Alpinhotel Grimsel Hospiz

Subsequently, complaints about the Hospiz, which was often overcrowded with travelers in the summer, began to mount. The Baedeker travel guide wrote, the cells are only separated by wooden slats so you can hear the slightest noise even three cells over." The expansion of the trail to a road fit for traffic, in 1894, came about relatively late compared to other Swiss pass roads and did not result in any major changes to the Hospiz. Extensive structural changes only took place when the large hydropower station was constructed. In 1930, the old Hospiz had to make way for the reservoir. In 1932, as a replacement, the power company erected a new inn on a higher rock outcropping between the two sections of the dam in the midst of a barren rocky landscape. With its massive stepped gable roof and exposed masonry, the hotel presents itself as a human bulwark in a high-alpine landscape. At its opening, the Hospiz made headlines as the first electrically heated hotel in Europe. Following comprehensive renovations between 2008 and 2010, the imposing one-time home for the power plant's construction workers and miners has been turned into a hotel furnished with exquisite taste. Contemporary Modern now meets the respectfully restored past. The faithfully recreated public rooms, Arvensaal and Turmsaal, with their historic furnishings from the 1930s bear witness to a simpler past. The modern connecting tract and the renovated guest rooms pay heed to the old building, both in terms of materials and style, and expertly complement it. The Grimsel Hospiz has been a member of Swiss Historic Hotels since 2010.