5:23pm Monday 16th November 2009
By Telegraph & Argus
Switzerland is one of the world’s top ski and snowboard winter destinations, but when it comes to summer activities in the outdoors, Switzerland surely has the edge.
Walking, mountaineering, white-water rafting and the scary-looking adventure that is parapenting – leaping off a cliff with a parachute and gracefully gliding down a valley – are all there for the taking, and all within a couple of hours’ drive from Geneva airport.
Switzerland has never been lacking when it comes to attracting celebrities, and one hotel that’s been doing that for almost a century is the grand, and still privately-owned, Palace Hotel in Gstaad.
In winter, you can barely move for A-list celebrities outshining each other in their Gucci ski jackets and day-glo tans.
It’s always been so – a glance at the guest list, past and present, shows there’s just no room here for the C-listers you might find on reality TV shows.
In the past, it was a home from home to Audrey Hepburn, Peter Sellers and all manner of minor European royalty.
These days, star names enjoy the new penthouse suite with its four bedrooms (one for the maid, of course), whirlpool bath on the roof, and your own private tower, which has been converted into a sauna.
If that’s a little over the top for you, ‘ordinary’ guest rooms are a study in elegance and style. All look out on to the mountains surrounding the picture-perfect valley in which Gstaad sits, and provide a tantalising vista of the next day’s excursions while you enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail.
Near the hotel are a number of ski lifts which run during the summer, taking keen walkers into the hills of the magnificent Swiss Oberland.
Day hikers can take the lift and enjoy a circular walk at an altitude that provides grand views. From June to the end of September, the Alpine flora is a sight to behold, like looking through a gardening catalogue and finding all those familiar plants growing naturally on the hillsides.
Some walks lead strenuously to mountain huts where the intrepid can grab a beer and a bowl of soup – or even stay overnight as part of a longer excursion.
Helpfully, many routes end at road-heads where the famous Swiss ‘post buses’ make regular calls – get a leaflet describing the best ones from the tourist information office in the centre of Gstaad.
After all that exercise, it only seems right to relax with a little pampering, and Gstaad Palace’s recently-built spa is just the place for that. It’s a thoughtfully-designed relaxation centre with indoor and outdoor pools, complete with massaging water jets.
Inside, one giant wall is made from tons of locally-sourced stone, from which water trickles. There’s the usual range of treatments, but a great choice to mark a special celebration is the ‘Hammam experience for two’.
This takes two hours as you travel through seven different rooms, enjoying massages, water therapies and other sensory delights.
You see, Switzerland isn’t only about snow and skis. Try it in summer, and you might find it opens up a whole new world.
INFORMATION: Seasons In Style offers seven nights’ half-board the Gstaad Palace from £1,975, including return flights in early 2010. The summer package, for stays June 12 to September 20, starts at £1,745. Seasons In Style reservations: 01244 202000 and seasonsinstyle.com.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/trade_directory/