Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / Switzerland / Les Giettes / Whitepod Original
Whitepod Original
Les Giettes, Valais, Switzerland · Independent · Near Luxury
In 2004 Sofia de Meyer, a London mergers lawyer, set five geodesic domes on a meadow above Les Giettes, with no electricity and no bathrooms, and took them down each spring so the cows got the pasture back. The New York Times hiked up in 2005 and found full-size beds under sheepskins. She later sold the camp, which grew to 18 pods, each seven metres across, still a twenty-minute walk from the car.
- 18 rooms
- Opened 2004
- Neighborhood: Les Diablerets
About Whitepod Original
- The New York Times, in March 2005, found five insulated domes on wooden platforms, no plumbing, a wood stove in each, and a vinyl window looking south, with sheepskins on the beds.
- Sofia de Meyer sold the project and the land in 2008. Patrick Delarive then turned the seasonal tents into 18 pods with private bathrooms and pellet stoves that light themselves when the cold comes.
- Every current dome is the same size: 7 metres in diameter, 40 square metres, a 4.3-metre ceiling, and a shell of about 220 kilograms.
- You leave the car at reception in Les Cerniers and walk about twenty minutes, a kilometre, to the pods. The chalets sit five to ten minutes above the desk.
- Dinner for pod guests is at Les Cerniers, the chalet restaurant for regional cooking and breakfast, because there is no kitchen in the dome.
History
Sofia de Meyer, a London mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer, opened Whitepod in 2004 with five geodesic domes on a meadow above Les Giettes. The pods had no electricity and no bathrooms, and they came down after each winter so the cows could use the pasture. The New York Times wrote about them in March 2005. She sold the project and the land in 2008, and Patrick Delarive developed the camp into 18 pods with private bathrooms and pellet stoves. Each dome is 7 metres across, about 40 square metres, with a ceiling of 4.3 metres. Guests walk about twenty minutes from reception at Les Cerniers to reach the pods. Les Cerniers serves the regional table and breakfast.
Restaurants and bars
- Les Cerniers — Restaurant · Regional
Amenities
- Fully equipped meeting rooms
- Giant HD touch screen, notepads and pens
- Catering: water, tea, coffee, business lunch or meal at Les Cerniers
Open Whitepod Original in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.