Who's Going
Nicholas II, Monica Bellucci, Liz Hurley, Dasha Zhukova
Reason to Stay
Carlton Spa, Gourmet Eatery, Designer Rooms
Hotel Type
Ski Resort
Originally built as a summer home for Nicholas II, Russia's last Tsar, the Carlton has been an all-year destination for the lavishly wealthy for over a century. In winter St. Moritz is a champagne-toasting scene of afternoon polo matches atop its frozen lake, while summer is a more sedate crowd of retired nature lovers hiking the nearby hills while gabbing in German. Take our advice �" winter is far chicer. The smallest of St. Mortiz's five luxury hotels, the Alpine-inspired façade features gabled rooftop and mountain view common areas decorated in a tasteful weaving of contemporary and early 20th Century styles.
Recently unveiled from an 18-month refurbishment, guests enter a soothing lobby area of ornate lounges, lively bar and two in-house restaurants. Berlin-born Alexander Kroll oversees the two in-house restaurants including Romanoff, currently the hottest reservation in town, offering a daily four-course tasting menu. An all-new spa area, known as the Carlton Spa, is located in the hotel's former vault with wave-shaped mosaic walls in shades of blue and green leading to the outdoor pool of steaming waters overlooking snow-covered St. Moritz. While the crowd has yet to attract the hip-hop patronage of nearby Badrutt's, look for blue-blood Swiss beauties and Russian mobsters ever loyal to the four-property Tschuggen hotel chain.
The Room
This isn’t the stuffy, slightly claustrophobic hotel you knew of three years ago. Stainless-steel elevators open to curved corridors connecting the property’s meticulous 60 guest rooms and suites. Conceived by interior designer Carlo Rampazzi on a money-no-object renovation, standard guest rooms are a roomy 450-sqaure feet featuring snow-capped mountain views and panoramic vistas of central St. Mortiz. Rooms feature a dazzling mix of classically inspired contemporary furnishings like boldly-colored leather headboards and antique armoires that date back to the hotel’s 1913 opening. Walls feature large portraits of ornate glassware and original artwork arranged around curved seating areas and oversize club chairs. Rampazzi even recreates the original oriental-red carpeting that graced the floors during the days of the Romanov’s that lends a nod of opulence to the otherwise thoroughly modern rooms. Bathrooms are a lavish sanctuary of marbles with deep soaking tubs and rain showers offering signature toiletries and fluffy 1000-thread count robes.
Preferred Room
Junior Suite
Special Features
Ski Concierge, Historic Hotel, Ski-In/Ski-Out
Amenities
Outdoor Pool, Spa, Bar, Lounge, Restaurant
