November is too late to build anything in Davos, but you can still host a dinner there if you choose the right venue. The municipality's deadlines for temporary projects passed in August and October, so a first-time host should look for a venue that already serves dinners, such as a hotel banqueting venue or a restaurant. Davos.ch lists the Annual Meeting for 18 to 22 January 2027, as of 4 November 2026. Lock in the day first, then the venue, then the guest list, and only then the extras.
Is November too late to host a dinner in Davos?
For a new build, yes. The municipality's page for applicants says building applications had to be in by 15 August 2026, and the operating concept by 15 October 2026. Those dates cover temporary projects for the January meeting.
What is different for 2027 is that the municipality has also introduced a limit. If more than 125 applications are filed, they are scored, numbers are reduced in the busiest zones and frozen elsewhere. Temporary structures are limited to two storeys, and media companies are excluded under the end-user rule. In May, Semafor reported on a municipal memo aimed at limiting temporary construction on the Promenade to the organisers' official partners. A spokesman for the organisers told Semafor that other companies could hold events on the Promenade but could not build temporary structures.
None of these rules mentions a seated dinner in a venue that already serves dinners, but that does not settle it. In 2023 SRF quoted the building inspector saying an application was needed for every change, including shops or restaurants used differently during the week. The municipality's 2027 announcement and applicant page do not say how a private dinner in a restaurant or hotel is treated. So ask the venue in writing whether it needs a permit for what you plan, above all if you are taking over a space rather than booking a dinner. If a permit is needed, the published deadlines have passed, so ask the building office listed on the applicant page straight away or choose another venue. The municipality also publishes its 2027 guidelines, in German.
What should you lock in first?
The order matters more than the speed. Each decision narrows the next one, and the common mistake is to choose a venue before anyone has agreed who the dinner is for.
| Order | Decide | Why it comes here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Who the dinner is for, and the number of seats | It sets the size of venue you need and how you invite |
| 2 | The day and the slot | Your key guests may already be committed elsewhere |
| 3 | The venue | Capacity, location and access all follow from the first two |
| 4 | Who hosts and who sits where | A dinner needs a reason to accept, and a person to thank |
| 5 | Invitations and approvals | Guests need the address, the time and any access rules |
| 6 | Menu, screens and print | These can move late; the venue cannot |
Published dinners from January 2026 show how much the slot can vary. Cloudflare's invitation-only dinner evening opened at 20:00 on Sunday 18 January. The tomorrowmensch family office dinner ran on the Monday evening at the Schatzalp. Lenz & Staehelin held a private dinner from 18:30 to 21:00 on Wednesday 21 January.
Lunch is worth a thought too. For January 2027, Finnish Flow has listed The Magic Mountain Lunch for 12:00 to 15:00 on Tuesday 19 January, for 100 invited guests, half of them family offices, principals and investors. Before you commit to a day, check it against the Davos Side Events Planner, which listed 181 events as of 22 October 2026, 72 of them confirmed. A clash with one event matters little. A clash with the one event your guests are all attending matters a great deal.
Which venues can seat a private dinner?
Hotels are the natural place to start. The figures below come from public meeting listings and show banquet seating in a normal setup. None of them says what is available in Davos week, so treat them as a starting list and confirm each one.
| Hotel | Venue | Banquet seats listed | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seehof, Promenade 159 | Dorno, Holsboer | 16, 20 | Small venues, next to the Parsenn railway |
| Seehof | Salon Kirchner, Panorama Restaurant | 80, 200 | Larger venues in the same hotel |
| Morosani Posthotel | Pöstli Lounge | 100 | Older brochure, so check the venues still run this way |
| Morosani Schweizerhof | Garden Hall, Garden Hall Ensemble | 120, 360 | One hall, or all of them together |
| Schatzalp | Several venues | Up to 300 | Reached by its own funicular, which runs until midnight |
Restaurants and other spaces are used too. The Lenz & Staehelin dinner took place at the Milch Arena, Tobelmühlestrasse 6, which its page also calls the Molkerei. The page does not say how many it seats.
When you speak to a venue, ask the same questions each time:
- Is the venue free on your day, and for how long?
- Is it let on its own, or as part of a larger booking for the week?
- Can you bring your own branding, or a screen?
- When can suppliers deliver, and where can a van stop?
- Does the venue sit inside a security zone?
The delivery question comes up more than it should. Davos issued 36 fines by June 2026 for breaches around temporary projects, and the examples given included trucks loading outside permitted hours. Ask anyway, even in a working hotel.
How will your guests get in?
There are two separate questions: how a guest is admitted to your dinner, and how they reach the venue.
Many published events run admission through a request and an approval. The Magic Mountain Lunch says that registering "does not confirm attendance or guarantee admission". Lenz & Staehelin said its dinner was invitation-only, with a limited number of seats available on application. Both approaches work. What matters is that a guest knows whether they have a confirmed seat, and that you know who has said yes.
Reaching the venue depends on where it is. In January 2026 the security zones covered the Congress Centre, the Kongress Hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn and the Kurpark, the AlpenGold and the Belvédère, and the ice rink, the Lago heliport and the lake car park. The police said all other hotels, shops and businesses could be reached without restriction. We found no 2027 version as of 4 November 2026, so check again before you send invitations.
If your venue is in a secured hotel, every guest needs the right badge, and that takes time. Our guide to badges in Davos sets out the difference. Outside the zones, the same 2026 police notice warned of checks on every road into town and said delays were possible. Tell guests to allow for this, and hold the first course for a few minutes.
What should be done before Christmas?
A small dinner does not need a long plan, but the steps below are hard to reverse once January starts. Treat them as a rough order, since a dinner for 16 moves faster than one for 120.
| When | What to finish |
|---|---|
| This week | Purpose, seat count, two possible days, a shortlist of three venues |
| By the end of November | Venue confirmed in writing, host named, permit question answered |
| By mid December | Invitations out, access rules stated in them, supplier times agreed |
| First week of January | Guest list checked, seating drafted, zone and road notices rechecked |
| The day before | Walk the route from the door, as a guest would |
Accommodation sits alongside all of this. If your team is staying, find out early whether a place is let by the night or the week. The properties we list for January 2027 all rent for the full week, 16 to 23 January, and our accommodation page has the range. We have worked in Davos since 2018, and our event production has included the DAIS Executive Dinner for 75 senior leaders at Hotel Seehof.
The practical last step is the simplest one. Before you confirm a venue, write down the names of the ten people the dinner is really for. If that list is hard to fill, change the date or the format before you change anything else.
Written by the Davos Premier team, November 2026. Planning Davos week? Browse the Davos 2027 planner or write to hello@davospremier.com for a second opinion.