Opening 2027

The Park Gstaad, A Four Seasons Hotel

Name: The Park Gstaad, A Four Seasons Hotel
Address: Gstaad, Switzerland

Joseph Dirand takes the Bernese Oberland

Gstaad, Switzerland

Get notified when it opens

The day it opens + our first honest verdict. No paid placements. Joins the Fat Voyage list — leave any time.

First look

The Park Gstaad opened in 1910 as the first five-star hotel in town, and it's reopening as Four Seasons' debut property in Gstaad after a full renovation. That's the headline: a 116-year-old Bernese Oberland landmark, the kind of building that anchors a resort town, getting handed to a brand that knows alpine hospitality (Megève, Whistler, Jackson Hole) but has never planted a flag here.

The work is led by French designer Joseph Dirand, who did the interiors at Four Seasons' Surf Club in Miami. On paper it's a careful reset rather than a gut job: 75 rooms and suites, restaurant and bar concepts, a spa with indoor and outdoor pools, and the winter staples (ski service, an ice rink). Six branded residences are also part of the plan.

Not yet scored. We publish a Fat Score only once a hotel is open and real guests have stayed and written about it — this is a first look, not a verdict.

What we'll be watching

We haven't stayed yet — here's what will decide whether it lands when we do.

Whether the opening actually arrives in late 2026. The winter 2026/27 ski season has been the stated target since the announcement, but Four Seasons' own press release from May 2026 quietly shifted the language to 'mid-2027, ready for the summer season' — which is a materially different window. A hotel opening for summer rather than the Gstaad ski season is a different product entirely, and we'll be watching whether that date holds or slips further.
Whether seven dining venues is realistic for a 75-room mountain hotel. That ratio — roughly one restaurant or lounge for every eleven rooms — is ambitious even by alpine resort standards, and it includes a Japanese omakase alongside a live-fire grill and Swiss classics. Pulling that off with consistent quality in a seasonal, altitude-bound operation is the kind of thing that looks good on a press sheet and uneven on the plate.
Whether Joseph Dirand's precision-minimalist hand and Gstaad's chalet vernacular make peace with each other. His Surf Club work was a tight, controlled Miami aesthetic — beautiful in context. The Bernese Oberland is a different ask, and the risk is an interior that reads as disciplined anywhere and nowhere in particular.
Whether the Clinique La Prairie partnership lifts the spa above a standard Four Seasons wellness offering. Two dedicated CLP treatment rooms is a genuine differentiator for a brand that usually runs its own spa programming — we'll be watching whether that goes deep or stays superficial.

What's changed

We track this opening and log every change. Newest first — dates are when we confirmed it, not necessarily when it happened.

26 Jun 2026Now expecting 2027 (was Late 2026).

First look · gallery

Renderings & press imagery, courtesy of the hotel — details may change before opening.

Sofie, who runs the Fat Voyage booking desk with Nicolas

Want us to get you in when it opens?

Nothing to book yet — rates usually load a few months out. We're Sofie and Nicolas; tell us roughly what you're after and we'll come back the moment The Park Gstaad, A Four Seasons Hotel is bookable, with rates, what the rooms are actually like, and whether we'd go in the first season.

You'll be dealing with the two of us the whole way through, which is why we only take on a handful of trips at a time — if we're full, we'll say so. We reply by email, usually within one working day. The hotel pays us, not you: your rate is the same as booking direct, and the perks come on top.

Before it opens

When does The Park Gstaad, A Four Seasons Hotel open?

The property has been widely reported as targeting late 2026, in time for the 2026/27 ski season. However, a Four Seasons press release from May 2026 described the opening as 'mid-2027, ready for the summer season' — a notable shift. Treat any date as expected rather than confirmed; alpine renovation timelines have a way of moving.

Where is The Park Gstaad located?

It sits in Gstaad, in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps — one of the most expensive ski destinations in the world. Gstaad is a small, car-controlled village known for its clientele rather than its mountain acreage; the hotel is at the centre of the village.

Is this Four Seasons' first hotel in Gstaad, and who owns it?

Yes, this is Four Seasons' first property in Gstaad. The hotel is owned by Dona Bertarelli, and the renovation is being led by Squircle Capital. Four Seasons operates it under a management agreement — the same structure as most of its portfolio.

How many rooms will it have?

The reopened hotel is planned with 75 rooms and suites, including 18 suites, plus a separate collection of Four Seasons-branded penthouse residences available for purchase. That is a compact count for a flagship Swiss alps property.

What restaurants and facilities are planned?

Seven dining venues are reportedly planned, spanning a live-fire grill, a Japanese omakase concept, and Swiss classics — an unusually broad range for a 75-room hotel. The spa is set to include indoor and outdoor pools, a thermal circuit, fitness centre, hair and nail salon, and two treatment rooms run exclusively by Clinique La Prairie. Winter amenities include ski service and an ice rink; the hotel will also offer a kids' club and tennis.

Will Fat Voyage score The Park Gstaad, A Four Seasons Hotel?

We publish a Fat Score only once a hotel is open and real guests have stayed and written about it — drawn from luxury travel communities, editorial publications, and verified guests, never paid placements. This is a first look, not a verdict; we'll score it once there's enough independent signal to be fair.

Open now

What you can book today

The Park Gstaad, A Four Seasons Hotel is still under wraps. Here's what's already open and scored in our collection — more from Four Seasons, and nearby in Switzerland.

Fat Favorite

Four Seasons

Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva

Geneva, Switzerland

This is the oldest hotel in Geneva, built in 1834 on the lake, and it mostly still acts like it: the frescoes and gilded ceilings are original, the rooms were recently redone, and the top-floor Japanese restaurant, Izumi, keeps coming up as the best meal in the city, not just the best meal in the building. The doormen and valet get named repeatedly for making the arrival feel unhurried, and housekeeping shows up fast when called, sometimes leaving a small baked treat behind for no reason anyone asked for. The spa, also on the top floor, has proper natural light, two steam rooms at different temperatures, and an in-room hammam shower that nobody else in town bothers with. Rooms in the historic wing run small for what you're paying in Swiss francs, and a few guests flagged the showerheads as underwhelming for the price. Where it actually slips is the restaurant floor at busy hours: more than one guest describes empty tables held as "reserved" while they waited fifteen minutes for a menu, or got seated after people who arrived later. A returning bar regular also noted the kitchen swapped out a beloved profiterole recipe for a stiffer, worse version, which is a strange thing to mess with when everything else on the menu is being called excellent. The bar itself is a genuine draw on its own, with a bartender who'll remake a cocktail without being asked twice. None of that touches the case for the room and the location, which is unmatched in Geneva: on the lake, by the bridge to the Old Town, walkable to everything. Book it for a couple of nights in a renovated room and dinner at Izumi, and go in expecting the lobby to occasionally move slower than the price suggests it should.

Fat Legend

Four Seasons

Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River

Bangkok, Thailand

Book a river-view room here and what arrives is a building doing more work than most five-stars bother with: Jean-Michel Gathy's lobby has floor-to-ceiling glass, gardens threaded through the public spaces, and a "basic" room that runs close to 900 square feet, bigger than a suite at plenty of competitors. The free boat shuttle to ICONSIAM and the BTS is a genuinely useful perk rather than a gimmick, and the staff seem to actually track who you are: one family had a sick parent looked after with a late-night search for a pharmacy, another had headphones left behind at the airport chased down and delivered before their flight left. That's the kind of thing that makes people say they'll be back, and a lot of them do. The food is the real gap between the reputation and the reality. Breakfast draws specific, repeated complaints: thin options for dietary restrictions, staff who don't check in during the meal, no coffee menu unless you ask. A couple who skipped dinner on property after a disappointing lobby lunch and letdown pancakes the next morning isn't a one-off shrug. The Lobby Bar and BKK Social Club are the surprise wins — better than the flagship restaurants by most accounts — but you're not booking this hotel for the breakfast buffet the brand name might imply. Large group bookings can also crowd the pool and breakfast room enough to dent the sense of exclusivity you're paying for, and the spa or sauna being closed for renovation shows up often enough to ask about before you book. The service and the building are what you're actually paying for, and they clear the bar comfortably even with the food underperforming. Families do especially well here: kids' club, tents set up in rooms, staff who remember a toddler's name by day two. Anyone chasing a top-tier breakfast spread might do better elsewhere in the city, but for the room, the river, and a staff that fixes its own mistakes without a fuss, this is one of the best city hotels in Bangkok going.

Fat Legend

Four Seasons

Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong

Hong Kong, China

The case for the Four Seasons Hong Kong is simple: it's the easiest 5-star base on the island, and the staff back it up in ways that don't show up on a rate sheet. One guest's partner had a small hole in her dress fixed during a routine pressing, no request needed. Another wanted a mango at breakfast, mentioned it once, and it appeared minutes later. A porter walked bags all the way to the Airport Express platform. That's the same shape of story from 2019 through this summer, told by different travellers who have nothing to do with each other. The building is the honest trade-off. Several recent stays, including one detailed enough to score infrastructure separately, note the spa and gym feel dated next to newer Four Seasons openings, and the harbour view depends entirely on which floor and side you land: one January 2026 guest got a construction site instead of Victoria Harbour. None of that touches the three Michelin-starred restaurants on property. Lung King Heen and Caprice both pull the same travellers back on repeat visits, and the pool draws the kind of praise regulars save for the best in the city. The one comparison worth knowing: people who've also done the Rosewood across the harbour tend to rate that hotel's rooms and design higher, while putting the Four Seasons ahead on service and calling it the better call if you actually want to be based on Hong Kong Island. That's a real trade, not a knock against either. Book this one for the location and the staff who remember you between stays, not for a freshly renovated building. On those two, nothing else in Central comes close.

Fat Legend

Four Seasons

Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Otemachi

Tokyo, Japan

A room here runs you well over $1,000 a night and what you actually get for it is service that keeps surprising people who've stayed at a dozen Four Seasons before. Guests get escorted to the 39th-floor lobby and checked in without ever standing at a desk, and the stories pile up: a front desk agent arranging an English-speaking doctor and off-menu chicken broth for a guest with food poisoning, a concierge team coordinating an entire week of reservations over WhatsApp before the flight even landed. The breakfast gets called the best in Tokyo often enough that it's worth building a morning around, and Virtu, the bar off the lobby, has a following of its own. Where it gets more mixed: the rooms lean minimalist rather than warm, which a few guests flag as un-Four-Seasons, and the lobby sitting six floors up means two separate elevators to reach a room, which reads as fussy after a long flight. One guest found the spa's steel-lined pool and rules-heavy vibe more clinical than relaxing. And the address, ten minutes from Tokyo Station rather than in the middle of Ginza or Shibuya, splits opinion: some love the quiet, some call it inconvenient for transit despite the subway lines underneath the building. Janu Tokyo, the newer arrival at Azabudai Hills, comes up constantly as the alternative — better suites, weaker views, no age minimum at this pool versus most others. Book it if you want a Tokyo base that treats you like a regular by day two and don't need to be in the middle of Shibuya's noise. The views of the Imperial Palace and, on clear days, Mount Fuji, are hard to argue with at any price.

Get notified

Be first when The Park Gstaad, A Four Seasons Hotel opens

We'll email you the day it opens — and our first honest verdict once guests have actually stayed. No paid placements, ever.

Joins the Fat Voyage list — leave any time.

More anticipated openings

All openings

Champagne Hospitality

Europe

Château la Commaraine

— Royal Champagne's sister house, in Pommard

Pommard, France

A twelfth-century château in the village of Pommard, on the Côte d'Or, turned into a 37-room hotel with a spa, a pool and two restaurants by the owners of Royal Champagne. It sits in its own nine-acre vineyard.

Opened

April 2026

First look →

Mandarin Oriental

Europe

Mandarin Oriental Punta Negra, Mallorca

— Mandarin Oriental's first in Mallorca

Costa d'en Blanes, Calvià, Spain

The brand's Balearic debut, on a wooded peninsula between two coves near Puerto Portals — 131 rooms and suites across five buildings, with Matsuhisa and Leña by Dani García among the restaurants.

Opened

June 2026

First look →

Four Seasons

Europe

Danieli, Venezia, A Four Seasons Hotel

— the legendary Danieli reborn

Venice, Italy

Four Seasons has the keys to the Danieli, Venice's storied palazzo on the lagoon by the Doge's Palace — open with 120 rooms, rising to 176 in 2027.

Opened

July 2026

First look →