Skiing is so rock ’n’ roll
Hendrix, Led Zep, Björk: don’t expect a typical Alpine experience at the Hard Rock Hotel in Davos, says Jonathan Prynn
IT’S hard to think of anything less rock ’n’ roll than the pin-striped plutocratic jamboree that takes over the Swiss ski resort of Davos each January. Which is why it was a surprise choice for the first Hard Rock Hotel in mainland Europe (the other two are in Ibiza and Tenerife), when it opened last December with 79 rooms and 31 apartments. Maybe because of this, the hotel shouts cool credentials before guests check in.
The first thing you see is a mural of the lyrics of Led Zeppelin’s Misty Mountain Hop — “over the hills where the spirits fly” — by the front door. There’s also a white angel dress once worn by Icelandic singer Björk. No surprise: rock memorabilia has been the hallmark of the Hard Rock brand since it launched in 1971.
Others, scattered around the hotel, include Will.i.am’s scarf, a turquoise silk shirt that Elvis Presley wore on stage, a Nicki Minaj jumpsuit and a Gibson Explorer guitar used by Metallica frontman James Hetfield. Guests who book the Rock Star suite get to see an embroidered vest worn by Jimi Hendrix on the wall. They were all plucked from the vast vault of objects at the company’s HQ in Florida, I am told by the hotel’s “vibe manager” (they all have one).
The musical theme continues in the rooms, each of which is supplied, on request, with a Fender guitar and amp as well as a record player and selection of “classic” LPs. For us it was old faithfuls such as AC/DC’s Back in Black, London Calling by The Clash and Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here.
Live bands play every Friday night, and there are concerts in the 19th-century chapel attached to the hotel, which also hosts music-themed movie nights (think Blues Brothers and Mamma Mia!).
The building started as a health sanatorium in the 1880s, and the hotel has returned to its wellness roots with a “music-centric” spa which involves treatments that take “guests on a rhythmic massage journey”, with bass vibrations and treble beats “sending pulses through the body and leaving guests feeling energised and invigorated”. All for a cool SwFr200 (£150) for 80 minutes.
Davos may be one of the most famous ski resorts but it’s not the prettiest. The town straggles for miles along the Landwasser Valley and is dominated by a vast conference centre and grand hotels. You feel it probably only comes fully alive in January when the World Economic Forum caravan lumbers into town. But the two-and-a-half hour transfer from Zurich airport is spectacular — at 1,560 metres, Davos is one of the highest towns in the Alps, and even in early April there were huge mounds of snow. We only had time to explore two of the resort’s five ski areas, Parsenn and Jakobshorn. For those spoiled by ski-in, ski-out convenience the uncomfortable trips on crowded buses (included in the pass) needed to reach the cable cars are a chore. But once up, all is forgiven with 330km of runs to play with.
The longest is the 12km non-stop monster from the top of the Weissfluhgipfel. It starts at 2,844 metres and ends in Kublis, 800 metres below in the valley near Klosters. Back at the hotel, it was time for a drink and dinner in the Sessions restaurant, with its ochre leatherette banquettes and orange scatter cushions, where a shortish menu offers a mix of American diner classics and local Swiss specials.
If you want the Alpine Edelweiss experience, the Hard Rock in Davos is not for you. But if your idea of après-ski includes strumming your own Fender and filling your room with the music of the rock gods, it’s a lot of fun.
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