Новые отели в Альпах (продолжение)

Последние две зимы увидели много открытий новых и обновлений старых отелей в Альпах и Северной Америке. Небольшой обзор этих новинок, а также краткое резюме того нового, что появится зимой 2004/2005.

Les Barmes de L’Ours, Валь д'Изер (Франция)

Принимая во внимание размеры и качество катания в горнолыжном регионе Espace Killy, стоит отметить, что Валь д'Изер всегда отличался небольшим выбором высококлассносного размещения в отелях (шале не счет).

Многие годы здесь было только два четырехзвездочных отеля - Blizzard и Christiania. Но прошлый декабрь увидел открытие еще одного четырехзвездочного отеля (по налоговым соображениям французы предпочитают не строить пятизвездочных отелей) - les Barmes de l’Ours ((на местном диалекте "Медвежья берлога").

Расположенный в центральной части курорта у подножия горы Беллевар, рядом с Front de Neige и новой олимпийской гондолой, отель имеет 49-комнат и 26 сьютов, построен в традиционном стиле дерево-камень и имеет два ресторана - гриль-комнату и ресторан с савойской кухней.

В интерьере отеля просматривается 15 различных декоративных стилей. Есть также бар, спа с десятью комнатами, центр красоты и самый большой крытый плавательный бассейн в Tarentaise.

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Новые возможности для размещения в Валь д'Изере

Lux Alpinae, Санкт-Антон (Австрия)

Несмотря на то, что владельцы отеля - местная семья Kertess, этот четырехзвездочный отель очень далек от типичного отеля в стиле горного шале. Спроектированный австрийским дизайнером Георгом Дриендлом (Georg Driendl) в стиле "третьего тысячелетия", он построен из стекла и металла, бетона и дерева.

Выходящие на южную сторону стены каждой спальни имеют "экран" площадью 12 кв.м., на котором 24 часа в день - "программа природных явлений и событий". Ресторан, бар и зона отдыха - на одном этаже, и почти невозможно избежать видов величественных гор Арльберга.

В отеле есть спа с сайной, парной и т.д., но если вам захочется поплавать, то не надо идти в ближайший отель. Прямо от лифта курсирует шаттл. Но если вам по душе идея горнолыжного отдыха в традиционном тирольском стиле, это место - не для вас.

Le Chalet d’Adrien, Вербье (Швейцария) Этот топовый швейцарский курорт долгое время не имел отелей, сравнимых по уровню с качеством его горнолыжного катания, так что открытие нового пятизвездочного 23-комнатного отеля зимой 2001/2002 стало как нельзя кстати. This top Swiss resort has long been short of hotels that match the quality of its skiing, so the opening of this brand new five-star 23-room hotel in the winter of 2001/2002 was especially welcome. Расположенный неподалеку от телекабины Savoleyres, отель получил имя отца своего владельца, Baron Adrien de Turckheim, Located at the foot of the Savoleyres telecabin, the property takes its name from the owner’s grandfather, Baron Adrien de Turckheim, who fell in love with this region after visiting it on a motor rally in 1903. Built principally from wood in the traditional chalet style, the hotel’s main attraction is its magnificent situation. South-facing, most of the rooms, many of which have balconies, have panoramic mountain views of the Le Grand Combin and Le Mont Velan. The interior décor makes the most of the natural wood walls and chintzy fabrics are used sparingly. Two of the suites, all named after alpine flowers, have fireplaces. In fine weather lunch is served on the huge sunny terrace and in springtime this is also the venue for après-ski drinks. Villa Novecento, Курмайор (Италия) A member of the Romantik Hotels marketing alliance, this is a beautifully restored nobleman’s townhouse villa dating back to the beginning of the last century. The original style and ambience have been painstakingly recreated, with lots of Victorian era pictures, prints and old photographs hanging on the walls and plenty of chintz and antiques — certainly not a place for the modern minimalist. The classic Italian cooking with a modern twist in the formal restaurant is a strong selling point. Modern amenities include a sauna, hot-tub and gym machinery. This hotel would make an excellent venue for a small, exclusive conference. The service is young and charming, just like the owner. Four Seasons Resort, Jackson Hole You might imagine that in opening their first-ever ski property this winter in the wilds of Wyoming the Four Seasons group would not have to worry about competition. Wrong. Just a few miles away is the Amanresorts’ Amangani property. However the unique selling point of this brand new resort hotel is that it is situated at the edge of the slopes in Teton Village. (The wild west cowboy town of Jackson Hole is about 20 minutes drive away.) The 144 rooms, of which 38 are suites, are finished in wood and stone with Red Indian fabrics. There is a 23-metre heated outdoor pool, not to mention heated towels and robes in which the attendant wraps you immediately you emerge from the water to stand next to the roaring log fire. (By the way, be warned that Jackson is a resort best suited to really strong skiers or early intermediates — there’s not much for those in between.) Hotel Caprice, Wengen Located in one of the classic Swiss alpine resorts, where downhill skiing as we know it today was effectively invented by the locals and the Brits at the beginning of the last century, the chalet-style four-star Caprice was built in 1989. However the cosmopolitan new owners Christian and Monica Aubert have just given it a stylish and thorough interior makeover that catapults it into design hotel territory. Conveniently located just above the cog-railway station, it offers easy access to this compact car-free village and in good snow conditions you can ski back virtually to the door. Most of the 22 rooms have south-facing balconies and spectacular views of the awe-inspiring Jungfrau mountain range. The décor is cool contemporary in style, verging on the minimalist, but with lots of interesting objets and artworks. Service manages to be at once relaxed yet efficient. The food is likewise modern, using the best Swiss ingredients, and there’s a great bar/lounge with open fireplace. In a way it’s like a mini-Amanresort. Sky Hotel, Aspen The former Aspen Club Lodge, perfectly located at the foot of Aspen Mountain, reopened in the winter of 2002/2003 completely refurbished as the boutique Sky Hotel. The new lobby has a look that is both hip and retro with huge white leather chairs, cow-hide rugs and faux-fur rugs. The 90 guest rooms are all decorated in sunflower yellow, with contemporary pine furniture and black-and-white photographs of the great outdoors. The beds feature Frette bed linen and yet more faux fur throws. Each room is equipped with a Nintendo game system and the minibar is stocked with bottled oxygen. There is an outdoor heated swimming pool and spa, as well as a vast outdoor fireplace. The 39 Degrees bar, which also serves light meals, is decorated in a rugged yet cushy style and has an undulating “landscape” sofa at its centre. On their first night visitors are invited to a complimentary but dangerous-sounding “Altitude Adjustment” wine evening. The Sky Hotel’s distinguished neighbour, The Little Nell, is now facing some seriously hip competition. Verbier Lodge, Verbier This intimate little three-star B&B hotel with nine rooms and four suites actually had a low-profile opening last winter, when word-of-mouth promotion proved very effective. Magnificently constructed in all-wood chalet style, it has quiet, south-facing location on the edge of the forest, just a couple of minutes walk from the Medran lift station. There is a small bar, sauna, hammam and fitness centre. Sunny Verbier is at its best in the long spring days when, after a hard day on the slopes, guests here can relax in the hot-tub on the large balcony enjoying the mountain panoramas and the dying rays of the sun. Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains, St Moritz This property opened in December 2002 giving St Moritz once more its “Big Five” five-star hotels, meaning a quarter of all the resort’s hotel beds are now in this exalted category. The 169-room Kempinski constitutes a complete transformation of the old Parkhotel Kurhaus, which was founded in 1864. The “classically elegant” bedrooms have a terracotta, gold and green colour scheme with cherry-wood furniture and Art Deco touches including handmade chrome fixtures in the bathrooms. Relatively formal in style, as befits St Moritz itself, the Kempinski has two restaurants. Les Saisons, which has stunning views of the Corvatsch mountain and the Engadine valley, is the gourmet restaurant where a lavish breakfast buffet is also be served, while the cosier Ca d’Oro specialises in Italian regional cooking. The Lobby Bar is designed to reflect the 1930s era, and is furnished with large Winchester sofas, but the Italian-themed La Vigna wine bar is resolutely modern, decorated in chrome, glass and red and black leather with huge log fires. The lavish spa centre even numbers an intriguing-sounding Aroma-Grotto among its attractions. This hotel’s only real drawback is its location in valley-floor St Moritz Bad: the Beautiful People prefer to be up in more fashionable St Moritz Dorf. (However the casino adjacent to the Kempinski lures some of them down.) Madlein, Ischgl The only reason you don’t find more British skiers in Ischgl is because the British tour operators just cannot get the beds is this renowned 24-hour ski and après-ski resort. (The Germans got here first.) And these days no beds are more sought-after than those in the Madlein, which styles itself “Ischgl’s First Design Hotel”. The presiding genius here is Gunther Aloys, who over the past few years has gradually converted a fairly typical Austrian four-star hotel into the most un-Austrian hotel in Austria. So far not all the bedrooms have been transformed into design rooms, but the concept has been such a success that it seems likely that they will be in due course. The Zen principles of strength combined with beauty are at the heart of Aloys’s design philosophy. The design rooms are minimalist, light and spacious with glass-enclosed bathrooms featuring Philippe Starck fittings. The pool and spa, with their floor-to-ceiling windows and light-grey granite, subtly reflect and celebrate the glory of the mountains that surround them. The Madlein is features a branch of Ibiza’s Pascha disco, so the nights are always long here. By the way, if you want a partner (of whatever persuasion or hair colour) with whom to enjoy this exceptional hotel, go online dating at www.ischgllove.com. Cristallo, Cortina d’Ampezzo Sometimes it is the smallest details that encapsulate the quality of a hotel. In the case of the Cristallo it is the shoehorns found in every room. Hand-carved in good quality wood and hanging up on a leather thong, they are about 18 inches long and quite obviate the need to bend down when donning a tricky shoe. Everything about this immaculately restored hotel in Italy’s smartest winter resort shows the same attention to detail and quality. The Cristallo, built in the neo-classical Gustaviano style, celebrated its centenary in the winter 2001/2002 by reopening after a long and pain-staking restoration and renovation programme which involved no fewer than 16 thousand stucco roses and huge quantities of Carrara marble and pine timber. No two rooms in this 73-room revitalised Grande Dame of a hotel are alike, incidentally, but they and their bathrooms have all been immaculately refurbished. The Cristallo now styles itself a “Reconditioning and Beauty Hotel” and has a spa offering Isokinetic treatments and Swiss Transvital cosmetic treatments. The lavishly decorated neo-classical indoor pool has, like the hotel’s terrace, splendid views of the ever-changing Dolomites. For the winter of 2002/2004 the hotel, which is now a member of Leading Small Hotels of the World, has revived its Monkey Club, which was one of Italy’s most celebrated and stylish nightclubs back in the 1930s and added a new glassed-in gourmet restaurant, La Veranda. Le Kilimandjaro, Courchevel 1850 One might have thought that a resort which already had more luxury four-star hotels than anywhere in France except Paris would not be in need of another one. But the demand for top-end accommodation is apparently insatiable in this ultra-chic resort, regardless of price. What makes the Kilimandjaro, built on the site of an old hotel of the same name on the edge of the piste below the Altiport, different is that it comprises a kind of hamlet of individual wood-and-stone chalets, all linked to a central building which houses the bar, restaurant, swimming pool, spa, gym, etc. This means that guests can benefit from both the privacy of their own chalet and also the extensive central facilities of a hotel. The style of the hotel certainly owes something to the Sibuet family’s Compagnie des Alpes designer-rustic hotels in Megeve, with plenty of rough-hewn wood, oriental carpets and thick fabrics. Some of the bedrooms have more furniture in them than might be advisable, but younger children will love the custom-carved wooden bunk beds. The main bar is called Stanley’s Bar in honour of key British backer Stanley Fink, chief executive of the Man Group, and as well as an agreeable fireplace corner it also offers good views of the spectacular high-ceilinged indoor swimming pool. The piste-side sun terrace serves excellent lunches and has a little Tipi to keep kids amused. Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch (Vail/Beaver Creek) One of the biggest problems with the Vail/Beaver Creek ski area in Colorado is a relative shortage of good quality hotel beds — many Americans simply prefer to stay in condominiums. The opening of the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch in the winter of 2002/2003 has improved the situation, although it must immediately be noted that this is effectively an isolated, cocoon-like, 237-room, USA-style “resort hotel” located in the purpose-built little village of Bachelor Gulch which links into Beaver Creek and Arrowhead’s beautifully maintained but under-used ski area. (If you want to ski Vail itself, however, then you need to make a 30-minute bus or taxi journey by road.) The design of the new hotel has been inspired by the grand lodges of such national parks as Grand Teton, Yosemite and Yellowstone. (The notion of “parkitecture” was devised a century ago by the American architect Robert Reamer who designed the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone.) Heavy use has been made of indigenous stone and timber. There are approximately 100 fireplaces located in public areas and selected bedrooms. Yet more Frette bed linen has been deployed, together with marble bathtubs and heated bathroom floors. Wood and leather are used extensively in this property and the principal colours are chestnut, brown, chocolate, rust and green, reflecting the natural colours of the landscape. Needless to say there is also a vast spa complex complete with rock-lined “co-ed” grotto and lazy river hot tub. NEW FOR NEXT SEASON One of the most exciting new additions will be the Four Seasons Hotel in Whistler opening this summer - with 273 rooms and suites, all with fireplaces, and set to rival the popular Chateau Whistler. In the Alps, Le Parc Alpin in Meribel is being redeveloped and will open once again as a hotel next winter with 12 suites built in a cosy, chalet style. In Val d'Isere Club 21 and Les 3 Bises are due to be replaced by a designer, boutique hotel yet to be named. The popular Hotel Perren in Zermatt will be closed this summer whilst it completes the renovation of all its rooms and in Lech the Hotel Krone is also undergoing renovation.