Grand Hotel Zermatterhof

The Grand Hotel Zermatterhof sits behind a distinctive low stone wall topped with heavy iron railings. Opened in eighteen seventy-nine, the hotel served the wealthy climbers and adventurers who flocked to the base of the Matterhorn before the railway even reached the village. The local burghers built it specifically to keep the profits of this new tourism within Zermatt itself. Ever since, the hotel has remained in the hands of the local community, resisting the reach of international hotel chains for nearly a century and a half.