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Welcome to Vogue’s first-ever spa guide—a compendium of the 100 best spas worldwide, pulling from the expertise of our global editors. There is a lot out there in the world of wellness, and we are here to sort the cryo from the cold plunge, the infrared light treatment from the IV infusion. Or if your path is a more holistic one—there’s something for you here as well.
Why go here?
Given that it boasts its own private funicular railway to whisk you up to the surrounding pistes, it’s not hard to understand why the Tschuggen Grand Hotel is a beloved choice for hard-core skiers. Yet just as hard-core is the hotel’s spa: a 5,000-square-foot thing of wonder designed by architect Mario Botta. It’s housed across four floors embedded into the side of the mountain, and contained by a striking series of towering glass and steel sails that offer views out to the surrounding snow-covered pine forest during the day and light up in pastel hues by night.
On the upper floor of the spa, you’ll find an enormous indoor-outdoor pool, with pummeling jets placed in the nooks of the curved stone walls to help soothe your muscles after a long day on the slopes, as well as jacuzzi-style bubbles in the exterior section to froth over your shoulders as you breathe in that crisp, clean Alpine air. It’s on the lower level, though, that the real magic happens: Here, you’ll find a whole floor dedicated to a rabbit warren of saunas and steam rooms—some fragranced with local branches and herbs, others positioned next to each other at differing temperatures for a choose-your-own-adventure approach to spa rituals—and all interspersed with relaxation areas featuring water stations that are plugged straight into the mountain to provide fresh glacial goodness on tap. (For the brave, there are also glass doors leading directly to the snow-covered hills outside, where you can roll around in the ice after your sauna, if you’re feeling Scandinavian.)
Head to the lower two floors and you’ll find a series of treatment rooms, two private couples’ spa suites, a hairdresser, a gym, a fitness studio, a meditation room, and a cosmetic doctor’s surgery. It’s a true acropolis of wellness.
What’s the vibe?
First things first: If the option is available to you, make the journey to Arosa by train—the views as you trundle your way up through the mountain are like something from a children’s storybook, adding an extra layer of magic to your arrival. Once you get to Arosa station, a shuttle will whisk you up to the Tschuggen Grand, which, while admittedly a little unprepossessing from the outside thanks to its ’70s-era façade, reveals itself as a topsy-turvy palace of wintry decadence on the inside, packed with open fireplaces, quirky design details, and plush furnishings decked out in Hermès leathers and cashmere blankets. The place has an off-beat, cozy charm that sees its loyal clientele return year in and year out.
Although they’re also returning for that previously mentioned funicular railway (known as the Tschuggen Express), which sits just steps away from the boot room exit and spirits you up to the heart of the ski resort in a matter of minutes. Better yet is the top-notch hospitality. Nothing is ever too much trouble here, meaning that, from slope to spa, you can truly switch off. If you want to have a little fun, though, there is that option too: A recent addition to the hotel is a Bavarian-style pub in the basement—complete with a bowling alley, where games are best enjoyed with a shot of schnapps.
The history?
There has been a hotel on the Tschuggen Grand site since the late 19th century, when a doctor came to Arosa in search of the alleged healing properties of that famous mountain air and decided to open a sanatorium. While there’s been a hotel here since the 1920s, the current iteration was built in the 1970s (hence that exterior), but was given a head-to-toe renovation—and received the addition of that gargantuan spa complex—in 2007.
What should you try?
The spa here offers the full gamut of treatments, but what you’ll really want is a deep tissue or sports massage from one of the experienced therapists who know exactly how to loosen up your thighs after a long day of crouching on skis, or unpick that knot in your shoulder after you twisted a little too far while navigating a hairpin bend. The undisputed highlight from my visit was—believe it or not—one of the group therapies on offer in the enormous communal rotunda of a sauna at one end of the complex. At sunset, a practitioner began throwing pine branches onto the bonfire and ululating, before, slowly, the rest of those gathered in the sauna joined in. What at first felt more like a scene from Midsommar than a spa ritual ended up being surprisingly thrilling, and left me with an additional spring in my step while on my way to dinner. (And a great anecdote to share with my fellow travelers too.)
How environmentally friendly is it?
Notably so. The group that owns the hotel, the Tschuggen Collection, were pioneers in the field of sustainably minded ski holidays, funding an extensive list of projects surrounding climate protection, rewilding, biodiversity, and banning fossil fuels across all their properties over the next few years. Just down the road in the center of Arosa you’ll also find Valsana, a stylish 49-room retreat that boasts some of the most impressive eco-friendly measures I’ve yet to hear of at a ski hotel anywhere, including being built from entirely carbon-neutral materials and operating entirely self-sufficiently with the help of an ice battery that harnesses geothermal energy—not a fossil fuel, or indeed any other kind of fuel, in sight. When it comes to sustainability, the Tschuggen hotels walk the walk.
Anything else you should know?
There’s a convivial air to the spa at Tschuggen, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself striking up conversation about the day’s skiing or what’s on the menu for dinner that evening with a fellow guest. But do also be prepared to strip down naked for the saunas and steam rooms—this is central Europe, after all.
Who can go?
Visiting the spa at the Tschuggen Grand Hotel Arosa is restricted to guests of the hotel only.
Booking details for Tschuggen Grand Hotel Spa
Address: Hotel Tschuggen, Tschuggentorweg 1, 7050 Arosa, Switzerland
Read more from Vogue’s Global Spa Guide.
