There's a Chic, All-inclusive Resort Hiding in a Charming Swiss Alps Town—With Mountain Views and a Heated Pool

Travel + Leisure

2 days ago

The residential-inspired interiors add an effortlessly cool vibe and make The Brecon feel like a home away from home.
The team at The Brecon can arrange transportation to pick up guests from Frutigen train station, the nearest one to the hotel, which is just 25 minutes away.
The hotel's spa features a steam room, sauna, and ice bath, all neatly tucked away for maximum relaxation.
The outdoor pool is kept year-round to 93°F and offers panoramic views of the Adelboden Massif.
I arrived in the Swiss village of Adelboden during a particularly good weather spell. The sun was shining on its traditional Alpine chalets, with their red geranium-filled window boxes in full bloom.
It was here, in the Bernese Oberland region, that the British originally helped popularize skiing as a leisure activity in the late 19th century. And Adelboden is just one of three communities that have been hosting World Cup ski races every year since 1967. Winter activities aside, though, warmer months bring postcard-perfect scenery around the village: wildflowers, winding roads, the faint sound of cowbells, and timber chalets punctuating the lush green mountainsides.
So it's easy to see why this historic Alpine village is a treasured spot for Grant Maunder and his brother Craig, who hail from Wales and now own The Brecon Hotel in Adelboden—their family has been visiting for over 40 years. In 2009, the brothers, having once admired the exterior of an old Belle Epoque hotel at the end of the village, bought it and transformed it into The Cambrian, a family-friendly hotel with 72 rooms and a large, decked terrace. Then, last year, they opened the adults-only The Brecon, just a short ten-minute walk up the street from The Cambrian.
The hotel's elegant entrance—a locally made revolving timber door—provides a hint of the experience, as discretion and luxury craftsmanship abound here. The welcome desk is directly in front of an open kitchen, with the breakfast room to the left and a beautiful living room to the right. The wall of windows that runs the length of the front of the building is a reminder that the views here are always the main attraction. A guest common area at The Brecon.
Michael Sinclair/The Brecon
Maunder tasked hip Amsterdam-based studio Nicemakers with the design. He wanted the hotel to evoke cool, mid-century clubhouses: laidback, stylish, and a world away from the grandeur of traditional Swiss five-star luxury.
And Nicemakers nailed it: the hotel is warm and inviting, relaxing, comfortable, and effortlessly cool. Often, I prefer the privacy of downtime in my own room when I travel, but I found it easy to spend time with my travel companions lounging on the plush sofas beneath the coffered timber ceilings of the common lounge area with soft, shaggy rugs underfoot. I quickly found my favourite spot too—a little hidden nook with a leather banquette handily adjacent to the small bar. It was the best place to enjoy the great selection of culture-focused books and magazines artfully placed around vintage coffee tables, the waft of scented candles to boot.
The artwork throughout, curated by Amsterdam's Bisou Gallery, was a visual feast, while the crazy-paved natural slate floor, which covers the ground floor common spaces and outdoor pool area, was laid by an artisan Maunder brought over from his native Wales. And his artist wife, Andrea Anderson, crafted in her studio each of the 950 ceramic plates, bowls, and cups used in the hotel.
The Brecon is a hideaway for those seeking a more discreet version of luxury. It feels like the antidote to the glitz and high-octane glamour of the star-studded resorts of St. Moritz and Gstaad.
Keep reading for a full review of The Brecon in the Swiss Alpine village of Adelboden.
The first thing I noticed was that all 18 guest rooms and four suites at the hotel are pleasingly television-free. The rooms vary in size, ranging from just under 200 square feet for the Village Cosy to 775 square feet for the gorgeous two-story Mountain Loft with a bedroom and a living room on the lower level and another bedroom in the eaves on the upper level.
I slept very well in my Mountain Cosy room, which, although one of the smallest, felt spacious and had a sumptuous bed and Melin Tregwynt wool blankets, custom-woven for the hotel. The decor is subtle: warm tones on the walls, rich textiles as drapes and rugs to absorb sound, and tiled bathrooms, stocked with a generous selection of Aesop products.
Accommodations at the front of the hotel have balconies, too; mine was a corner wrap-around room so I could admire both the bubbling, heated pool below and panoramic views of the Engstligen waterfalls ahead in the distance. I spent golden hour with a cup of tea and a book, sitting out and staring at the mountains—the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau are all in the area. From left: Dinner at The Brecon; the chef at work in the hotel's kitchen.
Michael Sinclair/The Brecon
The hotel's all-inclusive policy really reinforces the feeling of staying with generous friends. My travel companions and I gathered around the living room sofas before dinner and enjoyed the self-service bar for drinks. If doing it yourself isn't your jam, then a server will happily prepare excellent cocktails or pour you a glass of wine.
The award-winning Welsh chef Bryn Williams, who leads the kitchen at The Cambrian, created the culinary homestyle concept at The Brecon, too. There's an open kitchen focused on seasonal, locally sourced produce, but it steers clear of the traditional Alpine fare. For breakfast, there are locally cured meats, fresh fruit, pancakes, eggs, and muesli to set you up for a day of walks and exploring. Afternoon tea, served daily, offers freshly prepared baked treats and little sandwiches after a day out. For evening meals, all guests are encouraged to congregate for a 7 p.m. sitting to enjoy the chef's four-course menu (with vegetarian options) with wine pairings.
Maunder explained that guests are asked to leave their phones and laptops behind, which, he hopes, would lead to more in-person interaction. The Brecon's pool has views of the Adelboden Massif.
Michael Sinclair/The Brecon
Winter offers an excellent variety of skiing, snowboarding, and other snow-inspired activities. Summer is prime time for hiking and biking. I'm not sporty, but I managed (and loved) the short trek to the beautiful Engstligen waterfalls, followed by a rustic mountain-top lunch of local cheeses and charcuterie.
While the hotel's pool is more in the dipping range, each morning I swam at Adelboden's open-air 164-foot pool, just a five-minute walk from The Brecon.
Our group also made it to Lake Oeschinen, which is about a 30-minute drive from Adelboden and part of the UNESCO World Heritage site Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch. With its perfectly turquoise waters, it resembles a movie set, complete with the gentle jangle of cow bells. There's a charming café for lunch and a cute ice cream parlour, too. We enjoyed a picnic, arranged by The Brecon, before going for a dip in the lake's cold waters. If you're looking for further outdoor thrills, the hotel can help organize paragliding and bungee jumping adventures in the area. From left: The Brecon's heated pool is kept at 34°C; the hotel's sauna.
Michael Sinclair/The Brecon
The hotel has a small spa with a steam room, sauna, ice bath, and a relaxation room with extraordinary views of the mountains. The outdoor pool is heated to a comforting 93°F year-round. One afternoon, I had an excellent 50-minute full-body massage that left me incredibly relaxed. I loved the sauna's one-way glass window, enabling guests inside to look out and see what was going on at the pool deck and the mountains beyond.
The Brecon has a second entrance to the left of the building, providing wheelchair access. There is one accessible room on the first floor, and the spa's treatment room, sauna, and steam room are all accessible from the elevator.
The hotel is part of Adelboden's communal green energy and heating system that supplies power to the village. The providing company guarantees that electricity purchased from the two local hydropower plants is entirely from renewable and ecologically produced sources. The hotel is also part of the village's biomass heating system, burning woodchips to heat most buildings. The wooden exterior of The Brecon in Adelboden, Switzerland.
Michael Sinclair/The Brecon
The Brecon is 42 miles away from Bern, and approximately two hours from both Zurich and Geneva.
Swiss roads are excellent, and so are the trains. Buying the Swiss train pass is often a better way to travel, and some options include a selection of ski lifts and boat rides.
For this trip, my party flew to Zurich, took a two-hour train ride from inside the airport to the small town of Frutigen, the closest train station to Adelboden. There, we were collected in the hotel's Land Rover Defender, and whizzed straight to The Brecon, 25 minutes away.
The Brecon is not part of any hotel or credit card loyalty program. Nightly, all-inclusive rates at The Brecon start from $880. All guests must be 18 or older to stay.
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