Just 1 Ski Destination Hotel Cracks the World’s 50 Best Hotels

St. Moritz’s Badrutt’s Palace has been named No. 36 on The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2026 list, making it the only ski-destination hotel to crack this year’s top 50.

The 130-year-old Swiss hotel also took home the SeiBellissimi Art of Hospitality Award 2026, with The World’s 50 Best Hotels praising its service, attention to detail, and ability to anticipate what returning guests want.

Skiers are taken by private shuttle to the lifts and the hotel offers its own in-house ski shop and rental service, private ski lessons, and discounted ski passes. At the end of the ski day, guests are picked up by shuttle again by the ski concierge. The Corviglia ski area above town offers 155 kilometers (96 miles) of pistes accessed by 24 lifts. The ski area rises to Piz Nair at 3,057 meters (10,029 feet) and can be accessed directly from St. Moritz via the Chantarella funicular.

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While the hotel might not be ski-in, ski-out, its history is forever intrinsically intertwined with ski tourism. In 1864, Johannes Badrutt made a famous bet with his British summer guests at his Kulm Hotel. He waged the bet that they should come back in the winter and stay for the season (as back then the roads were snowed in). If they did not like it even better than in summer, he promised to reimburse them the full travel cost. Needless to say, the British guests loved the winter in St. Moritz and the experience kicked off ski tourism. Badrutt’s son Caspar later opened the Badrutt’s Palace in 1896. The hotel is situated above Lake St. Moritz at the foot of the Corviglia ski area. To this day the hotel remains one of the defining landmarks of St. Moritz. Its neo-Gothic towers can be seen from Lake St. Moritz and are a popular landmark in the center of town.

Badrutt’s Palace itself is a destination almost as much as the mountain. The hotel currently has 163 rooms and suites, while winter brings 11 restaurants, two bars, and a nightclub. Its culinary lineup includes Matsuhisa, the Japanese-Peruvian restaurant, and King’s Social House, while the hotel’s extensive wellness facilities include pools, treatment rooms, fitness facilities, and private spa suites. The hotel also recently purchased an on-mountain restaurant called Paradiso.

The hotel has also become known for the unusual lengths its staff will go to accommodate guests. The World’s 50 Best Hotels reported that ski equipment belonging to some returning guests is collected at the end of their stay, cleaned and stored, then returned to their rooms on their next visit. In another example, staff arranged a snowmobile ride for a guest who wanted to visit the hotel’s mountain restaurant, Paradiso, but was recovering from major surgery and unable to make the journey independently. The hotel says its staff are empowered to solve problems without waiting for management approval. That service culture is a major reason behind the hotel’s 2026 award.

“We are here for the dreams of our guests,” Managing Director Richard Leuenberger told The World’s 50 Best Hotels. “We try to understand what they imagined when they saw the Palace and aspire to deliver it.”

Badrutt’s Palace has appeared on The World’s 50 Best Hotels list before. It ranked No. 43 in 2023 before dropping to No. 52 in 2025, placing it just outside last year’s top 50. Its return at No. 36 represents its highest position since the list was launched. It is the only ski destination on the list of 50.

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Badrutt’s is now preparing for another winter season in St. Moritz, with its 2026-27 winter season scheduled to run from December 3, 2026, through March 30, 2027. For those looking for the five star experience while on ski holiday, Badrutt’s Palace offers something increasingly rare: access to one of the world’s historic ski destinations without sacrificing the grand-hotel experience that made St. Moritz famous in the first place.