If you belong to the Jet-Set millionaire clique then you’ve probably already been to St. Moritz–or at least heard a lot about it from your Jet-Set friends. If not, I can tell you that, in a nutshell, St. Moritz is the most glamorous, posh, exclusive and expensive winter resort town in the world. If you can manage to get there, expect to pay four times as much as you would anywhere else – and that’s if you don’t go shopping!

Arriving into St. Moritz, nestled on the sunny side of the Swiss Alps, is challenging–to say the least. On a typical snowy winter night it’s not uncommon to be saddled with a fog of snow so thick that it prevents you from seeing further than a meter in front of your car (just to make the trip a bit more interesting). The mountain road you take to St. Moritz is unusually windy and often terrifying narrow–not a single mile of it is straight (or easy to drive on, for that matter). If you manage to climb up safely with the right car and tires, the reward is well worth it the next morning.

Imagine waking up in Switzerland surrounded by a splendid circus of purely white mountains and three frozen lakes… The sensation of being at the top of the world starts reaching you, and it won’t stop throughout your stay.

St. Moritz is not the average ski resort, as you will quickly understand. The rules here are the same as the ones on Rodeo Drive, 5th Avenue or Via Montenapoleone in Milan. The streets in this small resort town look more like the top shopping streets found in the fashion capitals of the world than a typical and charming Swiss village.

A major difference between St. Moritz and any other town in the world is that there are no average people on the streets here. Every person you pass is wearing only the very best designer clothing and jewelry. Not one person in St. Moritz looks like they have any less than an eight-digit yearly income (or yearly inheritance!)–and they’ll need it to be able to afford the incredibly steep prices they’ll be paying in the hotels and restaurants.

The most common events in St. Moritz are not ski competitions (skiers here are decked out in Chanel and only ski recreationally), but rather Jet-Set champagne parties with celebrities for the opening of the latest Prada shop (where prices are at least 20% higher than in New York)!

The official symbol of St. Moritz is a pink pig with a penny in it’s mouth… Pretty fitting if you ask me!

Walking around for the first time in the village is great if you are an international Jet-Set shopper; a competition is on 24 hours a day–but it’s not a sports one. It’s only open for women actually. It is the fur coat competition. Try to imagine a place where people only wear the most beautiful and rare fur coats and hats…it’s real in St Moritz.

The selection in the shops is only the best of the best. Only the most expensive items are for sale here… No average watches or necklaces in the windows, no wool sweaters only cashmere of course, Darling… No average anything! Even the restaurant menus are stunning. You can choose from a wide array of exotic meals such as kangaroo, crocodile, ostrich, deer and even horse meat (prepared in a variety of ways). Bon appetit!

Let’s have some fun now! During the day you can ski–and it is really worth it as the slopes are not disappointing like in Gstadd or Megeve (other upscale resorts). And if you don’t ski, there are plenty of other things to do. You can socialize at the non-stop outdoor party by the heated outdoor bar in front of the Hauser restaurant. Or, if you have relaxation in mind, St. Moritz is home to over 25 beauty institutes and day spas – plus, each hotel has their own spa. However, there’s only one small bookstore in St. Moritz (and half of it is an overpriced souvenir shop). So don’t forget your copy of The Beautiful and the Damned–because you can’t buy it here!

The pool and spa at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel is absolutely to die for. The pool room has no walls–only windows–so you swim with all the mountains and lakes as a backdrop. It is truly extraordinary! While you are lounging in your Missoni or Chanel swimsuit you can see people outside training for duck shooting, celebrating, sipping champagne…you can see young girls ice skating–even Polo on ice. And all the people outside can also see you. Men with their wives (or mistresses!) in their fur coats and long leather gloves look at you through the glass with a smile while you enjoy an extremely expensive cocktail and club sandwich beside the pool. Knowing that everybody else is freezing on the slopes while you are lounging in the Jacuzzi is a delightful sensation!

At night, the only place to go is the appropriately named ‘The Kings’ night club at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel. This is where all the Jet-Setter’s go to party it up until the wee hours in the morning (no, not 2 am–try 6 am). It is quite possibly the chicest night club in the world!

The biggest population of ‘visitors’ here would have to be the Italians. Italians here seem to really enjoy life; eating, drinking, partying and girl chasing are among their favorite hobbies. They invite each other to their mountain chateaus for huge buffet dinners. Amazing pasta, parma ham, wine and cigars, elegant men and surprisingly overdressed girls (walking in the highest heels that make you wonder how they managed to walk from the car to the house in the snow without falling twenty times) abound. Everybody is smiling and pleasant, especially when you are from abroad, as Italians love ‘International People’. It is a known rule here that if you want to throw a successful party you can’t only have Italian friends attend – you need as many ‘International People’ as possible. So chic!

New Years in St. Moritz Tip:

For New Years Eve you have to go to Badrutt’s Palace Hotel–it is the place to be. There are 3 options: the first is going to the dinner and the party organized by the Palace. It will cost you 700 Swiss francs (about $500 US.) Second option, only go to the party for 500 Swiss francs. Third option, be more intelligent and have some friends that are already inside bring you used tickets to get in for free (this is risky though and you may have to wait in the cold for a while!) The party takes over the entire hotel and one of the main attractions (besides finding a someone to kiss at mindnight) is finding a man with a cape who is holding a little pig. If you touch the pig it will bring you luck and money for the new year. At the end of the evening there is an auction to buy the pig and it is usually sold for an obscene amount of money.