Introduction

Verbier Village sits perched on the side of a mountain in Canton Wallis, at an altitude of 1500 metres. Along with Gstaad, St. Moritz, and Arosa it is one of Switzerland’s top ski resorts. We’ve just had an enormous pile of snow dumped all over Switzerland that approached from the Bretagne in the west of France and that caused havoc on the roads on the first day. But public transport recovered within 24 hours, and with that, large parts of the country took the opportunity to head for the mountains and the snow for the weekend.

Reception & The Lobby

The W is located within easy walking distance to the cable car station that links Verbier to the rail network that passes through the valley down below. As the hotel is built into the hill, reception is on the forth floor, even if it’s at street level.

The bar and restaurant are on the opposite side of the building that faces away from the street and offers some spectacular views of the mountains and the valley below.

The young man checking me has excellent manners. He’s efficient and polite. He informs me that I’ve been upgraded to a suite for the duration of my stay, which is nice. He shows me the way to the lift in the adjacent building. As we go, he gives me all the information about the spa access and gym facilities, both of which are complimentary with the upgraded room type.

The Suite

The suite is on the seventh floor, which means it’s in the attic of the building and has a slanted ceiling. There are only four rooms on this floor. The entrance to the room has a nook to hang jackets and coats on the left, and a bench to sit on the right, presumably this is where you sit while you put on or take off your skiing boots.

Straight ahead is the bathroom with a separate shower and toilet. The walk-in wardrobe leads off from the bathroom.

The shower is simply amazing. First, it passes the Knight of Malta’s flood test, meaning that the water stays firmly in the walk-in shower – without causing any flooding. Apart from that, though, the water pressure is also stupendously fabulous and the temperature regulation is spot on. It allows me to have a shower in that sweet spot, where the temperature is 0.5 degrees away from melting my epidermis. The amenities in the bathroom are by a brand I am not familiar with and appear to be produced under license to W Hotels. Whatever the brand is, the scent of the shampoo and shower gel is lovely.

Other amenities in the room include toothbrushes and toothpaste, earplugs, and of course slippers and bathrobes.

Behind the bathroom is the combined bedroom and living area. The latter has a comfortable sofa by the window, from where you can see out onto the balcony. There’s also a desk and a nicely stocked minibar next to it.

The minibar has an interesting collection of items. There’s a tea kettle and a Nespresso machine. There are also real Nespresso capsules, which is perhaps not so surprising, given that the Nespresso factory is located in Romont, not too far away from Verbier.

The bed is a large and very comfortable King. With the lights off, it’s quite nice to lie in bed and look out the balcony.

Clearly, the room‘s main feature is the balcony with its spectacular view of the village and the valley below. There’s a sofa and a bench to sit on outside, which is nice, even if it’s a bit cold.

Dining at Bô

Bô is the hotel’s main restaurant, which is also where breakfast is served. The menu at Bô has a good selection of dishes. The quality of the food is a bit varied, though.

To start, I have the deconstructed burrata and tomato. The tomato is actually more of a granita and it is served with a lovely basil sorbet. This dish is great. It’s simple but the ingredients work well together. The presentation is nice too.

For the main, I have the zander wrapped in truffles and Swiss Chard and served with a light dashi. While the idea of this dish is interesting, its execution is a bit of a let down. It’s not that it’s badly cooked. It’s just bland and a bit boring.

For the dessert, I have the variation of a tarte tatin. This is another great dish. It’s a small portion, but the taste is very grand.

The breakfast is quite stupendous, though. When I arrive just after 07h30 on Sunday morning, I have the entire place to myself. The variety of dishes for breakfast is quite impressive and includes a good selection of hot and cold dishes. In addition to the buffet, there is also a menu with further warm dishes to choose from.

Accessing Verbier

There is a narrow, winding road that leads all the way down the mountain to Le Châble. However, if, like me, you’re using public transport, the easiest thing is to first take a cable car from the centre of town down the mountain. The journey takes about 13 minutes and access to the cable cars is covered by the Swisspass ticket.

The cable car ends right next to the terminus station of the TMR railway at Le Châble, which is clearly visible from inside the cable car station.

From Le Châble there are regular trains by narrow gauge railway to Martigny, which is on the mainline of the Swiss Federal Railways that connects Brig in Canton Wallis with Lausanne on Lake Geneva.

At Montreux, the mainline reaches the lake and then runs along the shore pretty much all the way to Lausanne. In the distance you can see France on the other side of the lake.

Conclusion

I must say, I rather enjoyed this trip. Verbier is a nice village with some really excellent skiing infrastructure. Of course, I think was very lucky that it had only just recently snowed. Everything looks so much prettier in a healthy dusting of white.

I also think I was very lucky to have gotten an upgrade at the W. That view from the room was just lovely, as was the room itself. I would certainly like to visit Verbier again some time, and when I do, I think I would definitely consider staying at the W again.