Off to Zermatt and then Venice
January 18, 2007 -- I'm just getting over a cold that kept me from visiting Ulysse Nardin this week. Usually, when I get a cold, I just keep on trucking and instead of lasting two or three days, it hangs on for three or four weeks. This time, I took Sophie and Casey's advice and rested for two days, and I hate to admit it, I already feel better. I will make the trip to Ulysse Nardin in early February, so I really didn't lose anything.
This weekend, Sophie and I are heading for Zermatt, Switzerland for a Villemont event. Zermatt is a fabulous ski town, no motor vehicles allowed in the town, and we will ski both Saturday and Sunday if the weather permits. We are staying at the Kulmhotel Gornergrat,
one of the most exclusive hotels in the world. It has a view that is unrivaled of the Matterhorn and the 28 other peaks over 4,000 meters in the Gornergrat region. For Fernando Clemenz, manager, the Kulmhotel is a special place. "At 3100 meters high, it's unique," he says. "It was very difficult to construct and we just did a major renovation and the hotel is really well-appointed now."
The Kulmhotel is very busy during the day, when over 5,000 people come in a day, to admire the view or to eat. The hotel features two restaurants and a few shops, including a very nice watch store on the ground floor. When the train stops running (the last train down the mountain to Zermatt is 7:55 pm), it gets very quiet here indeed. With only 23 rooms, it's a different experience altogether.
"We have a unique hotel classification," Clemenz adds. "The view is spectacular and it's amazing to have an all around view of the 29 peaks. At night, it's amazing because we don't get any light from anywhere and the air is so clean and clear that the stars are wonderful here."
With the rooms ranging in price from 120 chf to 250 chf (which includes half board -- breakfast and dinner), this rare hotel experience is within the budget of just about everyone. The hotel is running at about 75% occupancy and in the summer months, from June to September, it is sold out well in advance. Half of the guests stay one week, while most other stay one to two nights.
"Many people want to be away from everything, and you can do that here at the Kulmhotel Gornergrat," Clemenz says. "We get a lot of writers who come here to work. Skiers love it because you can ski out the front door of the hotel."
One additional interesting note is that the rooms are not numbered in the normal way you would expect. Instead, the numbers are based on the height of the peaks around the hotel, so one room will be 4478 (the Matterhorn), while the one next door might be 4228 (Castor). Even Clemenz needed a special plan to find the rooms he wanted to show me!
I can't wait to sleep at the top of the world.
For more information, www.gornergrat-kulm.ch
After Zermatt, I am back in Geneva for one day, then I'm off to Venice for a Piaget event. After Venice, I have a trip to Spain scheduled to visit the Festina gold factory, then I might be visiting the Dior factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds, then it's off to Florence, Italy for a Panerai event. It's going to be a frantic next few weeks.