Switzerland is to the hotel industry what France is to restaurants, and some of its most memorable places to stay have been welcoming travellers for centuries.
Rustic or palatial, beds are comfortable, service polished and breakfasts hearty. Usually a generous buffet of cold cuts, such as excellent raw ham (Rohschinken) and air-dried beef (Bündnerfleisch), a selection of Switzerland’s famous cheeses, loaves of freshly baked bread (including the brioche-like, plaited Züpfe), and yoghurt from the local dairy. Switzerland has some of the most delicious food and wine – and most spectacular scenery – I’ve seen anywhere. Wondering where to stay in Switzerland? Here are the best historic hotels in Switzerland for food lovers.
Hotel des Trois Couronnes Vevey
I love Lake Geneva, especially the flower-lined promenade of Vevey and steeply terraced vineyards above it. There’s no better place to enjoy the view of the Savoy Alps across the lake than from this majestic hotel. Opened in 1842, it was one of the region’s first grand hotels, and Henry James opened his novella Daisy Miller in its garden. It has Switzerland’s best breakfast buffet and we spend the final night of my Swiss food and wine tour here.
Maison Junod Romainmôtier
This comfortable chambre d’hôte (French B&B) is in one of my favourite Swiss villages, Romainmôtier. Tucked alongside the medieval priory around which the village is built, it was once part of the neighbouring 1685 home of the Bernese governor’s deputy. Staying here is a great excuse for breakfast at the fabulous local bakery, and there’s excellent fondue in the surrounding Jura mountains too. My Swiss food and wine tour begins here.
Stadthaus Burgdorf
Built as Burgdorf’s town hall in 1745–50 – on the site of the 14th-century Zum Weissen Kreuz inn – this small refined hotel on a corner of the cobbled old town of Burgdorf has views back over the countryside and up to the impressive medieval castle. It’s a great base for exploring the Emmental and only a 20-minute train ride into the centre of Bern. Chef Christian Bolliger produces delicious traditional and innovative fare. Good breakfast buffet too!
Hotel Palazzo Salis Soglio
This quaint palazzo, in a remote Alpine village, is rustic yet comfortable and full of history. Built for the aristocratic von Salis family in 1630 and a hotel since 1876, it has hosted famous guests from poet Rainer Maria Rilke to painter Giovanni Segantini. Whether seen from the private flower-filled garden or the narrow, cobbled streets, views of the soaring snow-covered peaks are breathtaking. Eat at nearby Stüa Granda.
Hotel Stern Chur
Built in 1677, this historic inn has been renovated with every modern comfort, yet its history shows in the original exposed beams of the attic rooms. It’s in the heart of the old town, with cobbled streets full of interesting architecture and food shops, and its wood-panelled Veltliner Weinstube – preserved since 1913 – serves traditional Graubünden dishes. Request a pick-up from Chur railway station in the hotel’s vintage Buick.
Bellevue Palace Bern
This Belle Époque hotel at the top of Bern’s medieval Altstadt, beside the Swiss parliament house, is owned by the government and serves as its official guesthouse for visiting heads of state. It’s a favourite with diplomats and celebrities too. I love its fabulous views of the Alps and the Aare river, its atmospheric front bar and gorgeous leadlight ceiling in the lobby. And it’s close to all Bern’s best restaurants, shops and bars.
Updated 17 Oct 2026
Switzerland was one of the world’s first tourist destinations. From the mid-1800s, wealthy travellers came for the lakes, mountains and fresh air, sparking a grand hotel boom that lasted until World War I.
Long before that, inns and guesthouses had served merchants and pilgrims crossing the Alpine passes.
Switzerland’s neutrality largely spared its buildings from the destruction of two world wars, and many family-run hotels have been carefully preserved, so you can still stay in centuries-old palazzos, inns and Belle Époque palaces.
Most Swiss hotels include breakfast in the room rate and, as you’d expect from the country that turned hospitality into a profession, it’s usually a generous spread.
Switzerland’s 19th-century tourism boom created such demand for skilled staff that the world’s first hotel school opened in Lausanne in 1893, and it’s still regarded as one of the best.
Swiss-born César Ritz, the son of a Valais farmer, went on to open the legendary Hôtel Ritz in Paris in 1898.
Ritz famously declared: “the customer is never wrong” – and that guest-first spirit still shows at breakfast, from village guesthouses to grand palaces.
