Travel Switzerland
The Grand Hotel Kronenhof Pontresina.
A Trip Back in Time The lavish Grand Hotel Kronenhof Pontresina’s elegance harks to a more genteel era
By Tim Johnson
R
olling through the swiss Alpine splendor, the train seemed to balance on a rocky spine, valleys falling away in both directions, each one filled by a village—red roofs, tall steeples, and gilded clock towers—more charming than the last. Soon enough, we were on the other side and rolling up to the town of Pontresina, Switzerland, which, at least from a distance, seemed set in the Belle Époque. Grand hotels lined the ridge, each one signaling an era of luxury that felt almost forgotten.
Grand Hotel Kronenhof Pontresina I was staying at the Grand Hotel Kronenhof Pontresina, which has occupied a perch overlooking a broad valley and the surrounding snowcapped peaks, in the shadow of the expanse 58 I N S I G H T March 18–24, 2022
of the Roseg Glacier, since 1848. Together with the nearby town of St. Moritz, this is one of Switzerland’s most stylish destinations. The area is also culturally unique, making up one of the only regions in the country where Romansh is spoken. Taking a tour of the hotel just after checking in, my guide told me that 19th-century residents, during the Little Ice Age, were actually afraid of the glacier. “They thought it would come down here and overwhelm them,” she said. Passing through a recently updated, Euro-chic smoker’s lounge, the rest of the spaces on the main floor maintained a bygone feel— painted ceilings, a grand piano, and antique furniture, as well as a dining room where a jacket is still required for dinner, a maître d’ in a tuxedo seats you, and servers in white uniforms plunk down silver trays on your table.
SWITZERLAND PONTRESINA ST. MORITZ
Pontresina and St. Moritz are only about four miles apart.
