Valley room
Pale larch walls, a wide wool-covered bed and a balcony with room for two chairs and a coffee pot.
Arvessin · Valais · Switzerland
Ski back to the door, eat by the fire, and go downstairs when the lifts stop.
Hôtel Vessaz is a stone and larch chalet cut into the slope above Arvessin. Boots come off in a warm room at piste level. Dinner is raclette or something slower, there's a glass of Valais white if you want one, and the evening carries on a floor below the lobby.
18+ on the gaming floor, with valid photo ID.
A ski lodge until about five
Vessaz is the name of the alp the chalet sits on, a tilted meadow above the village where cows graze once the snow has gone. The house kept the name. It suits a place that still runs on mountain hours: breakfast early, skis on at the door, and a fire in the lounge that someone feeds all day.
When the light goes, people drift indoors. Some to supper, some to the bar. Adults who fancy an hour at a table walk down one flight of stairs.
- Walls of local stone, rooms lined in larch
- A cheese cellar under the kitchen
- South balconies over the valley on every floor
- The piste starts outside the boot room
Rooms under the larch roof
All of them face south. On a clear morning you can see the far side of the valley from bed, which is a decent reason to leave the curtains open.
Pine suite
A sitting room with a tiled stove, a reading corner and a deep tub tucked under the eaves.
Summit loft
Two floors under the roof beams, an open fireplace and a gallery bedroom that looks at the peaks.
18+
The casino room downstairs
The casino is part of the chalet itself. It fills the lower ground floor, and the way down is the fireside staircase from the lobby, so nobody crosses the snow in evening shoes to get there.
It's a small room panelled in larch, with a handful of tables and a short bar list: Valais wines, a pear brandy from up the valley and coffee until late. People talk at normal volume, and the only music is whatever drifts down from the piano in the lounge. The lamps are low, and the staff tend to remember a face by the second night.
Our casino opens in the evening only, from 19:00 until late. On gala nights it shuts earlier, because most of the house is upstairs anyway. Smart-casual is fine. Ski boots stay in the boot room.
Entry to the casino is for adults aged 18 and over, the Swiss legal gaming age. Staff check a valid photo ID at the entrance every evening, and hotel guests are checked too.
Limits are set on the floor by the casino staff, who will explain how they work before you sit down. If you'd like to stay away for a while, speak to reception: self-exclusion from the casino is arranged there in person and kept private.
Help is also there beyond the chalet. Gamblers Anonymous lists meetings country by country and holds them online too, and BetBlocker is a free blocking app made by a charity in Scotland.
Where to eat and drink
Bread comes up from the village bakery each morning. The cheese ages in our own cellar, and most of the wine grows on slopes you can see from the terrace.
What happens in the evenings
| Fridays, 18:00 | Three alphorns on the terrace while the light leaves the valley. |
|---|---|
| Wednesdays, 19:00 | Torchlight supper. A lantern walk through the larches to a table set up beside an old hay barn. |
| Every night, 20:30 | Piano in the lounge. Old standards, and requests if they're quiet ones. |
| 31 December | A long dinner, a brass band and fireworks over the peaks at midnight. |
Also in the house
The ski desk sorts out lift passes, instructors and mountain guides, usually before you've finished breakfast. Boot lockers at piste level are heated overnight. That sounds minor until the first cold morning.
There's a stone-lined pool with tall glass doors onto the snow and a small gym for stretching out after a long day on skis. Two panelled rooms can be closed off for family dinners or birthdays. On the ground floor, a little shop sells local knitwear, honey and cheese, and the tuning bench at the back will wax skis while you wait.
The spa under the terrace
A hay sauna that smells of August, a hot stone bath and four treatment rooms facing the forest. Therapists work with arnica, mountain herbs and apricot oil from Valais orchards, which tired legs and wind-burned cheeks both appreciate.
Questions people ask before coming up
What sort of place is Hôtel Vessaz?
A ski-in, ski-out chalet hotel on the alp above Arvessin. It's a mountain lodge first. The rooms, food and spa are the main reason people come, and the room below the lobby is there for adults who want a quieter evening out without leaving the building.
Who can go down to the gaming floor?
Adults aged 18 and over with valid photo ID. The check happens at the door every evening, and it applies to hotel guests as well as visitors.
Can we eat here without staying the night?
Yes. Supper at the Caquelon, the bar and most evening events are open to anyone. It's worth emailing ahead for a table during February and over the holidays.
What comes with a room?
The pool, gym, sauna, boot lockers and ski desk. Spa treatments are separate and booked by email or at reception.
Can we hold a wedding or a private dinner?
We host dinners, weddings and small retreats for up to 120 people. Send us your dates and a rough headcount and we'll write back with what's possible.
Write to the chalet
Nothing can be booked or paid for on this website. For a room, a table, spa times or a private dinner, send an email and someone at the front desk will answer.
Arvessin, Valais, Switzerland
[email protected]