Accommodations
Nira Alpina or similiar
If a hotel in Surlej, Switzerland wanted to indulge its quaint side, all the ingredients are in place: the alpine village is nestled in the picturesque Engadin Valley, offering an unobstructed view down the mountain pass to Lake Silvaplana. Here, the sun is shining almost every day of the year, the climate is dry and pleasant, and hardy pleasure-seekers put skis to slopes in winter and bikes to trails in summer. Thankfully, Nira Alpina eschews chalet kitsch in favor of modern construction defined by glass and locally sourced timber. After all, Surlej is just a few minutes’ drive from St. Moritz, the next lake up the road — presumably its visitors are no strangers to contemporary architecture and design. The five-story structure is appealingly low-slung, and its seventy guest rooms have all been designed in service of the mighty views helpfully provided by the valley. Each room boasts its own terrace or balcony, and the abundance of floor-to-ceiling windows ensure that you’re never far from the panorama. Clean-lined furniture and a preponderance of blond wood chase away any lingering folksiness from the village, while deep baths and waterfall showers make each bathroom a sleek yet welcoming haven. There isn’t a whole lot of aesthetic variation between the rooms, but the junior suites practically double the living space. While one of Nira Alpina’s three restaurants is all about cheese, fondue and regional beers served among vintage local décor, the rest of the public spaces feel curiously urban-inspired. At the rooftop bar, guests snack on Asian fusion dishes around the glass cube of a fireplace. The same goes for the spa, which makes elements like an underwater relaxation bed and color-changing fountain feel like après-ski classics.
Schweizerhof Zermatt or similar
The Alps aren’t exactly short on monumental destinations, and Zermatt, at the foot of the Matterhorn — and surrounded by countless other iconic peaks — is nothing if not impressive. And amid the plentiful traditional lodges in what might be the original Alpine adventure town is a hotel that’s every bit as impressive as its setting. Hotel Schweizerhof belongs to the same family as the fantastically luxurious, fantastically stylish La Réserve Paris, and like its Parisian sister, it combines haute-luxe comforts and boutique-hotel good looks in equally generous measure. Hotel Schweizerhof’s rooms are somehow both Alpine and urbane, combining contemporary design and minimalist elegance with the bare wood and comfortable textures of a traditional lodge. They start out cosy — that’s the very honest name of the entry-level category — and expand to impressive proportions at the high end. At all levels, however, they’re much more than luxurious enough — this is a high-end experience, from top to bottom. Skiing is necessarily the main attraction here, but the hotel’s spa offers plenty of reasons to stay in. Meanwhile the restaurants include Le Schweitzerhof Kitchen, with its massive show kitchen, and La Muña, serving Asian-Peruvian fare, and Cheese Factory, with its traditional raclette and fondue. There’s a cocktail bar and a cigar bar to round things out, and it’s worth knowing that the head of the La Réserve group, Michel Reybier, might be better known for his Champagne than anything else....