Million Stars Hotel in St. Moritz

We spent this year's Swiss National Day (2020) in the beautiful Engadin valley at a Million Stars Hotel in St. Moritz. Who wants to book a 5-star hotel when you can have a million stars? True to the motto „St. Moritz – Top of the World,“ we traveled in the Tiny House gondola from LittleCity.ch stayed overnight, on Piz Nair. At 3057 m above sea level, we spent an unforgettable night under the stars. But even more than that, our stay was characterized by a wonderful view of the Engadin mountain world; we experienced a great rain shower and a short thunderstorm at night, and yet were able to enjoy the sunset at 4°C, snuggled in wool blankets and sheepskins, under a wonderful blue sky. The weather in the mountains is so unpredictable and varied that there's usually a bit of everything 🙂

Arrival

At a warm 28 degrees, we start in the Chur Rhine Valley and make our way to the Engadin. Our first stop is the Signalbahn in St. Moritz. There, we park our car and take a bus to St. Moritz village. The easiest way up to Piz Nair allows you to take a ride on the Chantarella funicular railway, the Corviglia railway, and then the gondola up to Piz Nair. From 1850 m you go up to 3050 m; within about 10 minutes (without waiting times), you'll cover about 1200 m. It's definitely worth it, especially since the cable car rides are included in the room price. When you see the huge ibex in front of you, you've reached your destination, the mountain station of Piz Nair. You'll feel it clearly too, as it's about 15 degrees here during the day, and at night even around freezing point, even in August... brrr.

Tiny House Gondola

And right here, where the ibex say goodnight, the Tiny House Gondola stands as part of the campaign Million Stars Hotel in Sankt Moritz. A retired gondola was lovingly converted into a super cozy tiny house within a year. In terms of amenities, we didn't miss a thing and were even surprised by everything that was thought of. From storage space in the floor (wardrobe) to a fully equipped kitchen, everything was considered. There's water for washing dishes, a small refrigerator, a coffee maker, and a cooking island! So you can even prepare your own meals here.
The bed is super comfortable and can actually be converted into a seating area. However, for simplicity, only the double bed is provided for the time on Piz Nair and cannot be converted back.
The smart home functionality has been implemented very coolly. Who Adi follows on Instagram, The person isn't really surprised by the technical gadgets, as the gondola greets you with a friendly „Door unlocked“ when you hold your wristband to the sensor. Inside, there's also the option to control everything with your voice using the Google Nest Hub. There are four different lighting options: a lamp above the bed, several spotlights in the ceiling, and two LED bars in the kitchen. The old control panels in the gondola are a great touch, giving the whole experience a certain sense of nostalgia.

Restaurant Piz Nair 10,000 feet

Despite all the functionality and possibilities, we'll leave the kitchen alone for this one night and order a delicious dinner at Mountain restaurant. Normally, this is possible until 4 PM. However, today is the national holiday, so the Koch family, who own the restaurant, will also be spending the evening on Piz Nair. So, we will be served a lavish dinner in the gondola later in the evening. Thanks at this point to Agnes, who always helped and took care of us with the utmost hospitality.

We were even able to marvel at a huge bonfire that the family on the other side of the mountain station lit.

The restaurant also has a restroom that is available to you or you all the time. It's about 50 meters from the gondola, so it's basically like a nice big suite 🙂 Just... more in nature.

How was the night in the tiny house gondola?

This is by far the most frequently asked question. And of course, it's also what we've been looking forward to the most. Since our kids were already asleep around 7 p.m., we treated ourselves to a delicious Bushmills Northern Irish Whiskey made ourselves comfortable on our terrace. The sky turned blue again after a heavy rain shower, so the evening was also fantastic for enjoying the sunset outdoors. The view of the Silvaplana Lake is breathtakingly beautiful, and so is the view of the surrounding mountains. Directly in front of your nose is Piz Julier, almost 3400 m.
Around 10 PM, there were many bonfires and, of course, fireworks to admire in the valley. The atmosphere up there at the time was truly wonderful. The sky had cleared by then, and we didn't even need a light outside as we were only a day away from the full moon. Practical!
But now for the night :) Most of it we spent with our eyes closed, of course, because it was incredibly cozy and warm in the gondola. The kids didn't even wake up at night, which is really an exception. The bed was big enough for the four of us, as it naturally spans the entire width of the gondola. The view of the starry sky was fantastic. Because it was only 1 degree Celsius outside by then, I didn't go out to take photos anymore. But if you enjoy photography, you will definitely get your money's worth here too.

Breakfast and checkout

We checked into the Million Stars Hotel in St. Moritz punctually at 12 PM and checked out around 10 AM the next morning. Those are also the possible earliest and latest times for an overnight stay. So we enjoyed it right up to the last minute 🙂

Agnes and her team served us a delicious breakfast, so we were energized to ride the cable car and funicular down two sections. We walked the last stretch, as there were still some great children's and flower trails there. We were then surprised by a heavy rain shower at the end and were simply given an umbrella by strangers. In the middle of the forest, LOL. Thanks to the unknown person! This at least allowed us to keep walking and it also shows how hospitable „people“ are in St. Moritz.

Conclusion

WOW! I've traveled a lot, experienced a lot, both alone and with family, but an overnight stay in a gondola is a truly special adventure. Since the Gondola was fully booked for 3 months within a few hours, I hope you're as persistent as I am. I booked four days in advance because this overnight stay was canceled. This happens every now and then, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you and wish you a lot of fun under a million stars =)