Things To Do in Gstaad
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Gstaad Shopping
Stores along Gstaad's main shopping street, Hauptstrasse, seem more upscale, more lavish, and more aggressively tuned to the big-city affluence of Paris, London, and Munich than in virtually any other ski resort in Switzerland. Most of the shops that sell sporting goods in Gstaad inventory other sorts of casual and formal clothing as well, allowing buyers one-stop shopping for the layered look that keeps you warmer on the slopes. Two worthy outlets are Brand, Palace Strasse (tel. 033/744-17-75; www.brandsport.ch), and Vertex Sports, Viktoriastrasse 2 (tel. 033/744-15-47; www.vertex-sports.ch). If you want to check out the kinds of jewelry bought by the resort's most glamorous clients, consider a visit to Villiger, Promenade (tel. 033/744-11-22). Barring that, you can always visit any of the aggressively upscale, relentlessly chic luxury boutiques in the Palace Hotel.
Von Siebenthal, Promenade (tel. 033/744-12-81), is a three-story housewares emporium filled with high-performance Swiss-made gadgets, ranging from wooden molds for making anise cookies to fondue sets.
The best bookstore for reading on a cold alpine night is Media Treff Gstaad, Lauenenstrasse (tel. 033/744-39-90; www.mediatreff.ch).
Gstaad Nightlife
Much more than its competitors, Gstaad has been accused of attracting rich folks who care more about the resort's social scene than they do about skiing. As such, the resort supports a healthy roster of nightspots that range from boozy to glamorous. In midwinter, your options include alpine coziness in at least two mountain huts accessible only by cable car, the Berghaus Eggli, on the Eggli ski slopes (tel. 033/748-96-12), and the Berghaus Wispile, on the Wispile ski slopes (tel. 033/748-96-32). Access to either requires an 8-minute ascent on the Eggli (south of the center) and Wispile (north of the center) cable cars (Gondelbahns). Both are infused with the odors of simmering raclette and fondues, are open only during the height of the winter season, and encourage guests to ski home after a night of alpine Gemütlichkeit (a Swiss term for cozy, good times shared with sympathetic souls). Don't even think of riding the cable car uphill for a meal or drink at either of these places after dark without a reservation, as their scheduling and priorities are as haphazard as anything at the resort.
More conventional evening diversions include the Palace Hotel (tel. 033/748-50-00), which contains a supremely upscale bar adjacent to the pine-sheathed lobby where the comings and goings could fill any Robin Leach production. The hotel also contains the most exclusive -- and occasionally stuffy -- disco in Gstaad, the Green Go Disco, where pinpricks of light illuminate a mysterious semipsychedelic decor of orange, green, and black. The disco is open in winter daily from 11pm; in summer, it's open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 11pm. Closing times vary, depending on how late patrons want to party.
In the heart of Gstaad, there's a bar, the Hostellerie Chesery, Lauenenstrasse (tel. 033/744-24-51), that hosts both piano music and dance music (later in the evening). Its main focus, its restaurant, is separately recommended above. An appealingly battered hangout reminiscent of England is Richi's Pub, Hauptstrasse (tel. 033/744-57-87). Nobody dances here, but the place is a town favorite. A few steps away is a worthy and much more elegant competitor, the Rialto Bar, in the Ristorante Rialto, Promenade (tel. 033/744-34-74). There is a large terrace in the summer, and in the winter there's sometimes live music in the restaurant.
