1. The Mont Cervin

The Mont Cervin Palace, Zermatt

The Mont Cervin, established in 1852, is one of Zermatt's two 5-star hotels.

It comprises 150 rooms and suites of varying grades, with even the standard rooms offering excellent beds, a state of the art entertainment system, high quality Boder toiletries, free wireless Internet and toilets that clean your bottom! The hotel has one restaurant on-site, the Grill Le Cervin, and more at remote locations, including the Michelin starred Resorante Capri (open only in the winter, and described by the Gault Millau guide as the best Italian restaurant in Switzerland).

Two aspects of the Mont Cervin deserve particular mention. First, the breakfast selection, offering everything from staples like Burcher muesli to fine patisserie and cheeses, omelettes made to order, and a large selection of teas. Secondly, the 1,800 square metre spa, with 25 metre pool, jacuzzis, large sunbathing garden, dry and wet saunas, ice fountains, relaxation beds and plunge pools.

£$€¥ Prices start at CHF400 for a double room and go up to CHF4500 per night for the Matterhorn Suite.

2. Coeur des Alpes

The Coeur des Alpes

The Coeur des Alpes is a boutique hotel with 6 rooms, 6 suites and a loft-style suite found close to the Klein Matterhorn lift station at the far end of Zermatt and owned and operated by the Family Leni & Thomas Muller-Julen. 

The hotel is carefully and stylishly decorated throughout, characterised by the striking central fireplace and glass-bottomed floor in the lobby (pictured), casual outdoor seating area and Jacuzzi, stainless-steel chandeliers and free-standing baths in many of the bedrooms. 

Timesonline voted the Coeur des Alpes’ rooms as amongst the 10 sexiest in the world in 2008.  The hotel’s spa offers a small circular pool, hamam, sauna, calidarium, fitness room and a full range of beauty treatments.  

The Coeur des Alpes does not have a restaurant, but it does provide high-quality continental breakfasts. 

£$€¥ Prices range from CHF170 (single room, low season) to CHF1600 (Sky apartment, high season). 

3. Zermatterhof

The Zermatterhoff, Zermatt

The Zermatterhof is Zermatt's second five-star hotel.

Opened in 1879 and centrally located, a few minutes uphill from the Mont Cervin Palace, the Zermatterhoff has 81 rooms decorated in a predominantly rustic style.

The Zermatterhof offers all the comforts of a top-rate hotel, including a range of rooms and suites (some with fireplaces and jacuzzi baths), wireless internet and cable tv, free soft drinks from the minibar, an excellent buffet breakfast and the spa Vita borni.

The hotel also has two restaurants, the more formal Restaurant Prato Borni (serving traditional cuisine and known for its Buffet Royal, served during the winter) and modern Restaurant Lusi (dishing up Mediterranean cuisine, on the terrace of in the hotel's gardens during good weather).

£$€¥ Published prices range from CHF450 per room during low season to CHF2650 for the top-level suite during high season.