Villa Beaulieu

A whole villa above the lake in St. Moritz

Villa Beaulieu is a villa at Via Arona 34 in St. Moritz, in the Engadin, which describes itself in its footer as a cultural residence and carries the line "Since 1868 · Reborn 2026". It has 8 rooms and 5 suites, a ballroom, a brasserie, a sun terrace and a bar, and it can be rented as a whole for a wedding. The German event page puts the promise plainly: "Kein geteiltes Foyer, keine parallele Hochzeit nebenan. Für den Abend gehört die Villa Ihnen." (No shared foyer, no parallel wedding next door. For the evening, the villa is yours.)

For a couple from abroad, this is the key point. The guests eat, dance and sleep in the same house, and the villa's own guide argues that this matters more in the mountains than any view.

How an evening runs

The event page describes the usual flow. The aperitif is on the terrace of Le Jardin, dinner is served inside when the evening cools, and afterwards the party moves to Le Bar, "wo das Klavier steht" (where the piano is). The idea is that guests move through the villa instead of sitting on the same chair for four hours. Alexander Paas, who runs events at the villa, sums it up: "Ein Fest wird gut, wenn die Leute sich bewegen. Drei Räume und ein Garten machen mehr für einen Abend als jede Dekoration." (A party works when people move. Three rooms and a garden do more for an evening than any decoration.)

The page describes the lake right in front of the villa as the backdrop, with the aperitif on the sunny terrace and the closest guests simply staying the night. Anything outside the villa, from a photo stop by the water to a mountain railway trip for the group, the team plans with the couple.

The rooms and their capacities

The event page gives a table:

• Ballroom: up to 70 seats, for a wedding dinner, keynote dinners, concerts and talks
• Ballroom with a smaller layout: up to 60 seats, for a banquet with a stage or a dance floor
• Ballroom in boardroom format: up to 16 seats
• Brasserie: up to 50 guests, for private lunches and dinners and company events
• Le Jardin: a sun terrace for the aperitif, a reception or an outdoor ceremony
• Le Bar: a salon with a piano for a reception, the end of the night and late hours

The FAQ confirms the whole villa can be rented exclusively, with the bar, the garden and the rooms set up together so the couple and their guests are among themselves. Le Jardin, the sun terrace above the lake, is the most popular spot for the aperitif before dinner.

Rooms for the guests

The 13 rooms and suites sit, in the page's words, "eine Treppe über dem Fest" (one staircase above the party), and the morning after takes place in the same villa. The page says the practical advantage couples mention most often is that nobody has to look for a taxi after dessert. For larger groups, the villa passes guests on to accommodation in the village. The site links to a separate page on the rooms, but the event page gives no room rates.

The villa's own comparison of Engadin venues

The villa publishes an English guide comparing four ways to marry in the Engadin, and Alexander Paas is open that "I plan the occasions at Villa Beaulieu, so I am not neutral." The guide puts hotel ballrooms at 50 to 300 guests, mountain restaurants at 30 to 120, marquees at almost any number, and a whole villa at 20 to 70. It flags the weather risk of mountain restaurants and marquees, and the coaches needed to get guests back down to the valley. Its test for a venue is memorable: "The best test for a wedding venue is where the last ten guests are sitting at two in the morning." And it argues that "Anyone facing a forty-minute drive down after dinner leaves early. Anyone facing a staircase stays."

Its planning advice is a sensible checklist: fix the guest count first, choose the season (summer and the winter high season book out early, while spring and autumn are calmer and cheaper), settle who sleeps where, check the plan B for any outdoor element, then enquire with a date, a rough guest count and an idea.

How booking works

The event page sets out five steps. The couple writes with a date, an approximate guest count and their idea. The villa replies personally, usually the same day, with a first view of the rooms and the flow. The villa is viewed together, in person or by video for couples who are not in the valley, which is exactly what a couple abroad needs. Kitchen, rooms and timing are then agreed, with a menu built for the event "nicht nach einem Bankettkatalog" (not from a banquet catalog). Then the couple celebrates and the team takes care of the rest.

For timing, the FAQ advises asking as early as possible for the winter high season and for summer weddings. Contact is by email to allegra@villa-beaulieu.ch or by phone on +41 77 480 88 62. The site is published in English and German.

What the villa is not

The page is candid about its limits. The villa is not a venue for 200 guests, has no in-house event technology for big stages, and never runs three events at once. For a party of several hundred, it says, the big hotels in town are the right address.

What the site does not say

The pages publish no prices for the villa, the menus or the rooms. They do not say whether a civil ceremony can take place at the villa, only that Le Jardin suits an outdoor ceremony. They give no end time for the party, no policy on outside suppliers and no indoor alternative named for a rainy aperitif. Directions and transfers are not covered on these pages.

Who it suits

Villa Beaulieu suits a couple planning a wedding of 20 to 70 guests in St. Moritz who want the whole house to themselves, the aperitif above the lake, a piano bar to finish the night and the closest guests sleeping upstairs. The English pages, the video viewing and the same-day replies make it easy to plan from abroad.

It does not suit a large wedding, a production with a big stage, or a couple who need prices on the website before they write.