The famous Zermatt hotelier Alexander Seiler first spotted the potential of the Riffelalp meadow, with its view of the Matterhorn, in 1856, when he purchased his first parcel of land there. It wasn't, however, until 1878 that construction of the Riffelalp Grand Hotel got underway, and the hotel opened in 1884. In 1898, the Gornergrat railway was opened, and the following year the hotel built the Riffelalp tram to connect it to the railway. Around this time, the capacity of the hotel reached 280 rooms, with the opening of two annex buildings.