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22-614: The Alpina Gstaad is a luxury 56-room hotel in the Oberbort area of Gstaad , Switzerland. It is owned by Jean Claude Mimran and Marcel Bach. It was opened in 2012 and was the first luxury hotel to be built in Gstaad for a century. The hotel was built on the site of the Grand Hotel Alpina, which was demolished on April 11, 1995. Opposition from local residents to the building of a new hotel took thirteen years to overcome, and

44-483: A short time, there were more than 1,000 hotel beds in the region. The residents, hoteliers, shopkeepers and tourist offices helped to promote Gstaad to international attention. They supported the construction of ice rinks, tennis courts, swimming pools, ski jumps, and ski and hiking areas. The first ski lifts at Funi opened in 1934-44 and were followed by a number of gondolas, ski, and chair lifts. The Gstaad Palace opened in 1913 as Gstaad's first luxury hotel. In 1942

66-427: A silkscreen, paint on canvas of Infanta Margarita from Velásquez's Las Meninas hangs near Restaurant Sommet. Nachson Mimran , the son of Jean Claude Mimran , the hotel's majority shareholder, has been the driving force behind the art collection. The Alpina's furniture is by B&B Italia , Lindley and Gervasoni , lighting by Pinto Paris and floor lamps by Lorenzo Tondelli . HBA designers have referenced many of

88-410: Is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf , and other decorative elements. Commonly, an object like a small box or an item of furniture is covered by cutouts from magazines or from purpose-manufactured papers. Each layer is sealed with varnishes (often multiple coats) until the "stuck on" appearance disappears and

110-463: Is thought to be East Siberian tomb art. Nomadic tribes used cut-out felts to decorate the tombs of their deceased. From Siberia, the practice came to China , and by the 12th century, cut out paper was being used to decorate lanterns, windows, boxes and other objects. In the 17th century, Italy , especially Venice , was at the forefront of trade with the Far East and it is generally thought that it

132-751: Is through these trade links that the cut out paper decorations made their way into Europe. Artisans in Florence , Italy, have produced decorative objects using decoupage techniques since the 18th century. They combined decoupage with other decorative techniques already popular in Florence, such as gilt with gold leaf and carved wood designs. These older techniques were already used to produce articles such as furniture, frames for paintings, and even tooled leather book covers . Known as Florentine style crafts, these items are now highly collectible antiques . Florentine artisans made use of decoupage by adding it to

154-844: The Cavendish family . Many British bands and musicians would play at L'Atelier, a club in Gstaad, in the 1960s and 1970s; one such band was Merlin 'Q' (later Edison Lighthouse ), who stayed a whole winter. Gstaad is known for its luxury hotels , among them the Grand Hotel Park, the Alpina Gstaad , the Gstaad Palace , the Grand Hotel Bellevue, the Hotel Olden, and the Arc En Ciel. In July 2019,

176-534: The Savoyard county of Gruyère. The town core developed at the fork in the trails into the Valais and Vaud . It had an inn, a warehouse for storing trade goods and oxen to help pull wagons over the alpine passes by the 13th-14th centuries. The St. Nicholas chapel was built in the town in 1402, while the murals are from the second half of the 15th century. The town was dominated by cattle farming and agriculture until

198-517: The Arc En Ciel came under fire for discrimination and later apologized after issuing a notice of rules directly addressed to its Indian guests. In Gstaad, the following regular events are held: Several boarding schools are located in or have a campus in Gstaad: Current and former residents of Gstaad include: Decoupage Decoupage or découpage ( / ˌ d eɪ k uː ˈ p ɑː ʒ / ; French: [dekupaʒ] )

220-634: The Saanen-Gstaad airfield was opened for military and civil aviation. Helicopter rides were added later and in 1980 balloon flights became available as well. During the World Wars and the Great Depression , the tourism industry suffered and many hotels closed. After World War II, many of the large hotels remained closed, but they were replaced with a number of smaller non-hotel accommodation (chalets, apartment houses, residences). Most of

242-463: The ceiling over the main staircase is a Late Baroque painting (circa 1780) measuring 28 feet by 17 feet. Antique wooden chests and hand-painted cupboards decorate several suites. 46°28′32.6″N 7°17′19.1″E  /  46.475722°N 7.288639°E  / 46.475722; 7.288639 Gstaad During the Middle Ages , it was part of the district of Saanen (Gessenay) belonging to

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264-520: The great fire of 1898. It was then rebuilt to support the growing tourism industry. The construction of the Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line in 1905 and the construction of ski runs (the Ski Club of Saanen open in 1905 followed in 1907 by the Ski Club of Gstaad). The first ski school in Gstaad opened in 1923. The Eagle Ski Club opened in 1957, and was funded by Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick . In

286-463: The hotel that "However good the Alpina and any other newcomers prove at being hotels, they are calculated real-estate plays, more about apartments and chalets for sale elsewhere on the grounds." The hotel cost $ 336 million to build, an average cost of $ 5 million per room. The building of the hotel was completed without any debt, having been funded by the construction of three chalets and 11 apartments on

308-586: The hotel was completed and opened in late 2012. It was the first new large hotel built in Gstaad for 100 years. Local planning regulations dictated the style of the hotel, which had to be similar to the local three-storey 'Simmentaler' architectural style. The co-owner and developer Marcel Bach sent Cristal champagne to the residents who had complained about the hotel once it had been completed. Phoebe Eaton, in an article on Gstaad in T: The New York Times Style Magazine , wrote of

330-491: The image more depth. Pyramid decoupage (also called pyramage) is a process similar to 3D decoupage. In pyramid decoupage, a series of identical images are cut into progressively smaller, identical shapes which are layered and fixed with adhesive foam spacers to create a 3D " pyramid " effect. A person who does decoupage is known as a decoupeur, or "cutter". The word decoupage comes from Middle French decouper , meaning to cut out or cut from something. The origin of decoupage

352-536: The local customs and crafts from hand-painted wooden doors for the ballrooms to intricate embroidery on the armchairs. Quartz, mined from Alpine crevasses, has been transformed into bases for lamps, decanters and beer taps. The region's traditional scissor or decoupage art has been used as a design element. Glass pendant lights resemble classic Swiss cowbells. Rugs and throws are fashioned from Saanenland goat hair and columns are sheathed in saddle leather. Additionally, The Alpina Gstaad also has traditional art. Hanging from

374-689: The modern resorts and small hotels are built out of wood and retain traditional design elements. The Gstaad Polo Club was founded in 1992, and the Gstaad Yacht Club in 1998. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Gstaad has a humid continental climate , abbreviated Dfb on climate maps. Situated in the Berner Oberland , Gstaad is home to a large ski area in the Alps (220 km (137 mi) of slopes). The middle of

396-539: The mountain air and ambiance attract guests year-round from around the world. Gstaad is also known for its ski and cross-country slopes and winter hiking trails. Gstaad, named "The Place" by Time magazine in the 1960s, is widely known for its famous part-time residents and vacationers. Famous regular visitors to Gstaad have included Madonna , Prince Charles and Princess Diana , former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan , haute couture designer Valentino Garavani , writer William F. Buckley, Jr. , and various members of

418-469: The result looks like painting or inlay work. The traditional technique used 30 to 40 layers of varnish which were then sanded to a polished finish. Three dimensional decoupage (sometimes also referred to simply as decoupage) is the art of creating a three-dimensional (3D) image by cutting out elements of varying sizes from a series of identical images and layering them on top of each other, usually with adhesive foam spacers between each layer to give

440-1286: The site. Two of the chalets were sold to the Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev , at a price reported to be $ 130 million each. It was the first luxury hotel to open in Gstaad for 100 years. A third chalet was converted into apartments. Amenities include the Six Senses spa with an 85-ft-long pool, a Japanese restaurant and a private cinema. The Alpina Gstaad has an extensive private art collection including works by; Alex Israel , Alex Katz , Ann Carrington, Ashley Bickerton , Bosco Sodi , Carol Bove , Dan Colen , Dan McDermott, Erwan Soyer, Futura , General Idea , Henrik Olesen , Howard Schatz , Ingrid Dee Magidson , Jana Euler, John Armleder , Massimo Agostinelli , Matthew Lew, Michel Comte , Nathalie Decoster, Pamela Stretton , Patrick Bremer, Richard Aldrich , Rirkrit Tiravanija , Roy Nachum , Santiago Taccetti , Terence Koh , Tracey Emin and Bruce High Quality Foundation . The Alpina's permanent collections include Sixty-three works by 36 artists including Dan Colen , Tracey Emin , Jana Euler, Alex Israel , Terence Koh , Henrik Olesen , General Idea and The Bruce High Quality Foundation , among many others, line

462-519: The village features a picturesque promenade bounded by numerous shops, restaurants, art galleries, and hotels. Designer labels including Louis Vuitton , Hermès , Chopard , Brunello Cucinelli (company) , Prada , Moncler , Ralph Lauren , and Cartier all have stores in Gstaad, while many smaller boutiques stock labels such as Chloe , Dolce & Gabbana , Tod's , Burberry , Dior , Oscar de la Renta , and Marc Jacobs . Long known for its walking and hiking trails of varying degrees of difficulty,

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484-522: The walls of the public rooms and corridors throughout The Alpina Gstaad. Behind the reception desk – a large asymmetrical slab of polished wood hewn from a single fir tree – is a Bosco Soldi diptych of mixed media on cloth with colors and texture that recall rich fertile soil. Tracey Emin 's pink neon "And I Said I Love You" sign is over the DJ area in the Lounge. The Princess by The Bruce High Quality Foundation,

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