Location, Location, Location. This historic family run boutique hotel is square in the middle of downtown St. Moritz and less than a five minute walk to the lift to Corviglia. Hotel Steffani is home to both the oldest and newest restaurants in St. Moritz thanks to the recently opened dim sum pop-up restaurant – Dumpling in Altitude. They’re also home to several bars, including a topless Champagne club.
If you’re looking to stay downtown in a more laid back setting, this hip cozy hotel is probably for you. It opened its doors in 1869 and the Marky family has been running it for four generations. The Steffani rabbit has been the mascot of the Olympics, and won the prize for advertising logo in the 1928 Chicago World’s Fair. You’ll see vintage posters and antiques of the famed hotel mascot all around the hotel. When you aren’t skiing, sit by one of the two roaring fires and have a beer or whisky while you chat with friends and family.
The oldest restaurant in St Moritz – just off the hotel lobby – is La Lapin Bleu, which offers traditional regional dishes, including a spectacular tableside beef tartar. The wine list is reasonably priced and has some great selections from all over Europe. We ordered a bottle of light Sicilian red wine from Benanti to go with our tartare. If you’re looking for fondue or raclette, you can make a reservation for Cascholin in the basement of La Lapin. They recently opened Chäsbeitzli, a concept that focuses on raclette and fondue served with local Swiss wines.
For something completely different, head to the Dumpling in Altitude pop-up or get takeaway and steam your dumplings at home. The new owners overhauled what was previously the only Chinese restaurant in St Moritz and transformed it into a sleek, hip venue offering a small list of savory dumplings, outstanding natural wines, and to finish, Basque cheesecake.
Hotel Steffani, Via Traunter plazzas 6, 7500 St. Moritz Note: Hotel Steffani provided support for the reporting of this story.
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