Author Topic: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend  (Read 12004 times)

Offline sam28

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Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« on: September 01, 2020, 05:04:18 PM »
My St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend.

Introduction: We had a bar mitzvah in London on Sunday night so we thought let’s make a little trip out of it and go somewhere for the weekend. We went to Switzerland and then to London on Sunday. 

For a very long time we heard great things about the summer program in Kempinski hotel and we couldn’t wait to try it. We went the first day of the 9 days. It’s the quietest time of the season. They are very expensive but we figured just for the weekend we will try it out and see what they have to offer for this price.

We booked them for three nights. The charge per night is $850. We were there from Thursday till Sunday morning.


07/31/2019

Day of Travel

We booked Swiss Business class flight# LX19 from EWR to ZRH we left 9:55PM and arrived at 11:40AM.

The flight was great; it wasn’t our first time with them. We had a few jewish families in business class with us, and the flight went very fast. Once we landed we had to wait for our suitcase over an hour due to technical issues.

Our flight



Our seat

 


By the time we got to the car rental was 1pm. It took about 10 minutes to get a car and we were on our way!

The way from the airport till our hotel in St. Moritz is 2 hours and 40 minutes. The weather was gorgeous, the views are beautiful. We made a stop to buy
some drinks, then stopped again to make some more pictures. We couldn’t just take it all in at once.

Pictures on the way to the hotel



 

 

 



 

 

We got to our hotel about 4pm. When you check in you get some lemon mint water. The hotel is beautiful and the nicest in St. Moritz. They told us where and when davening is, where the meals are served and the timing. They also have their own little market with kosher food and every day you get $20.00 per person of spending money.  They had a few kind of snacks, chocolate, candies, cookies, drinks, ice cream.

At check-in they gave us this.

 

Hotel upstairs and room
 
 

 

Not the best room pictures but it was a big room


Since we were only there till Sunday and wanted to make the most of our stay we right away headed to the concierge and started planning our outing.
Whichever way you look outside the hotel, the view is indescribable. There is a lake 5 minutes from the hotel that has a walkway with these huge mountains all around it, it was stunning. The walk around the lake takes about an hour and 30 minutes. There are chairlifts all over.

As per the front desk we drove with our car about 10 minutes to a mountain that’s called Muottas Muragl. Once we got there we bought tickets to the funicular. That was a 10 minute ride up to the top of the mountain which is 8,050ft high. The views were stunning. You can take a hike, they have nice playgrounds and benches to sit and relax. We hiked relaxed and took in the view it was gorgeous. Then we went back to the hotel for our first supper of the weekend.

There were only about 10 couples for the weekend. It was quiet and empty and very relaxing.

We got back about 7:30. Supper was good but I didn’t like the meat they made. So they offered to make something else and it was really good.  But again I was not impressed with their food compared to other hotels who charge much less.
For each meal they have a buffet of all kinds of salads, and they give a menu with that meal. They serve a full 6 coarse meal.

Pictures of the food. Hotel and the day.

Outside our hotel

 

 

Going up

 

 

 

 

 

 

The store upstairs .

 

Offline mme

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2020, 11:35:27 PM »
Wow! Stunning views! I really miss  Switzerland  now :)

Offline sam28

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2020, 01:12:35 PM »
Wow! Stunning views! I really miss  Switzerland  now :)

Thanks i miss it to.

Offline sam28

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #3 on: October 01, 2020, 05:29:01 PM »

After supper we were so tired still from the flight, but decided to go out to the lake for a walk. They celebrated Swiss day that night and there were all kinds of fireworks with many people in the area. It was nice to watch. We got back about 10pm and called it a night.

There is no air conditioning in any of the hotels in Saint Moritz that’s the law. So they bought us a fan, but it was so hot in the room that we decided to sleep with open windows. We woke up at 12am from such loud thunder and lightning. I guess up high in the mountains lightning is stronger and thunder is louder. But we managed to get back to sleep till the morning.

Pictures of supper
 


 

Menu

 

 

 


 

 


View outside
 

 

 

 

Offline PlatinumGuy

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #4 on: October 01, 2020, 09:33:01 PM »
It's a great hotel and a great program, I've been several times both before the kosher program and during the kosher program, but there is at least one nicer hotel in St Moritz
״וזה כלל גדול: שישנא אדם כל דבר שקר. וכל מה שיוסיף שנאה לדרכי השקר – יוסיף אהבה לתורה.״ - אורחות צדיקים

Online yelped

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #5 on: October 01, 2020, 10:06:36 PM »
It's a great hotel and a great program, I've been several times both before the kosher program and during the kosher program, but there is at least one nicer hotel in St Moritz
Which hotel?

Offline PlatinumGuy

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2020, 11:32:18 PM »
Which hotel?
The Badrutts palace is nicer than the Kempinski
״וזה כלל גדול: שישנא אדם כל דבר שקר. וכל מה שיוסיף שנאה לדרכי השקר – יוסיף אהבה לתורה.״ - אורחות צדיקים

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #7 on: October 01, 2020, 11:45:03 PM »
The Badrutts palace is nicer than the Kempinski
Looks beautiful.

Offline chilugutbaum

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #8 on: October 01, 2020, 11:50:22 PM »
Nice. I always heard good things about Kempinski, but I can't bring myself to spend $850/night. I stayed in Malika palace last year and really like it. And btw, this AC law is BS.

Why do you think the price is worth it?

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #9 on: October 02, 2020, 02:15:18 AM »
It’s overpriced no question about it.
״וזה כלל גדול: שישנא אדם כל דבר שקר. וכל מה שיוסיף שנאה לדרכי השקר – יוסיף אהבה לתורה.״ - אורחות צדיקים

Offline sam28

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #10 on: October 02, 2020, 03:49:51 PM »
Nice. I always heard good things about Kempinski, but I can't bring myself to spend $850/night. I stayed in Malika palace last year and really like it. And btw, this AC law is BS.

Why do you think the price is worth it?

I think it's for sure overpriced.

Offline sam28

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #11 on: October 02, 2020, 03:50:35 PM »
It's a great hotel and a great program, I've been several times both before the kosher program and during the kosher program, but there is at least one nicer hotel in St Moritz
Was u happy with the food ?

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #12 on: October 04, 2020, 09:43:03 AM »
Was u happy with the food ?
I was satisfied, but not impressed.
״וזה כלל גדול: שישנא אדם כל דבר שקר. וכל מה שיוסיף שנאה לדרכי השקר – יוסיף אהבה לתורה.״ - אורחות צדיקים

Offline kosherjid

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #13 on: October 04, 2020, 04:48:46 PM »
I think it's for sure overpriced.

Try Arje Galitzi in Maloya, St.Moritz.

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #14 on: October 04, 2020, 05:00:09 PM »
The Badrutts palace is nicer than the Kempinski

If you like being surrounded by various statues of priests and nuns, and church figures, all looking down at you from their height. For me, the Badrutt is a creepy place.

Offline sam28

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #15 on: October 20, 2020, 01:31:01 PM »
Friday morning

I woke up at 8am and was still so  tired but they needed me for minyan.  It was rosh chodesh Av so I decided to join the minyan. I came down at 8:30 everyone was sitting and waiting for me.

The concierge said that about 1pm it will start raining so if we want to do anything we should do it in the morning.

So after davening we had a good breakfast. We bought some nosh from the little market and went out for a few hours.
Right outside of our hotel was a chairlift. We took that up to a mountain then walked 25 minutes over to a funicular. You get off on top and take another chairlift even higher up.

We spent some time up there enjoying the beautiful views. The way down we took a different route, we ended up in the town of St Moritz. We walked around some nice shops a nice little lake, we walked back till the hotel.
We met some yidden on our walk who were staying in different places, many rented apartments.

We got back to the hotel around 2pm it was raining. So we decided to get some rest. When we woke up it was sunny again. We got ready for Shabbos.

Pictures of the day

View of our window in the morning

 

Part of the store they have of kosher product

 

First chair lift up

 


 

 

The hiking trail

 

The funicular all the way up

 

 

Our hotel from up the hill

 

Some snow

 

 

Our way down

 

Town of St Moritz

 

 


Shabbos was late, around 9pm. But we davened about 7:30.

By 8:40 we were done davening and went to a nice ballroom to eat the seudah. Everyone got their own table with a name card and in the center was a huge table with all kinds of salads, fruits, nuts, drinks and some wine. They served a full meal it was good and the ambiance was very nice.

Shabbos morning, we davened at 9am. After davening theres a big Kiddush outside the shul in the lobby then there was a break till 1pm.

Most people take that time to go out for a walk. It was 70 degrees sunny. We walked around the lake for about 2 hours and then came back to the seudah.

The meal by day was a full 6 coarse meal. The food was good. Then we went for a long nap. When we woke up was still light outside so we went for a walk in a different direction for different views. Then was davening, shalesh seudahs and maariv. After havdala was almost 11pm so we spent some time in the hotel and called it a night.

Offline sam28

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #16 on: November 09, 2020, 05:41:27 PM »

Sunday our flight to London was at 3:30pm. The way to ZRH takes about 3 hours so we didn’t have much time to do anything.

We got up at 8, davened had a good breakfast and we were checked out by 9:45am. When we left we still wanted to check out the beautiful lake nearby. So we made a stop took pictures, took in the view once more and left to the airport.

Some picture of the day

 

 

 

 

The way to the airport was very enjoyable. The views of the mountains were gorgeous. Overall I would say Switzerland cannot be described in words. I’ve been there before and will be back IYH!

Some pictures of the way to the airport

 



 

 

My experience from this kosher program: The man in charge is MR Wagner from London. He is a very nice guy! I spoke to him a lot throughout the time I was there. He tries very hard for you to have a nice stay and good food. But for some reason I felt $870.00 a night for what you get is overpriced. It was a great experience since I was only there for the weekend.

Offline iluv2travel

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #17 on: November 10, 2020, 04:02:15 PM »
Great TR!!

Although I've already been to Switzerland a number of times both winter and summer, every time I see a TR it makes me dream of going all over again.  And at this point it's really a dream...  Have not traveled international in close to a year :(.

Offline sam28

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #18 on: November 10, 2020, 05:20:08 PM »
Great TR!!

Although I've already been to Switzerland a number of times both winter and summer, every time I see a TR it makes me dream of going all over again.  And at this point it's really a dream...  Have not traveled international in close to a year :(.

Thanks . i feel the same way .

Offline tavster

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Re: Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski weekend
« Reply #19 on: November 20, 2020, 08:37:58 AM »

My experience from this kosher program: The man in charge is MR Wagner from London. He is a very nice guy! I spoke to him a lot throughout the time I was there. He tries very hard for you to have a nice stay and good food. But for some reason I felt $870.00 a night for what you get is overpriced. It was a great experience since I was only there for the weekend.
I know Wagner quite well. He's from Switzerland but has been living in London for a few decades.

He is very busy, does a lot of weddings, fancy kidush catering, has his own boutique hotel in Hendon (The Pillar) and runs a few programs (Pessah, Summer)

He's now trying to tap the whole kosher Dubai / Bahrain opportunity.

My personal takeaway is that he has small group of very wealthy clients who basically follow him whenever he goes, so he can afford to charge whatever prices he wants.