The Grand Resort Bad Ragaz is a historic wellness hotel with its own thermal spring and medical centre located in Bad Ragaz in Eastern Switzerland. It is a luxury hotel today and belongs to The Leading Hotels of the World alliance.
Resort
The resort consists of the Grand Hotel Hof Ragaz and the Grand Hotel Quellenhof & Spa Suites. Since the concession of Bernhard Simon and the construction of the Grand Hotel Quellenhof in 1868, the five-star resort has been the largest employer in the region and the owner of the land around the Wartenstein castle ruins.
The resort has seven restaurants with a total of 4 Michelin stars, (the “IGNIV” and “Memories” each have two) and 49 Gault Millau points (“Memories” with 18, “IGNIV” with 17, and “Gladys” with 14), a bistro, two golf courses, the Kursaal Business & Event Centre, a hotel-owned and a public thermal bath, a spa and a casino. The Hotel Schloss Wartenstein has also been part of the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz since 2016.
The owner is the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz AG, 84% of which is owned by Thomas Schmidheiny.
History
In 1242, hunters from the Pfäfers Abbey discovered a 36.5 °C warm spring in the Tamina Gorge. The monks of the nearby Benedictine monastery recognized a healing effect in its water, according to tradition.
The history of Bad Ragaz as a bathing and health resort begins after the Pfäfers Abbey was abolished (1838) with the construction of the road through the Taminatobel to Bad Pfäfers (1839), the outflow of the warm thermal water to Bad Ragaz (1840) and the construction of the first Health resorts (Hotel "Hof Ragaz") in the premises of the former Pfäfers governorate. This development was assisted by the connection to the St. Gallen-Chur railway line (1858). The year 1868 marked a decisive turning point when the Glarner architect Bernhard Simon acquired the former Pfäfers monastery domain in Bad Ragaz from the canton, founded the Ragaz-Pfäfers spa and built new spa facilities (including the Grand Hotel "Quellenhof"). The increased use of thermal water turned the former farming village of Ragaz into a global health resort. The Badehaus Hof was continuously expanded. The infrastructure in the village was adapted to the needs of spa and bathing guests. Hotels and guest houses for the middle class, restaurants, shops and businesses emerged. Numerous Russian nobles came to the spa for several months at a time. Bad Ragaz therefore became an international health resort to have a world-wide reputation with its first heyday being before the First World War (1913: 106,000 overnight stays, 1914: 68,000). The economic slump that followed the world war lasted until the 1950s.
In 2007, as part of major renovations, the Hotel Hof Ragaz was converted from a four-star to a five-star hotel, the Tamina thermal bath and the high-rise suites were rebuilt.
In 2019, the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz was extensively renovated for a total of CHF 45 million.
Locations
Grand Hotel Quellenhof & Spa Suites
Bernhard Simon was granted the concession to operate a hotel in 1868. It was opened on 10 July 1869. It is part of The Leading Hotels of the World. It has 98 suites.
Grand Hotel Hof Ragaz
The Grand Hotel Hof Ragaz is a five-star hotel in Bad Ragaz. It is part of The Leading Hotels of the World.
Hotel Schloss Wartenstein
The Hotel-Restaurant Schloss Wartenstein in Pfäfers is located 250 m above Bad Ragaz at the entrance to the Tamina Valley on a rocky outcrop and has been part of the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz since February 2016. There are a total of 10 rooms and 222 seats in the restaurant.
Tamina Thermal bath
In 1872, the Tamina thermal bath was the first indoor thermal water pool in Europe. The thermal bath is fed with the 36.5 °C thermal water from the nearby Tamina Gorge and consists of the historic Helena pool, a sports pool, a garden pool, a family spa and a sauna area. The water was used in Bad Pfäfers from 1350 to 1969, in the Valens healing clinic and in the thermal baths of Bad Ragaz. The water is used to treat circulatory diseases, rheumatism, symptoms of paralysis and the results from accidents.