THE FACTS ABOUT APPARTHOTEL ZURBRIGGEN

Switzerland

Standing on a hillside at the southern end of Zermatt, near the Klein Matterhorn lift-base, the Apparthotel Zurbriggen seems to have been conjured out of nothing more substantial than larch trees and sunlight. Designed by Heinz Julen for his sister and her husband (the former downhill ski champion Pirmin Zurbriggen), it is a more restful building than his View House, sleeker and less idiosyncratic. Aside from the ground-floor extension housing the solarium, sauna, outside shower (known as the ice grotto), aromatherapy 'dream shower' and glass-sided pool, it has few of Julen's hi-tech touches, the main structure's façades being timber-clad or - on the south-west side, facing the Matterhorn - almost wholly glazed. All the apartments, named after pistes on which Zurbriggen won a race, have balconies with superb views. In the Stelvio, guests can see the Matterhorn (on a clear day) without lifting their head from the pillow. The Cry d'Er has its own private garden. The six apartments range from the 57 square-metre, one-bedroom Stelvio and Lauberhorn up to the three-bedroom, three-bathroom Olympia Suite. Each has a fully equipped kitchen (breakfast, served in the apartment, is the only meal provided) and a living room with a sofa-bed. Beautifully fitted, the rooms are primarily of wood and glass, with light seeming to flood into the Apparthotel throughout the day, reaching right down into the swimming pool via a pyramid-shaped skylight. The public rooms are spacious and include a play area for children. There are peculiar Heinz Julen seats resembling kinky, black-leather electric chairs (without the power supply) and typical Julen chandeliers, albeit with pearl strings and boas inserted among his usual plumbing bric-a-brac. In the centre of the lounge is a stove - made of glass, of course CONTACT Apparthotel Zurbriggen (00 41 27 966 38 38; fax: 966 38 39; www.zurbriggen.ch). Stelvio/Lauberhorn from SFr340 (about £155); Olympia Suite from about £365 per night, including breakfast and taxi transfer to and from Zermatt railway station THE SKIING Zermatt stretches along a valley with ski-lifts at either end, so everybody has to travel some distance to at least one of the lifts. (The village is car-free; buses are regular.) View House is close to lifts that access the most skiing: they climb to the 3,885-metre Klein Matterhorn and the Testa Grigia on the Italian border, from where the slopes of Cervinia are accessible. Here, the pistes are mainly intermediate, but experts and novices are served, too; and everyone gets dramatic views of the Matterhorn. Zermatt's 394km of ski runs is one plus point, the scenery another; but it is not cheap and the slopes can get crowded.