7132 Hotel, Vals, Switzerland

7132 Hotel in Vals, Switzerland, is the rare luxury spa hotel that seems to have been quarried from the mountain itself. Named after the postcode of the tiny Graubünden village it calls home, this five-star-superior retreat is built around one of the most celebrated buildings of the late twentieth century, Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals, and it has turned a remote valley of fewer than a thousand people into a place of pilgrimage for anyone who cares about architecture, stillness and the simple pleasure of warm water on a cold day.

Location: Vals, Switzerland

Vals lies at around 1,250 metres at the head of the Valsertal, a side valley that branches south from the Vorderrhein in the canton of Graubünden. The final approach climbs through a narrow gorge before the valley opens out into meadows, stone-roofed farmhouses and steep wooded slopes. It feels genuinely remote, yet it sits roughly two and a half hours by road or rail from Zurich, with the last leg by PostBus or car via Ilanz. For guests in a hurry, the hotel can arrange helicopter transfers and private limousine service.

The village is best known for three things: its mineral water, bottled here as Valser; its silvery-grey quartzite, quarried locally for centuries; and its hot springs, which have drawn visitors for more than a hundred years. All three come together at 7132.

Rooms and suites at 7132 Hotel

The main 7132 Hotel 5s is a discreet, light-filled building in which, the hotel says, every room faces the mountains. Interiors are calm and pared back, built from pale timber, natural stone and soft neutral textiles, so that the view through the window does the decorating. Categories rise from the Double Room through the Spa Deluxe to the Spa Suite, the latter with more space, larger windows and an unobstructed panorama of the Alps.

The showpieces are the penthouse suites at the top of the building, designed by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. Floor-to-ceiling glass and private terraces turn the surrounding peaks into a living artwork, while Kuma's characteristic warm woods and fine joinery give the spaces a cocooning, almost Japanese calm. Guests in the main hotel take breakfast separately at 7132 Silver, a quiet touch of exclusivity.

Architecture lovers should also know about the sister property, the 7132 House of Architects, where rooms are designed by four of the world's great architects: Peter Zumthor, Tadao Ando, Kengo Kuma and Thom Mayne of Morphosis. Ando's minimalist rooms nod to the Japanese teahouse, Kuma's are wrapped in curved panels of Swiss oak, and Mayne's are clad entirely in local timber or richly veined Vals quartzite. These rooms are smaller and priced differently, so check which property you are booking.

Facilities at 7132 Hotel

Everything here revolves around the Therme. Beyond it, the spa offers ESPA treatments, massages, manicures and pedicures, alongside a gym open around the clock.

Dining is unusually varied for a hotel of this size. 7132 Silver is the culinary flagship, a fine-dining room recognised by the Michelin Guide, with Cristal as its intimate chef's-table experience. 7132 Red serves timeless, relaxed bistro cooking, Blue Bar offers cocktails and live music, and DaPapà brings the simpler joy of homemade pizza from a stone oven. There is also a coffee shop for lighter moments between walks and soaks.

The mountain moment

The defining experience is Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals, completed in 1996 from some 60,000 slabs of local quartzite. Zumthor conceived it as a building that seems to grow out of the hillside, a sequence of dim, cave-like chambers, shafts of light and pools of different temperatures. Water rises from the St. Peter spring at a natural 30°C, rich in minerals. It was listed as a protected monument within a couple of years of opening and is widely regarded as Zumthor's masterpiece; he received the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honour, in 2009.

The moment to savour is the outdoor pool on a winter afternoon. Steam curls off the water, snow lies on the stone walls, and the valley slopes rise sharply above. Hotel guests have their own access to the baths, and the quiet hours, once day visitors have gone, are when the building is at its most magical: almost silent, lit by low sun or the first evening lamps.

Beyond the baths, Vals rewards slow exploration. In summer, hiking trails climb through flower meadows to alpine lakes and high pastures; in winter there is a small, uncrowded ski area, plus snowshoeing and winter walking. The village itself, with its stone roofs and old timber houses, is a quiet lesson in how traditional and contemporary architecture can sit side by side.

Why 7132 Hotel is one of the best mountain hotels

7132 earns its place because few hotels anywhere offer such a complete marriage of landscape, architecture and wellness. Many mountain hotels have a spa; only one has Zumthor's Therme. The rooms are thoughtful rather than showy, the dining punches well above its weight, and the remoteness that keeps Vals small also keeps it peaceful.

This is not a hotel for people who want a buzzing ski resort or nightlife. It is for those who want to slow down: to swim in warm mineral water as snow falls, walk in high meadows, eat well and sleep in a room designed by one of the world's great architects. It is a place to recover, to think, and to see the mountains with fresh eyes.

When to go to 7132 Hotel

7132 works in every season because the Therme does. Winter brings the most memorable soaks, with snow on the stone and steam over the outdoor pool, plus quiet skiing and snowshoeing. Late spring and summer swap that for flower meadows, alpine lakes and long hiking days, and autumn is the calmest time of all. Whatever the season, book the main hotel well ahead for weekends, and confirm which building your room is in.