A quiet village in Switzerland that prides itself on having just “1,000 inhabitants, 1,000 sheep, 1,000 guest beds” has been hurled into the limelight as starchitects descend upon it to build projects that capture the imagination.A quiet village in Switzerland that prides itself on having just “1,000 inhabitants, 1,000 sheep, 1,000 guest beds” has been hurled into the limelight as starchitects descend upon it to build projects that capture the imagination.
Vals, 1,250m above sea level in the canton of Graubunden, is famous for a hotel and thermal spa designed by award-winning Swiss architect Peter Zumthor; also for the bottled mineral water, Valser, and its beautiful Valsian quartzite.
There isn’t much else.
However, a new owning company of the hotel has given the hotel the kind of attention reserved for celebrities, thanks to its bold expansion plan to build an iPhone-slim tower extension designed by American architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis. Another starchitect, Tadao Ando, is designing a meditation park, Valser Path, within the complex.
Formerly known as Therme Hotel & Spa, the resort has been renamed 7132 Hotel (7132 being the postal code of Vals). The new owning company, 7132 Ltd, is led by Remo Stoffel, an entrepreneur who was born in Vals and who bought the property from the local community three years ago.
The new tower is a startlingly slender 381m tall building with 107 rooms – virtually one room per floor – with a transparent exterior sheen that will mirror the mountains. If all goes well, it will open in 2019. But first, the company must win the votes of the community for the tower. To this end, it has set up a gallery with large-scale models of the extension, so that the locals could view the plan and have their concerns addressed.
But even without a brick being laid for the new tower, a metamorphosis has already occured at the existing hotel, which aims to attract international jet-setters, including well-heeled Asians, to Vals.
Renovations at the hotel, which comprises the main wing and another wing called Selva House, have been completed. The latter, renamed House of Architects, now fields 13 new rooms designed by yet another starchitect, Kengo Kuma, and 18 new rooms by Ando. Both are highly-skilled at deflecting a 20m2 space with their eye-popping minimalist design and unique effects. Kuma for instance uses warm, curved wooden panels to create a soft cocoon of a room, while Ando sliced off a rectangular space to create a bathroom that is triangle in shape.
Morphosis’ Mayne is also designing another 20 rooms which will be ready by summer this year, revealed the hotel’s managing director, Sonia Dietrich.
These new rooms join 20 retro-chic rooms designed by Peter Zumthor, completing the concept to offer designer rooms in the House of Architects.
In the main building, three new 90m2 suites designed by Kuma have also opened. Each suite booking comes with a helicopter or a limousine at guest disposal in case he spontaneously wants to lunch in Geneva, shop in Zurich, whatever takes his fancy, included in the rate of CHF2,480 (US$2,515) per night. The 35 Zumthor rooms in the main building – larger at 24-30m2 compared with those in the House of Architects (18-20m2) and more luxuriously furnished – have also been spruced up, with new bathrooms designed by Kuma.
The new meditation park, Valser Path, meanwhile, is scheduled for completion in 2017. Both the park and the new tower are within the hotel complex, which sits above the town centre and blends quietly into the natural surroundings. The Valser Path is open to the whole community, not just hotel guests.
Dietrich said the main difference since the new ownership came onboard was that, “for the first time since 30 years, we have the vision, plans and money to invest”.
“It is now difficult for Switzerland to get good guests because the Swiss franc is strong. You can’t build a three-star hotel, you need something unique to compete. We have to go this way,” she said.
She believed the changes at 7132 Hotel would draw more top-paying guests who love architecture and design, thermal springs, a destination that does not attract mass tourism, top-notch service and F&B (one of the hotel’s restaurants is helmed by Sven Wassmer who previously worked for three-Michelin-star Andreas Caminada).
Prospects from Asia are good, she said. “Even though there aren’t a lot of Asian guests at the moment, it might improve in time with the Japanese architects’ involvement. Most of the Asian guests we have are FITs from South Korea, Japan and China and their main reason for coming here is the therme, the architecture and a desire to enjoy unspoilt areas of Switzerland,” Dietrich said.
Prices have increased following the renovations and rates have been simplified: CHF390 for rooms in the House of Architects, CHF590 for rooms in the main building and CHF2,480 for the suites.
This article was first published in TTG Asia, January 8, 2016 issue, on page 14. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.
