Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa

The Victoria-Jungfrau has dominated Interlaken's Höheweg since the nineteenth century, when British travellers effectively created Alpine tourism in this valley. It faces the Höhematte meadow, which has been kept free of building, so the hotel looks out across open grass to the Jungfrau massif with nothing in the way, a view that is the entire reason the town exists.

The building is an amalgamation of two Victorian hotels and carries the scale that implies, with a long run of room and suite categories from superior doubles through duplex and tower suites. Interiors are classical and comfortable rather than fashion-led, and the public rooms retain their period proportions.

Spa Nescens runs to 5,500 square metres, among the largest hotel spas in Switzerland, with saunas, steam rooms, relaxation areas, a gym and a full treatment and beauty operation, and the hotel runs structured wellness programmes through it. There are five places to eat, including a fine-dining room and a good brasserie terrace. Interlaken sits between two lakes and at the foot of the Jungfrau railway, so it works equally as a walking base in summer and a jumping-off point for Grindelwald and Wengen skiing in winter. The hotel is open year-round.