5 outstanding Swiss spa hotels

When it comes to wellness retreats, Switzerland is head and shoulders above the rest. Swiss spas have long been cast as the ultimate luxury enclave – serving as the setting for James Bond’s recuperation in Casino Royale and Paolo Sorrentino’s powerful 2015 comedy-drama, Youth. Offering everything from yoga and nutrition programmes to medical therapies and sleep clinics, it’s hardly surprising they’re the holy grail of wellness.

Whether you want to soak in a jacuzzi surrounded by snow-dusted Alpine peaks or relax after a sauna in the gardens of a grand hotel on the banks of Lake Geneva, these five spa hotels each offer an unforgettable pampering experience.

Waldhaus Flims Alpine Grand Hotel & Spa

This historic wellness retreat recently reopened after a hefty CHF40 million renovation (£33 million), including a superb indoor swimming pool enclosed in a glass box and a natural pool shrouded in greenery (in winter, an ice hole is cut for those who are brave enough to take a dip after a sauna session). The cutting-edge, angular interior of the spa is defined by natural hues, with stone walls, sand-coloured floors and smooth slate slabs as seats. Explore its 2,800 square metres at your leisure, trying out the numerous saunas and steam rooms, the hammam, the gym and the long list of luxurious treatments. The hotel also starred in Youth in 2015 – Paolo Sorrentino’s atmospheric and powerful comedy-drama featuring Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel as two friends trying to fend off old age in the confines of a luxury Swiss spa – making it even more of a sought-after Alpine holiday spot. Visit during winter and you’ll be able to ski straight back to the hotel from the slopes. While in summer, you can set off on an afternoon stroll through colossal pine trees and mountain meadows.

The Dolder Grand, Zürich

Since it opened in 1899, the Dolder Grand has attracted the likes of Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Elizabeth Taylor and Luciano Pavarotti. And yet, this is one revered hotel that isn’t resting on its laurels, recently adding two contemporary wings designed by architect, Lord Norman Foster, and consistently featuring innovative treatments on the menu of its 4,000-square-foot spa. The aesthetic and approach is somewhere between Japanese and European, with seaweed baths and a sunaburo (a heated pebble bed) alongside steam baths and indulgent facials. It’s a turreted hotel built on a forested hilltop overlooking Zürich, and the view of the city, the lake and mountains from the outdoor, infinity jacuzzi pool is sublime.

La Réserve Genève Hotel & Spa

On the banks of Lake Geneva, the low-rise complex of La Réserve Genève Hotel & Spa covers ten acres and feels infinitely spacious, its groomed gardens reaching right up to the water’s edge. With crisp Alpine air and a backdrop of serrated mountain peaks, the geometric-shaped outdoor swimming pool is framed by pine trees, lanterns and an alfresco restaurant. Inside, the space feels reminiscent of an African game reserve – a surprising theme for a Swiss spa but one that works, nonetheless – with earthy tones of aubergine and ochre, exotic bird light fittings and elephant sculptures. Alongside plenty of luxurious pampering, the spa specialises in anti-aging treatments, featuring products and techniques from pioneering brand, Nescens, such as facial tissue regeneration and lipomassage.

Grand Resort Bad Ragaz

Amid an Alpine forest-cloaked valley in eastern Switzerland, Grand Resort Bad Ragaz has been attracting visitors keen to reap the healing benefits of its thermal waters since it opened in 1840. Bubbling out of the mountainside through the eerie nearby Tamina Gorge, these natural hot springs are pumped into the Tamina Therme public baths – guests of the resort only need to follow private passageways in their robes and slippers to get to the baths – and even into the private tubs of the hotel’s spa suites. Inside the baths, futuristic architecture and endless white heightens the sense of serenity, with vast, oval windows and an abstract wooden structure rising out of the centre of the outdoor pool. The impressive range of treatments available extends from detoxing, indulgent facials and massages, to reflexology and sleep clinics; this is a spa that’ll totally reboot your system.

Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa

This whimsical, belle Époque resort is the sort of place you visit to really treat yourself – with crystal chandeliers, ubiquitous stucco and fine-dining in banquet halls decorated with palms, candelabras and marble columns, it guarantees escapism and extravagance. The hotel was originally two buildings, until the Victoria annexed the Hotel Jungfrau in 1899. And though it’s been updated regularly since, it maintains its old-world grandeur. But its 5,500 square-metre spa is the real attraction – natural light pouring through the vaulted ceiling and reflecting on the gold mosaiced, art deco indoor swimming pool. On-site specialists include nutritionists and physiotherapists who develop personal plans for guests that can include everything from personal training to cosmetic treatments. Spend time in the saunas and steam rooms, and cool off outside on the garden terrace looking straight up at the Jungfrau mountain, with hang gliders soaring around its summit.