Luxury escorts in Zermatt

Zermatt is reached deliberately — the valley train from Visp, the electric taxi from the station — and that deliberateness sets the tone. The village is car-free, the Matterhorn closes every street's view, and the evening has a shape of its own: fondue is for the crowds, while the tables that matter are at the Mont Cervin, the Zermatterhof, and up the hill in Findeln, where the gourmet restaurants serve lunch on sun terraces at two thousand metres. Our companions here ski well enough to spend the day on the mountain and dress well enough for the evening after it.

Because everything in Zermatt is planned — the train, the room, the table — engagements are too. We arrange arrivals so the companion is settled before the guest steps off the Glacier Express, and week-long chalet engagements, with the days on snow and the evenings private, are the most requested form. The season runs long: high-altitude skiing holds into May, and the summer village, half-empty and mild, suits guests who prefer the mountain without the audience.