Schloss Ragaz(Hotel Schloss Ragaz)

ely picturesque castle on the slopes of a stunning mountain range. Huge grounds with an outdoor pool and lots of parking. The castle rooms were booked out so we stayed in the pavilion, which was great as we could park right in-front of our room and off load our bags. There were delicious wild blackberries there too. The room has a terrace and there are two rooms to a block. Comfortable bed and linen. Cute little chocolates and ear plugs next to the bed, which we didn’t need as it was so quiet. Breakfast is served in the castle. The eggs were really fresh, however breakfast could do with a bit more variety, more quality meats, cheeses and freshly cooked omelettes would be good. The bread was yummy. Reception and the lounge areas are stunning in the castle!

We arrived using our great value Eurailpasses at the Bad Ragaz railway station and caught an incredibly expensive taxi costing more than CHF20 for a two kilometre trip. The hotel is attractive in public spaces with beautiful rooms fit for a King. The exception is the decrepit swimming pool that looks sad. Why hasn't it been repaired? We were in room 5 on the castle's second floor. The room was large and had a portable suitcase shelf, three chairs, an ottoman, a good sized wardrobe and a chest of drawers. A table was at the end of the bed. The bed was two Queen single too firm mattresses pushed together. The doonas were too warm. As is often the case in Europe, no top sheet that would improve sleeping. Pillows were good. The bed creaked a lot. The Sony TV lacked any English speaking channels. The carpet was dated and needs replacement. Free aerated water was supplied but no tea and coffee. Nor was there a kettle. There were bedside tables and lamps. Heating only came online at 1700 hours. There was no aircon. The poky bathroom had a hairdryer and a glass cabinet. Hot water was fine. The hotel breakfast was OK but lacked pastries. The biggest letdown was a lack of available reasonably priced hot food at night. The hotel refuses to offer a la carte and forces guests to pay a huge CHF45 for what looked a poor set menu. We declined. We went to the Grand Hotel thermal spa but its cafe only had cold food and closes at 2000. There were a small number of overpriced restaurants open but incredibly the supermarkets close at 1900 hours. VIsiting Tarmina Therme for a discounted but still steep out by 1100 CHF28 swim jacuzzi abd sauna was good. Its restaurants are super expensive. The route 456 PostBus has an hourly service from the EBike station 450 metres from the hotel. Fare to the station is CHF3.20. The hotel only gave us an 1115 hours checkout not the requested 1200. Staff such as Mike, Marta and Orowen were fine.

Lovely grounds and cool atmosphere for a stay. While most guests do end up in one of the clusters of buildings surrounding the castle, we found our rooms to be spacious and comfortable (we were in the 30's block). The location is tucked away and relaxed, however only a short 5 min walk to the Tamina Spa and slightly over 10 mins into the little downtown area of Bad Ragaz. The included breakfast was nice and had plenty of options. The only "gotcha" here is that everything seems to shut down very early. We enjoyed the Tamina spa until about 7 PM and then started thinking about dinner. We popped into the on-site restaurant and learned that there was only a set menu (which didn't fit our style) for $45 CHF per person. Without much choice, that seemed a bit steep so we decided to head into town (it was a Tuesday). We were a little dismayed to find that nearly everything was shut down (grocery, convenience, restaurant and even bars!). A local to the area took mercy on us and helped us find the one restaurant that was still open (and it was cute, cozy, and delicious). When we got back to hotel, we thought that maybe we'd enjoy the bar on-site for a drink (as it was only about 9 PM), but it was empty as well. I'm not sure if this is common for the area (we traveled in Oct). Great for some R&R, but lacks many options for enjoying any type of nightlife.

There are no amenities or decent food services near or around this hotel. The only restaurant at the hotel has a price fixed menu of 45 CHF for three courses - which if they were decent is okay. But they are not - soggy salad bar, broth soup, stale bread and a piece of fish smaller than served on a McDonald’s fish filet sandwich and it tasted like that as well. Server in the restaurant glared at me and said something I believe was rude in German when I said I spoke English or Spanish - she called her friend over who was very nice. I finally got my order in but what an ordeal. As far as the”wellness” part it was not great and very over priced for what you get. This was part of a group vacation package with Exoticca (see separate review) and I would never stay here or travel with them since again either. The reason I gave it two stars is the room is basic and the bed comfortable but hot and stuffy. The staff other than the one wait person was helpful and kind. Terrible experience and I still went to bed hungry the portion was so small