Schloss Blankenburg

It’s a good sign when the Bernese giants start waving through the car window before you’ve even arrived. We turn off towards Zweisimmen, a name that hadn’t made it onto our map until now. Anne-Sophie and Lukas are to blame for that, in the best possible way. They wanted to show us their new life’s project: Schloss Blankenburg, in their hands, about to open as a Bed & Breakfast for the first time.

The halls are as grand as they’ve always been, now working as a backdrop for vintage furniture, stacked books and blankets you love cuddling under – all of it finally livable now that the hot water pipes have been installed.

The side table is purple, so is the lavender outside. Music drifts through the corridors, and we step into an entirely different way of living. Lucky, we think – for the house, for the guests, and for the two hosts who picked quite a place to build a life around.

They bring more than colour with them. Lukas spent five years at the Gstaad Palace before this. Anne-Sophie clearly knows her craft too. But – and this is the good part of any beginning – they’re not rushing to fill in the blanks. They watch first what future guests will want to do here, wish for, and take home with them. The concept stays open, on purpose. What we notice straight away is the vibe – loose, unpolished in the right way, a fresh note in an old setting.

We find Anne-Sophie at the open kitchen window, dressed in bright blue, making salad, and manage to distract her for a while. Sun’s out, garden and castle grounds both green around us. A good place to be. A beer arrives and then company – the other “first guests” sit down next to us with an appetite for dinner and a few good stories.

On the menu that night: bowls to share. Risotto with mushrooms Anne-Sophie foraged and picked herself, something sweet and delicious to finish. We suspect the tavolata becomes a fixture here, once or twice a week at least. Maybe brunches too, apéro, a Christmas market one day. Not the only reason to show up in this courtyard, but a very good one.

The next morning we get to eat inside – in the grand hall, where on some Saturdays wedding vows are still spoken in fifteen-minute intervals. The castle keeps its old job on the side.

Whereas Gstaad might be home to the jet set and old glitz, Schloss Blankenburg combines an easy-going attitude with life on the relaxed side: There is always music playing, a well-curated, interesting mix of songs and artists.