Alpine Fabulous by Christoph Hargreaves-Allen
Featured Hotel in Basel Region
Hotel Euler
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The Alps. Europe's finest natural export, birthplace of downhill skiing, progenitor of the winter wonderland. In 2001, time of cheap flights and last-minute holidays, mini-skis and man-made mountains, the survival of the Alps' heritage is, you might say, nearing the point of no return. Evolving from a chain of valleys with distinct dialogues at the end of the 19th-century to the spa villages of the early 20th, then from the jet-set destinations of the post-war years to the maximum-capacity towns of the millennium, the image of the Alps as a quiet paragon of luxury is almost a nostalgic recollection.
Almost... but not quite. Between the wars, the Alps were the most glamorous location in Europe, the Riviera of the winter before the Riviera even 'happened'. The psychic benefits of a spell at high altitude, whether mental stimulation due to the oxygen deficit or the wider colour spectrum of high UV and its therapeutic effects on both mood and skin or the improved metabolism while staying so far above sea-level or the respiratory benefits of the clean air - these effects were the reason for bringing the beau monde to the Alps in the age of the sanatorium. Today, mountain sanatorium has segued discretely into luxury hotel, bringing its ideals of careful well-being and family hospitality with it. Here's where the independent traveller will find the mountain ideal.
The Alpine Belle Epoque was and is synonymous with St. Moritz. There, the Palace Hotel, with its Byzantine proportions and opulent history, completely defines European decadence, taking luxury to another level. The Suvretta House has a grand North American atmosphere, reminiscent of the hotel in The Shining - with a view of the horizon to vanquish any personal demons. The ancient town of Pontresina, ten minutes away, has become a hub for the well-informed traveller, with its Grand Hotel Kronenhof in marvellous Louis XV style and the sleek, chic Hotel Saratz making a modernist statement. The best restaurant in Switzerland, Der Schluessel, hides in the sleepy town of Mels, en route between Zurich and St. Moritz, where duck liver with vinegared plums and mustard and Britanny lobster with calves' feet in aged balsamic awaits you. Booking is a sine qua non. Continue along the road through St. Moritz and don't stop: the Engadine highway will take you all the way to Italy, past countless archaic villages with cobbled streets, Gothic churches and improbable place names in Romansch dialect. The further you go, the better it gets. Nietzsche, not a man for small talk, called the Engadine an earthly paradise. Go figure.
If gods and goddesses skied, and they occasionally do, they would no doubt ski in the Arlberg. About as pure as the mountains get, the off-piste skiing under the guidance of the world's most respected ski school is abundant. Epic descents like the Valluga tour between St. Anton and Lech are rewarded by lunch at Lech's late-medieval Alte Goldener Berg or the sun-kissed terrace of St. Christoph's age-old Hospiz Alm - alm meaning moutain pasture. The toboggan run in Lech stretches even Olympic standards and a tea of Strudel [pastries] and Kaiserschmarren [sugared dumplings with warm plum sauce] at the Gasthof Post or the Hotel Arlberg will stop time altogether. St. Anton's Museum restaurant, an Alpine country house made of wooden fish-scale tiles and set in its own forest of lofty pines, looking onto a frozen moat, is the height of gourmet dining. The day is equally complete with a horse-drawn sleigh ride at dusk, following the transparent river Lech through a whitened forest full of deer before devouring a fondue dinner in the isolated hamlet of Zug while the horses rest. You will be protected from falling snowflakes by a fur blanket, your privacy doubly preserved by a driver who never looks behind him.
Over in the Western Alps, Verbier remains a key destination for anyone on the European party circuit. Home to the famed chef Roland Pierroz, whose restaurant of the same name offers culinary inventions like escalope of foie gras in a potato cage with artichoke mousse and strawberry pralinee Japanese-style with a forest fruit coulis and bourbon ice cream, there is no evidence that the Alpine tradition of high living is facing extinction. Any honorable traveller to the Valais will make his or her pilgrimage to L'Hospice de Saint-Bernard, the monastery at 2469 metres on the border between Switzerland and Italy where the famous dogs with large paws and melancholic eyes spend the summer months. The dogs originally came from Asia Minor and have been unemployed since the advent of the helicopter in mountain rescue operations. Maybe that's why they have such a sad look in their eyes.
The picturesque valley of Gstaad is home to 7000 cows, a number which works out at one cow per person. Here, the big, beautiful Palace Hotel has a fireplace stretching over ten feet long and was immortalised by Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther films. A castle dominating the gentle valley with spiky turrets and a fairy-tale quality, this internationally renowned establishment has been run by the Scherz family since they founded it in 1913. The keen gourmand will stop by the local cheese ripening centre along the road to Gsteig and catch that mountain cheese at the moment of perfect maturity. The quality of life is so good in Gstaad, with its twenty or so Michelin-starred restaurants, that the skiing up on the glacier at Les Diablerets is almost neglected, although a mile-long tree run beckons to the guest whose eye keeps wandering in the direction of the peaks. To nourish the soul as well as the urge to ski, the tall-steepled church at Saanen with its walled garden is where Yehudi Menuhin, a resident of the town, often played. It still hosts exceptional concerts, including the annual Menuhin Grand Festival.
The Matterhorn has always exerted a fascination on the Alpinist, since long before an Englishman by the name of Whymper beat an Italian to the summit in the late 1800s. This car-free village is home to the Hotel Mont Cervin, a magnet of winter luxury run by the Seiler family since 1853. The cellar contains over 10,000 bottles of wine, many of which are served by the glass, including a fine selection of Valais wines and burgundies and Bordeaux clarets. To accompany this, try the veal tartar perfumed with cognac followed by a mountain honey ice parfait. Nighttime sees the Vernissage swinging, a bar which transforms itself into a cinema at the flick of a switch. Reminiscent of a James Bond set, this architecturally experimental venue has to be seen to be believed. It's not all backward-looking in the Alps - nor is it all about sliding coolly downhill. Real thrill-seekers can ascend to the Theodul glacier lake at the foot of the Matterhorn, glittering with meltwater in summer but snowbound and deep-frozen in winter, where the ice can reach a metre and a half thick, penetrated only by ice divers drawn to the most unique diving spot in Europe.
It's there, if you know where to look.