“For me, CERVO is everything. It’s a hotel. It’s a restaurant. It’s a place to be. It’s a meet and greet. It’s après ski. It’s a party place. It’s a very lifestyle hotel”. As a professional DJ, luxury brand ambassador and seasoned skier, Tanja La Croix is something of an expert when it comes to the where and what of the mountains. And if you can’t trust an expert, who can you trust?

Most may just know CERVO Mountain Resort as the après ski place to go, but Tanja knows it much more intimately than that. Having played and stayed there, she let Ski Luxe Magazine in on why it should be at the top of everyone’s list for next winter.

The CERVO Mountain Resort, as Tanja says, is just about everything. With 54 rooms spread across 7 lodges, boutique is balanced with buzzing. All the benefits of a hotel, from numerous restaurants to a spa and gym, are at your disposal.

But if couples yearn for a little privacy, sneaking off to your room is all too easy. And if friends and family wish to have the place to themselves, a whole lodge can be exclusively booked, just like a private chalet.

The luxury boutique concept was the Neverland of Daniel Lauber’s dreams. And along the way, he met his Wendy Darling – Seraina. The couple opened the enchanted Mountain Resort together in 2009. Tanja remarks that “when you go you can sense that the Lauber’s are very experienced and well-travelled”.

But even Tanja will meet some new faces upon return to CERVO this winter with two new Executive Managers – Estelle Flückiger and Benjamin Dietsche. And after months of renovation, it’s not just a few faces that’ll be new.

Anyone who knows Zermatt will know its long history of extravagance, its charming car-free village, and its exceptional all-year-round snow conditions. But with the village at 1,608m, Zermatt ski resort can’t offer its all-year-round skiing without a climb. A climb to nearly 4,000m, to be specific. For this reason, the Folie Doucers of France shouldn’t expect to find a solid selection of ski-in ski-out lodges to roll out of bleary-eyed in the morning and back into blurry-eyed after après.

CERVO Mountain Resort, however, as it gloats in its name, is uniquely located right at the bottom of the slopes. Sitting just on top of the Sunnega funicular. But still, if you prefer to spend over ski, shoppers can walk down to the hub of the village. On the edge of the forest and on the outskirts of the village, CERVO unifies nature and community.

The natural world oozes through the Mountain Resort; from the grand scale views of the Matterhorn, right down to its name ‘cervo’ meaning ‘deer’ in Italian and its renowned stag’s head emblem to go with it. And it doesn’t stop there. CERVO’s recent renovation has enforced a much deeper connection with nature.

A focus on eco-mindfulness has been impressively executed through features such as their geothermal pump. This generates a mighty 95% of their heat and hot water. Following in the footsteps of Leonardo Di Caprio and Stella McCartney, CERVO is proving that even luxury can be – and should be – enjoyed in a sustainable fashion.

Nevertheless, CERVO assures us that the values from its Christening are intact. Reaching the cusp of their teenage years, this renovation is more like a Confirmation than a Conversion. The design runs true to Daniel’s family hunting routes through the use of rough and earthy materials such as braided linen, Alpine timber, and regional granite. Like a snowy Garden of Eden, the white Mountain Resort seduces guests back to sustainable serenity – a sort of sanctuary.

Despite its authentically Swiss nature, Tanja acknowledges that CERVO can still feel like an “international lifestyle hotel”. And that’s not just because of the people who have travelled from all over the world to stay here. The size of CERVO, along with its luxury facilities, creates a harmony that serves a truly elevated experience.

At CERVO’s Mountain Ashram Spa, treatments, yoga classes and mediation sessions all seek to harmonise the inner self. Guests are even invited to forage through CERVO’s gardens. Unsurprisingly, to forage, not for forbidden fruit, but for local herbs that can then be used in their treatments.

You’ve finished skiing for the day and all that’s on your mind is relaxing in a snug spa dressing-robe. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of snow melting on your skin that’s warmed by the bubbling hot tub – a glass of bubbles in your hand. Or emerging from the steam room and into the fresh mountain air.

At CERVO, they go further than the generic gym by offering classes like Pilates and Personal Trainer sessions. Not to mention, the Resort honours its wider resort by housing a climbing wall. With the Matterhorn as its backdrop, the only way to feel closer to Zermatt’s historic explorer, Edward Whymper, would be to climb the mountain itself.

In further luxurious honour, CERVO has partnered with Breitling, the Swiss watch brand found on a pioneering spirit and the wish to provide chronographs for the adventurers of the world. The luxury brand’s Top Time Cervo Limited Edition consists of just 54 watches – a tribute to the Resort’s 54 rooms. Unfortunately, it’ll take more than just a visit to get your hands on one of these.

A visit to CERVO’s bars and restaurants, if nothing more, is a must for Tanja when she’s in Zermatt every year. Every meal is à la minute. Every baked good is homemade. And every day, even, the menu can change. The products are fresh and seasonal to prioritise both sustainability and ingredients’ taste. In season, even the most well-travelled guests are surprised by the rarities of Zermatt’s game hunted by the Resort. From deer to roe deer to chamois, the meat can be eaten as racks, legs or even sausages.

At CERVO’s Madre Nostra restaurant, the Italian cuisine invites local delicacies sourced from the surrounding farms and fishermen. Over at Ferdinand restaurant, alpine classics such as fondue and raclette are available to suffice that crucial meal of all ski holidays.

Tanja promises, “the Bazaar restaurant interior and atmosphere is amazing”. Orange hues in patterned rugs and mosaic designs. It’s a sort of Marrakesh meets the mountains. The vegetarian menu offers Eastern market dishes like labneh, but still, all the produce will be from the Valais.

A tour of the Valais was completed by Daniel and Seraina, back in 2009, to carefully craft the extensive wine list. Here, the oldest varieties of wine, like the Cornalin d’Aoste, are grown. And forget being limited to the standard 750ml bottles. They brought back plenty of Magnums to share. Beyond the Valais, about two-thirds of the Resort’s wine comes from all around Europe.

Inside, The Grapes and Juniper Bar has a calm and classy atmosphere with low-level lights, walls of stacked logs, and layers of high-end spirits. Specifically, forty different types of gin from around the world.

The iconic outdoor bar has become simply known as La Terrace. If upon arrival, the beer blankets are yet to kick in, then the fur blankets will keep guests warm. And the CERVO drinks specials too.

There’s the ‘Hot Mule’ consisting of vodka with the vivacious tastes of lime, lemon, ginger, and tea. And the ‘CERVO Coffee’ that cocoons drinkers with comforting Christmas ingredients like cinnamon, cream, and honey to supplement the coffee and dollop of whiskey. On tables, Hendricks bottles filled with flowers act as both decorations and gin-filled après ski memories.

In the spring months, reclining chairs present goggle-tanned faces to the sun. And there’s no better time than April. For Tanja, that’s April 8^th specifically. Both her birthday and the week of the famous Zermatt Unplugged music festival.

Tanja thinks back to playing at CERVO to a very mellow audience – tired from the week’s events. She explains how she had to build up the tempo, without shocking après skiers’ systems. From background base to some slightly more daring disco to full-on Tribal House music, within 20 minutes Tanja had the place transformed.  “It was incredible,” she said, “everyone was eventually dancing on the chairs, on the table, on the stage”.

By combining her House music with classic artists like ABBA, Madonna, Barry White, and Earth, Wind and Fire, Tanja enlivens her audiences. She offers beats to make people bop and songs to make people sing. “I’m there to make people happy, to make them dance,” she says, “this is my goal. And everywhere I’ve gone to DJ over the last 18 years, everyone is dancing.”

At CERVO, the views never sleep. With its raised position, the Resort constantly peers over the glowing lights of the village. And even when, one by one, the partygoers have dropped off, the Matterhorn’s summit is still visible from the night sky’s moon or the rising sun. It’s also visible from every room. Every room, every bar, restaurant, and spa facility, have an air of absolute luxury. Seated in the heart of Zermatt’s nature yet also on the cusp of its village, the panoramic Mountain Resort is more than just après ski. “It’s a lifestyle hotel.” And after the renovation this year, it’s sure to be even better than Tanja remembers.