Hotel Gstaad Palace

With over hundred year old history of the Gstaad Palace the luxury hotel in Switzerland opened its doors on 8 December 1913. Successfully it was decided to build an extension after the first season. In the 1960s gala dinners with international stars such as Louis Armstrong and Marlene Dietrich cause a great sensation. Andrea Scherz is the third generation now to manage the hotel.

The Scherz family takes over the management of the Palace Hotel
There is a change in management at the hotel in 1939: Ernst and Silvia Scherz start their work in autumn 1938, so that there is a smooth changeover in management. Following the difficult times during the Second World War the number of guests rises rapidly and already reaches the same level as before the war in 1947. Ernst Scherz manages to come up with the necessary capital to take over all the shares. The hotel is now family-owned and it is to stay that way too.

Gala dinners in Gstaad with Marlene Dietrich and Louis Armstrong
Gala dinners with international stars are the glamorous highlight of the winter season in the 1960s. Marlene Dietrich’s appearance on 15 February 1964 was unforgettable. Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Maurice Chevalier, Petula Clark – all of them and many more stars are guests at the Gstaad Palace.


Change in generations at the 5-star hotel
The second generation of the Scherz family enters the business with Ernst Andrea Scherz. He starts working there in 1968 and takes over as Director of the 5-star hotel a year later. The indoor pool with outdoor area, sauna and health centre is built. The GreenGo nightclub is opened in the same part of the building in 1971. It is to strengthen the Palace’s position as the centre of everything that is happening in Gstaad. The Gstaad Palace becomes a film set for the film “The Return of the Pink Panther”. The European premiere of this screen classic is on 12 September 1975 in Gstaad.


100th anniversary of the family-run luxury hotel
Andrea Scherz starts working there in the summer season of 1996. First of all he proves himself as Chef de Reception, later as the Hotel Manager. “Les Chalets du Palace” are completed during this time. At the first Gstaad symposium in 2000, VIPs such as Margaret Thatcher and Peter Ustinov benefit from informal meetings. After the end of the Cold War, they look back at the 20th century in a series of talks.

The Gstaad Palace is in the meantime one of the last family-run Grand Hotels in Switzerland.