Samnaun indulges all the senses: perfect slopes, pure perfume and 17 Gault-Millau points

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The road to heaven is a struggle. Tourists from the plains have to negotiate what feels like 1001 bends before they experience the exhilaration of Samnaun. Once you arrive, happiness is quickly within reach. The fast double-decker gondola takes us to Alptrider Sattel, 2,500 meters above sea level, in just six minutes.

After the first short descent, the Silvretta Ski Arena opens at the crown with up to 239 kilometers of excellent pistes. Because of the altitude, Miss Holle is particularly generous here. Snow mountains as far as the eye can see. Even in late April, white glory defies the climate crisis.

Snow master Hans “Johnson” Carnot, who has been working for more than 40 years, confirms this: “We do not notice global warming very much here.” The 60-year-old track manager works with two dozen employees nearly 24 hours a day during the season and also tends to some of the more than 1,000 snow machines.

The special snow quality also attracts superstar Marco Odermatt to Samnaun to test his skis with Stöckli next season. Connectivity to Ischgl’s extensive ski area is also first class. The Austrian border can be reached in just two cable car rides.

Samnaun offers unlimited pleasure to your palate. The five restaurants at Relais & Châteaux Chasa Montana are examples of this. Chef Bernd Fabian prepares multi-course menus using mainly local ingredients at the gourmet Stübli La Miranda and has been awarded 17 Gault-Millau points and a Michelin star.

The 46-year-old top chef from Dornbirn brings together all the specialties of the Engadine and neighboring Tyrol and South Tyrol. In the morning, guests can enjoy a three-country breakfast and, in the evening, a fine meal with a wide à la carte selection: eleven different dishes consisting of five starters, three main courses and two desserts.

If you don’t know much about haute cuisine, you’ll feel like you’re in safe hands at La Grotta. It sizzles and sizzles on your own table in the winter. Various types of meat and fondue at your discretion on a hot stone or raclette. But if you eat there, you’ll miss the view of deer and chamois at the foot of Piz Ots, the local mountain just behind the hotel.

In the basement, just around the corner, is the impressive wine cellar with approximately 1,500 wines from all over the world. “We have the widest variety of wines here in the Engadine,” says Daniel Eisner. The general manager is even more proud of the renovation of the entire 60-year-old building. Thanks to the 20 million franc investment of the Zegg family, Chasa Montana was transformed into a superior 5-star hotel.

Its promise: “First-class service, sophisticated cuisine and deep relaxation – combined with a feel-good family atmosphere.” This is also evident from the attentive and extremely friendly welcome in the lobby: chalet-style light pine wood dominates the predominantly white walls, the finish decorated with elegant gold elements.

Royal paint extends from modern rooms to the spa. In the new wellness world, you feel like you are in a Roman temple. A total of seven different saunas invite you to relax in an area of ​​1,500 m². It’s like traveling back in time to Caesar and Cleopatra. Only the view from the indoor pool beyond the seven pillars opens up views of the local mountains.

In the lower part of the village there is an old house that tells the history of Samnaun. Arno Jäger, the curator of the small museum, likes to describe the traditional great deprivations of the population since the first settlers made the valley habitable 1000 years ago.

Thanks to the lower climate, potatoes and barley also grow in the valley on the easternmost side of the Lower Engadine (1,800 meters above sea level). “But life was always hard here,” says Jäger. Due to the lack of young people at all times, people in Tyrol began to seek marriage between 200 and 400 years ago – this is also the origin of today’s dialect.

But Samnaun’s isolation gave the community a great advantage over the last century. Since the village was open to traffic only via Austria for a long time, it has been considered a duty-free zone since the Federal Council decision in 1892.

This privileged status was maintained with the opening of the Samnaunerstrasse from Martina to Samnaun on Swiss territory in 1912. Just like Zurich Airport, this is the only area in Switzerland where you can buy the most sought-after products at affordable prices.

This is already evident at the gas pump, where gasoline is up to 30 percent cheaper. Consumers also get value for money when purchasing alcohol, watches, perfumes, jewelry and tobacco. Samnaun marketing designed the so-called smuggler tour specifically for skiers from Austria. There is a customs counter on the slopes, but 300 euros of allowance can be taken to Ischgl without declaration.

One of the most popular products on Samnaun’s shopping street is, of course, perfume; However, there is not much difference between what duty-free shops offer. But: There’s a world behind a door, not even in the airport.

Zegg Haute Parfumerie Arcada offers exclusive fragrances that are hard to beat in terms of purity. «Compared to cheap perfumes, our essences contain almost no alcohol. The compositions consist largely of high-quality essential oils that penetrate under the skin,” says managing director Mathias Leipold. “A bottle here sometimes costs a few hundred francs, but often a single spray is enough for the whole day.”

Leipold has been running an empire of the world’s best perfumes for almost 15 years and has developed a real fan base with his personal recommendations. 80 percent of the guests are regular customers and come regularly from all over Switzerland “just for a refresher”.

The trained restaurateur came to Samnaun more by chance for his extraordinary business. He previously worked at the Chasa Montana restaurant, and when he asked the owner of the perfumery across the street about his scent, Leipold told Eliane Zegg, “You’re using Gucci Eau Parfum II.” Impressed by her beautiful nose, he offered her the job in his boutique.

Schnulz im Sulz is a popular way to celebrate the end of the winter season after après ski in many ski areas. They want to offer more than others at Samnaun off the track. Swiss rock band Gotthard was recently a guest at the international spring snow festival held in Alp Trida.

But even across the border, the “Top of the Mountain” concert festival in Idalp attracts music stars every April. Helene Fischer, Robbie Williams, Sido, Eros Ramazzotti – or No Angels. The German pop group celebrated their reunion here last year after a 20-year break.

“There are a few surprises waiting for us again this winter,” says Bernhard Aeschbacher, co-chairman of the Engadin Samnaun Val Müstair resort area. Berlin band The Boss Hoss have already confirmed their performance on April 21. And the popular Swiss duo Dabu Fantastic will attend the winter opening concert on November 25. The price is great too: concerts are free or included in the ski day ticket. Another good reason to take the winding road to heaven.

This article was created as part of a press tour.

Source : Blick