An 1864 grand hotel raised over the original Engadin mineral spring, restored as a 184-room Kempinski with the one-Michelin-starred Cà d'Oro, an enormous Alpine spa, and direct ski-in access to Corviglia via the Signalbahn at the front door.
"The 1864 spa hotel built over the mineral spring that drew Europe's nobility to St. Moritz in the first place, and the only Engadin five-star with proper ski-in via the Signalbahn cable car at the door."
Kempinski Grand Hôtel des Bains is the second of St. Moritz's three nineteenth-century grand hotels (after Badrutt's 1856 and before Suvretta's 1912), opened in 1864 by Johannes Badrutt's contemporaries as a purpose-built establishment to receive guests visiting the famous mineral spring of St. Moritz Bad. The spring itself, written about for three thousand years and credited with the prosperity of the entire Engadin, runs directly under the hotel's foundations, and the property is the only St. Moritz hotel to draw its spa water from its own source. The corner towers and Mediterranean palace silhouette date from a 1906 enlargement; the modern Kempinski stewardship began in 2002 and the most recent comprehensive room renovation programme completed in 2023.
The 184 rooms and suites occupy the main building's grand floor plates; in addition the property markets 27 long-term residences in the Chesa Sur Larn annex (one to five bedrooms, often booked for the winter season). The historic Tower Suite (formerly Charles Bonaparte's apartment) and the Bel Étage suites along the south façade are the headline units, the Tower Suite is the only quadruple-aspect suite in the Engadin and looks out across the Inn valley to the Bernina massif. The standard category for an honest five-star stay is the Junior Suite Engadin (around 50 square metres); for milestone weekends the Bel Étage Lake View or the Penthouse Suite. The interiors are restrained, alpine, and consciously historical, the hotel has resisted the impulse to design-hotel itself.
The dining lineup is the Engadin's deepest. Cà d'Oro holds one Michelin star and 17 Gault Millau points under chef Matthias Schmidberger, a Mediterranean fine-dining room in the former 1920s lounge. Les Saisons is the all-day brasserie; Enoteca focuses on Italian and Engadin terroir; Sra Bua serves Asian fusion; and the Kempinski Stübli is the alpine tavern in the original 1864 cellar. The Kempinski The Spa is one of the largest hotel spas in the Alps, 2,800 square metres with the only mineral-spring-fed thermal pool in St. Moritz, fed directly from the property's own source.
The location is the great differentiator on the St. Moritz map. The hotel stands at the foot of the Signalbahn cable car, the lift that links St. Moritz Bad to Corviglia, the city-facing ski mountain, making this the only proper five-star ski-in/ski-out address in central St. Moritz (Suvretta has its own slope, but at distance from the village; Badrutt's and the Carlton do not have direct lift access). Lake St. Moritz, the Kulm Park ice rink, and the historic Cresta Run are five to ten minutes by hotel shuttle; St. Moritz Dorf and the Via Serlas luxury shopping corridor are ten minutes. For winter the position is decisive; for summer the spa, the spring, and the south-facing terrace are the substitute.
For an Engadin wellness retreat the Kempinski is the only honest answer in St. Moritz, the property is built over the mineral spring that the entire valley's wellness reputation rests on, and the Kempinski The Spa is the largest in the village (2,800 sqm with the only spring-fed thermal pool, six saunas, a 25-metre indoor pool, treatment suites for Engadin signature therapies). The Suvretta has a strong spa but no mineral source; the Badrutt's spa is recently renewed but smaller. For genuine alpine wellness this is the address.
A St. Moritz anniversary at the Kempinski can be a winter ski milestone (a Bel Étage Lake View suite with ski-in/out via the Signalbahn at the door), a summer hiking-and-spa interlude (the Penthouse Suite with the south-facing terrace and the mineral pool below), or a Cà d'Oro long-lunch (one Michelin star, 17 Gault Millau, the most decorated table at this end of the lake). The hotel handles every variant of the brief with practised quiet.
Family stays work here in a way they do not at the more formal Engadin grand hotels. The 27 Chesa Sur Larn residences (one to five bedrooms) give families full apartment-style accommodation with the hotel's services on tap; the Kids' Club, the family pool, the children's menu in Les Saisons, and the Signalbahn ski-in/out for half-day lessons are the practical anchors. For winter half-terms and Easter, this is the most family-tolerant of the village's five-stars.
Via Mezdi 27
7500 St. Moritz
Switzerland
184 rooms incl. 27 residences
Classic Rooms from CHF 750/night
Junior Suite Engadin from CHF 1,400/night
Bel Étage Suites from CHF 2,800/night
Tower / Penthouse Suite from CHF 6,500/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
WiFi: complimentary, high-speed throughout
Cà d'Oro (1 Michelin star, 17 Gault Millau)
Five restaurants and four bars
Kempinski The Spa (2,800 sqm)
Mineral-spring-fed thermal pool
Signalbahn cable car at the door
Kids' Club and family pool
Leading Hotels of the World
From CHF 750/night. Peak rates apply during high season; book three to four months ahead for the headline suite categories.
Book This Hotel →The 1856 grand hotel that gave St. Moritz its first winter season, the property whose private skating rink became the modern Kulm Park.
The 1856 Kulm, the original Engadin grand hotel and the home of the Cresta Run and the original Olympic skating venue.
A 1912 grand hotel above the village in its own park with its own private chairlift to Corviglia.