. He had built an artificial coasting slide and a curling ground for his guests. In 1864, the son of Casper Badrutt bought the Hotel Beau Rivage in St. Moritz and altered it to create the Badrutt's Palace Hotel we see today. The official opening was in 1896 and two years later the son of Casper Badrutt, Hans Badrutt, took over the management. Billy Fiske, an American fighter pilot killed in the Battle of Britain, who was a Cresta competitor, and a founder of the Aspen ski resort in Colorado, was well known for jumps from the Badrutt's Palace Hotel's bar chandelier. The historic house known as Chesa Veglia, was purchased in 1935–36 and converted into a restaurant. With the death of Hans Badrutt in 1953, the directorship passed on to his wife Helen and her son Andrea Badrutt, who later, together with his brother Hansjürg Badrutt, took over. The historic tower and symbol of St. Moritz was rebuilt and refurbished after a fire in 1967. In 1969–70, a swimming pool and a fitness centre were added to the hotel. After the extension of the Suot-Mulin-Complex between 1981 and 1984, which housed new suites and privately owned apartments, the management of Badrutt's Palace Hotel was transferred to the luxury hotel chainRosewood Hotels and Resorts. During this period many renovations, extensions and technical installations were made that added to the substance and development of Badrutt's Palace Hotel. In the year 2000 a new spa area and a fitness centre opened. In 2002, the Serletta Shopping Centre, with international stores, opened beneath the hotel, this was later renamed the Palace Galerie. In 2003, the 280 m² Hans Badrutt suite was completed, as was the 250 m² Helen Badrutt suite with its marble bathrooms. The suites cost between CHF 8,000 and 25,000 per night. Since the retreat of the Rosewood group in April 2003, the Badrutt's Palace Hotel is being run as a private hotel again. In 2004, the hotelier, Hans Wiedemann, took over as Managing Director, together with Yves Gardiol as General Manager. In 2006 the childless owners Hansjürg and Anikó Badrutt, bequeathed a two-thirds share of the hotel to Hans Wiedemann in their will. The annual revenue of the hotel is 50 million Swiss francs.
