A grand adventure

Like many hotels in the Swiss Alps, the Tschuggen Grand Hotel, in the ski resort of Arosa, was built as a sanitorium. The clear mountain air was considered to be beneficial (especially in the summer months) for conditions such as asthma and TB.

Now history is repeating itself, as tourists again flock to the mountains to revive themselves. The difference this time is that most will come in winter and the most common sicknesses will be stress and overwork.
Thanks to a massive £35m investment, the Tschuggen Grand will re-open this December with a brand new spa (the Bergoase), dramatically carved out of the mountainside. Designed by architect Mario Botta (famous for San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art), a collection of giant sails (or trees, as Botta refers to them) draw light into the building during the day and shine out across the mountains in the evening.

There is also a new monorail (the Coaster) up to the mountain from the hotel—the first of its kind in the world. With interiors designed by Carlo Rampazzi, and skiing for all levels, it may be time to head for the hills.