Audemars Piguet Opens Luxurious Hotel in Switzerland’s Historic Watchmaking Center

Overview of Hôtel des Horlogers

In 10,000 years, it’s likely that there will be no trace of Hôtel des Horlogers. And if that’s the case, things will have gone exactly as planned.

The 50-room hotel, which opened in May 2022 about an hour’s drive north of Geneva, was designed to one day decompose back into the landscape. Everything inside the terraced building is natural or biodegradable: wood from the surrounding fir forests, local stone walls, cotton Literie Bonnet bed linens, and even the carpet glue and writing instruments. Guests are encouraged to take the pencils home and plant them, as there are thyme seeds inside a specially designed capsule at the tip.

Design Inspiration and Sustainability

This attention to detail should come as no surprise. Hôtel des Horlogers (literally “the watchmakers’ hotel”) is the first hospitality project from luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet, founded in 1875 near the site of the hotel. The property is located in the Vallée de Joux, a historic center of Switzerland’s watchmaking industry. However, this project is decidedly mindful of the future. On a tour ahead of the opening, general manager André Cheminade stated that a stay at the property has “a smaller environmental footprint than if you were to pitch a tent in the valley.”

The renowned Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) undertook the challenge of qualifying for Switzerland’s Minergie-ECO certification—a strict set of environmental sustainability rules—in executing its design. The décor reflects the earthy ambiance of the surrounding Risoud forest, with guests entering the lobby under a sculpture of dangling tree roots and approaching the front desk, which is shaped like an unfurled ammonite fossil embellished with large mushrooms.

Luxury Experience at the Hotel

What you won’t find at Hôtel des Horlogers is the obvious: there are no oversize wall clocks in sight, and watches can only be spotted in books from the library and on fellow guests’ wrists. However, horolophiles won’t be disappointed, especially after they follow the short path to the spiraling Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet next door. This museum, also designed by BIG, features more than 300 watches on display and offers a five-hour watchmaking master class for true aficionados. For food enthusiasts, menus from French chef Emmanuel Renaut (of Megève’s Michelin three-starred Flocons de Sel) promise extraordinary culinary experiences.

Cultural Exploration and Culinary Delights

Moreover, the simple pleasures of village life make this Swiss sanctuary worth visiting—after all, true luxury lies in the leisurely passage of time.

A version of this story first appeared in the October 2022 issue of iBestTravel under the headline “A Place Out of Time.”