3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat

Really cool experience

My wife have grown quite fond of mountaintop lodgings for our ski holidays and they don’t come much more emblematic than 3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat. Perched atop a peak facing the iconic Matterhorn, it exemplifies the panoramic views and towering location that we adore. Make no mistake, despite my issues raised below, this is a truly magical property. But it isn’t cheap and it comes with a number of limitations that you should be aware of marooned in the middle of nowhere. • COMFORTABLE ROOMS WITH STUNNING VIEWS – Especially the Matterhorn view rooms where the image of this iconic promontory fills your window. • NICELY PRESENTED FOOD – Not quite gourmet, but a clever effort to dress it up with alluring ingredients and garnishes. But the food is tasty and the portions are ample. HINT - GETTING THERE IS VERY COMPLICATED – Do not just put the hotel in your satnav as it will not be able to help you and you will hit lot of problems. Here is a step-by-step guide to getting there: • AVOID THE CAR-TRAIN: The satnavs will give you the fastest route that takes you on a route where you load your car onto a train to be transported through a shortcut tunnel, BUT that train runs very irregularly. So you end of up waiting an hour for a train that saves you 30 minutes of driving time. • GO TO TASCH, SWITZERLAND: Tasch is where you park your car. In fact, I think that the town’s sole purpose in life is to be a giant parking lot for Zermatt. You see Zermatt itself is CAR FREE. So you have to park in Tasch and take a 12 minute shuttle train into Zermatt. I recommend the underground parking lot just to the left of the train station (facing it) which had reasonable prices (12 euros/day), plenty of spaces, but most importantly was the shortest walk to the station (very important when lugging luggage full of ski equipment). • RENT SKI GEAR AT BAYARD – Unlike most ski resorts, the ski rental shops are not obvious. We had to ask to find one. Several people recommended Bayard and they gave us great service. Most importantly, they are on the block adjacent to the train station again minimizing lugging distance. LIMITATIONS - It is a stunning, bucket-list worthy property, but its pricey rack-rates also command a bit of discernment… • OBSERVATORY NOT AVAILABLE – When you read about the place, one of the first things that gets mentioned is its observatory heritage which includes still operational telescopes available for public use. HOWEVER, the observatory is run by a separate company and viewings are only available by prior and separate arrangements. This situation could be better communicated and coordinated. • LOUNGE NOT AVAILABLE – Unfortunately, the hotel doesn’t yet have a common area lounge where you can relax and have drink. You can go down to the dining room and sit at one of the tables with the view of the Matterhorn, but nothing more comfortable. So it is either a table or your room. They are in the process of remodeling the facility and h