Chalet Suleika

Wonderland Chalet

A holiday in the mountains. You think authentic! A wood hut on the edge of the forest, the most spectacular mountain views to greet your day, pristine air and, maybe, a deer wandering past the window in the early morning. And yet! You like comfort, a good bed and a proper bathroom, maybe even a bit of beauty in the interior of your refuge. And you certainly do not want to venture far from the fun of an alpine town turned ski resort, with a generous scattering of restaurants and bars and, of course, an efficient ski lift system to whisk you to the heights.

Chalet Suleika, Zermatt, is the answer to what seemed an impossible dream. Located up a pretty path that looks as though its heading into the forest, it is a short distance from town, from the Sunnegga funicular and from the magnificent Cervo resort, a veritable hub of Zermatt après ski as well as hosting a couple of fine dining restaurants. The centre of town is a ten-minute walk. The transfer from the station to reach your woodland hideaway will be sorted.

Suleika is an old wooden chalet that has been carefully renovated so as not to lose its connection with the past but to make it thoroughly comfortable and stylish. It is part of the Backstage collection, established by Heinz Julen, Zermatt architect/designer/artist extraordinaire. Other properties from the Backstage portfolio gleam with a bit of glitz, a waft of glamour yet Suleika has maintained the ambiance of its more humble origins. But then it spices things up by adding Heinz Julen trademark interior design: the sophisticated curves of the solid dining table and chairs, steel and glass doors to the garden and his iconic chandeliers. Then it adds the characteristics of a luxury chalet: a contemporary woodburning fireplace, delicious bedding and an opulent master suite complete with a splendid bathtub. TV and Wi-Fi take you even further from the privations of a more remote, less sophisticated, mountain refuge and into the domain of the contemporary.

That master bedroom is on the upper floor, under soaring rafters that gift it with a high ceiling and large windows. On the floor below, things get quaint, with lower ceilings but plenty of sleeping space for eight guests. Another en-suite double bedroom also has a proper bath and a third smaller bedroom shares a shower with a room with two single beds suitable for children. Downstairs again to the ground floor, old wooden chalet and Heinz Julen flair harmonise sweetly in an open plan space around the glass and wood dining table, comfortable sofas and the kitchen. All eyes, however, turn towards the window and not simply to spot deer in the garden. The view of the Matterhorn from this hillside a little above the village is very special.

The jewel of the Backstage collection is the eponymous hotel in the heart of the village. As a guest of Suleika, you get entry to its exquisite spa and, not that we would usually suggest a cinema visit on a mountain holiday, also to the Vernissage where watching a movie is unlike anywhere else. A holiday at Chalet Suleika, with its woodland location and its sense of style, is as quintessentially Zermatt as you can get.