Chic Getaway in the Swiss Alps

For almost 150 years, the Swiss Alps have been a winter paradise for the international elite. Since December 1864, when a group of aristocratic British visitors checked in for the inaugural winter season, The Kulm Hotel has been synonymous with pleasure and privilege — a place with a dazzling social calendar of polo and horseracing on the frozen lake, where upper-crust Italian and British families rub shoulders with oligarchs and tycoons.

Since its inauguration in 1896, the Badrutt's Palace Hotel has been associated with grandeur, the epitome of exquisite luxury, and discreet, yet ever-present splendor. For guests looking for the ultimate mountain vacation experience, the hotel has traditionally been "the place to be."

Holidaymakers in sun loungers on the slopes in Gstaad, Switzerland, March 1961

Verbier, Switzerland, February 1964

Skiers outside the Chalet Costi in Zermatt, 1968

American political novelist William F. Buckley Jr. takes a break from skiing near Gstaad with Canadian-born economist John Kenneth Galbraith

Manuela Boraomanero and Emanuela Beghelli holiday,
March 1976

A signpost indicating various ski slopes and toboggan tracks in
the resort of St Moritz, Switzerland, March 1963

American socialite and fashion writer Nan Kempner at a mountain
ski resort, December 1960

The Palace Hotel in Gstaad, 1961

Skiers at the Corviglia Ski Club in St Moritz, Switzerland,
March 1963

A view of the street and Rialto Hotel in Gstaad, Switzerland, 1961