Saas-Fee - Eat, drink, party
Restaurants in town
There is lots of choice when it comes to eateries in town. The majority of hotels have restaurants, many of which serve a mix of local specialities and other cuisine. Hotel La Gorge’s restaurant is one that serves excellent Swiss dishes, as does Le Vieux Chalet.
Hotel Ferienart (+41 27 958 19 00) has four restaurants, at varying cost, including a highly recommended pizzeria, the Del Ponte, our favourite in the village. There is a cheaper Italian option as well: the Spaghetteria below the Hotel Britannia.
Food at the Hotel Tenne is good, reasonably priced and popular with locals. They serve fantastic cheese fondue and raclette. Reservation is highly recommended, as even during low season every time we’ve stayed, the restaurant has been packed, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.
If you’re looking for something a little special, then a trip to the Michelin starred Fletschhorn Waldhotel (+41 27 957 21 31) is a real treat. The food is delicious and presented with intricate attention to detail. The restaurant is 10 minutes from the village by taxi.
Mountain restaurants
The newly refurbished revolving restaurant on the glacier is an ideal lunch stop. Now named Threes!xty (+41 (0)27 957 17 71) it’s the world’s highest revolving restaurant, and well worth a visit, simply for the breathtaking views. The restaurant is open all day for coffee and for lunch. The food is of good quality, but service can be on the slow side, so be prepared to wait. Beware not to leave your belongings on the ledge by the windows as that part remains static. A full revolution takes one hour.
If you’re looking for self-service, the Felskinn restaurant (+41 27 957 25 58) serves a lovely Rösti, but also good quality, cheap, fast food – mostly served with chips.
The Morenia restaurant is one of the best on-mountain eateries in the resort. Despite being self-service, the food is cooked whilst you wait, which is an infinitely better way of doing things and means no more soggy food. Here you can enjoy a range of cuisine from traditional Swiss, Italian and even Asian. There are often evening events at the Morenia and details of these can be found in the tourist office.
The best restaurant on the slopes is the Spielboden, which was recently bought and refurbished by the Fletschorn hotel (where the restaurant has a Michelin star). The quality of the food is brilliant and served with great attention to detail: but be prepared, it comes with a price tag.
Après-ski and nightlife
Saas Fee’s quiet exterior belies a happening party scene, spurred on by the number of snowboarders who are attracted to the resort for both the park and bars.
The outdoor bars at the base of the slopes are lively (by Swiss standard) and here you’ll find ample glühwein to go round, especially at the Blackbull and Mühle bars. There are plenty of bars on the high street that all serve a decently priced demi.
The Popcorn bar (located below the Hotel Dom, and a snowboard shop by day) is a lively late après ski hangout, particularly popular with snowboarders, before the clubs kick into action at around 10pm.
Most youngsters frequent in the Poison nightclub (which stays open until 5am), although there are other options, including Metro bar, which has good music as well as billiards and chalkboard walls. The Hotel Metropol’s Crazy Night bar has always been packed when we’ve visited. The Popcorn disco also continues into the early hours.