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MARCH 2019 businesstraveller.comPEAK SUMMER
SWITZERLAND’S ALPINE REGIONobviously
lots to do,
and for those
who just want
to flop and relax,
the lovely temperatures
(it famously boasts of enjoying 300 days
of sunshine each year) and extensive spas
at each of the hotels means there’s actually
no need to do anything.
And if the evenings are less frenetic
than the après-ski and late nights of the
high season, there’s also the sense that you
are part of a long tradition of travellers
who have relaxed here. One evening we
noticed several games of bridge being
played in, well, the bridge room, and
found an antique photo of the same room
70 years previously. What better way to
relax after a day’s walking in the Alps, and
a lovely meal in the evening, than with
several hands of bridge?
See businesstraveller.com/tried-and-tested
for reviews of Badrutt’s, the Kulm, the
Kronenhof, Suvretta House, the Carlton
and the Kempinski.BTCONTINUED...
CULTURAL PARADISE
OKINAWA IN JAPAN→ The hotel has lake and mountain views
to the south, while east, west and north
overlook Mount Suvretta, parkland and
the Corviglia ski area. The property was
recently renovated under British designer
Sue Freeman, who has added a modern
feel to the country-house theme with
muted greys and greens, dark wood floors
softened by patterned rugs, and panelled
walls painted in muted neutrals, perhaps
better to showcase the stunning vistas from
every window.
It’s not too casual. There is still a
Grand restaurant, where you need a jacket
and tie for dinner – but in surroundings
like this, it would seem strange to do
otherwise. This is a property with a high
number of returning guests and, judging
from our stay, is a place where extended
families take groups of rooms for special
get-togethers, perhaps encouraged by
the family-owned nature of the hotel
and its history of being managed for long
periods by families who get to know the
guests well.
The hotel organises a free guided walk
and picnic every Wednesday, accompanied
by the general manager (and his son, back
for summer holidays when we were there).
They were able to give us tips for the best
walks, accessed by the cable cars up to the
Corviglia and Corvatsch areas, adding to
this insider feel.
All of the five-star hotels have their
own boats on Lake Moritz where you can
go sailing, and offer personal tuition in
golf, tennis, swimming , hiking , pilates
and yoga, to name a few of the activities.
For those who like to keep busy, there’sThere’s the sense
that you are part of
a long tradition of
travellers who have
relaxed here→formations of the Blue Cave, or playing
peekaboo with garden eels at Manza Dream
Hole. In the north, just off Kouri Island, is
the wreck of the USS Emmons. This is a deep
but fascinating dive on the ill-fated American
destroyer, which was sunk by multiple kamikaze
planes during the Second World War.
Only 45 minutes away by boat, the beautiful
Kerama Islands offer shallow diving and
snorkelling on colourful reefs that teem with
life. Over the course of a few dives I spent
quality time with hawksbill turtles, watched
eagle rays soar past, explored underwater
canyons and had a tête-à-tête (of sorts) with a
very large spotted moray eel.
My most inspiring sealife encounter came- surprisingly – on land, when I visited the
Churaumi Aquarium on Okinawa’s northern
Motobu Peninsula. Japan’s largest aquarium
is part of the Ocean Expo Park, which also
includes an arboretum and tropical flower
garden, a recreated traditional Okinawan
native village, and the fascinating Oceanic
Culture Museum, filled with all manner of
Polynesian outriggers and seafaring craft.
Most people head straight for the aquarium,
though, and it’s easy to see why – the displays
are captivating. At the enormous main tank, I
was gobsmacked by the sight of two gigantic
whale sharks, four manta rays, numerous other
sharks and rays, giant trevally and schooling
fish, all moving in graceful splendour around
their manmade marine habitat.
I stood and watched for half an hour, then
sat in the café on a table next to the glass for
another 30 minutes, as mesmerised as I had
been on Sunset Beach. There’s no doubt about
it – nature in the Pacific sure knows how to
put on a show.BT
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