The Spread Eagle Hotel, Midhurst

Hillaire Belloc described the Spread Eagle in one of his farragoes as "that most revered of all prime inns of this world" – high praise indeed from one so well-acquainted with the subject, having stayed at innumerable establishments whilst famously walking from the midwest of the United States to northern California in the courtship of his wife.

An inn has stood on this site since the early 17th century, when Midhurst was a popular resting stop for stage coach passengers. The hotel has a fascinating history that includes tales of smuggler's hideaways, royal visits and the “ghost of the Golden Lady”. Evidence of the hotel's past adorns the walls in framed letters, oil paintings and drawings, as well as the architecture. There’s even a history book about the hotel that you can buy at reception, but you would do just as well to talk to the ebullient General Manager, Ted James, whose knowledge of the hotel’s heritage is encyclopaedic.

Exposed beams, wood pannelling, wonky floors and doors and curious features abound. At one point upstairs, the hall splits into three corridors with a balcony looking over the hallway occupied by a huge suit of armour. In a couple of places you can still see the wattle and daub of the original walls, while in many of the rooms, uneven leaded windows overlook the pretty streets of Midhurst. The oldest part of the hotel is the bar, which dates to 1430 and has all the hallmarks of a hostelry that has been honing its charms for centuries. In the Queen's Suite, the hotel's largest, and oldest room, a huge four-poster bed stands on a crooked polished wood floor and an ancient door leads to a wig room, the polite name in Georgian society for a toilet, and the only one of its kind remaining in Britain.

Notwithstanding its age, there is nothing geriatric about the Spread Eagle. Under Ted’s able steermanship, the hotel is just as relevant in the 21^st century as it was in the 17^th. "We're very much the heart and soul of the village," Ted explains. "Local people get married here, celebrate christenings and birthdays, or just come here for a drink."

As part of its effort to remain contemporary, the hotel offers a number of packages. I was asked to experience the ‘Ladies Who Golf’ experience, which includes an hours’ golf lesson with Katie Dawkins, a former England player-turned-PGA teaching professional based at Cowdray Park Golf Club, lunch and a hour’s spa treatment. To date, my golf experiences have been somewhat below par, including being banned, age 6, from a golf-course in Derbyshire (after hijacking a golf buggy whilst on a family holiday), and a similarly ignominious experience in Morocco when I managed to overturn a golf buggy – no mean feat). Despite my lack of experience, Katie was incredibly patient, and taught me creative and helpful ways to approach putting and chipping, to the extent that I now feel that I would be able to hold my own on a golf course.

After golf, we returned to the hotel for a quick and delicious lunch (morel soup and crab cakes), then it was time to be pampered. Extraordinarily, for a hotel of its age and style, the Spread Eagle has a spa, plus a pool, sauna, steam room and hot tub. Built in 1997, it offers a modern departure from the historic surroundings of the inn. Treatments using Elemis products and techniques cost from £37 for a facial or a massage, and there's a host of beauty treatments including waxing and manicures and pedicures. As part of the Ladies Who Golf package, I enjoyed a 55 minute deep tissue massage, which was pure, unadulterated bliss. 

Packages can be enjoyed intraday or with an overnight stay. We stayed the night beforehand; I was delighted to find, besides the usual creature comforts (plasma screen, WiFi and roll-top bath), that The White Room, which I had been allocated, contained a cubby hole, used to hide priests during the English Civil War.

At dinner, far from encountering a moribund mid-week evening scene, we found the restaurant to be packed, and was, if not exactly buzzing (the sotto, elderly atmosphere precludes this), at least lively. The menu is changed quarterly and has a succinct but appealing offering including fish, vegetarian and meat options. I had the home-smoked salmon with warm potato bread and sour cream, which was good, and the grilled lemon sole, which was excellent. The only disappointment was the pudding; the strawberries were stunted, semi-frozen and sticky; not at all as I had expected, given it was June, after all. Three courses cost £39.50, which was good value, and the portions are big enough not to need any side orders, offered at £2.50 each.

Breakfast in the same room was hearty, with a big buffet of delicious fresh breads and pastries, fruit, muesli and cereals. I particularly enjoyed the poached eggs and home smoked salmon.

I would unreservedly recommend the Spread Eagle, and the Ladies Who Golf package in particular. It would suit any group of women keen to escape London or the daily routine, and the whole experience is a perfect cocktail of pampering, activity and (by virtue of the hotel’s unique history),culture.

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Hotel Goldener Berg, Oberlech

With more gold medal Olympic skiers than any other alpine village, a bevy of royal and aristocratic guests, and a reputation for the best food and wine in the Austrian alps, it’s surprising that more people haven’t heard of Lech – but that’s the way those who have prefer it. While the glitz-seekers flock to flashier resorts, in Lech things are done with traditional Austrian elegance.

For those in the know, however, the charming hamlet of Oberlech, perched 1700 metres above sea-level, just five minutes by bubble lift from Lech is home to one of the mountain’s best-kept secrets: The Hotel Goldener Berg. It’s a lovely chalet hotel perched on a sunny terrace all on its own, with idyllic views across the valley and the town below. In winter no cars are allowed, so it is both peaceful and safe for children. The hotel has been run with panache by generations of the Pfefferkorn family, who take genuine pleasure in looking after their guests, many of whom return every year. Serious skiers will relish the hotel’s ‘ski to the door’ position right on the slopes and the chance to ski with Daniela Pfefferkorn, the hotel’s disarming current owner, who represented Austria in the Downhill a few years ago, The hotel’s proximity to the Oberlech lift (which runs from 7am to 1am daily) means that it’s incredibly easy to get around.

The hotel’s 40 rooms and suites have now been built or renovated and each has a balcony and superb mountain views. For families, the Goldener Berg has a fantastic complimentary supervised kids’ programme – the ‘Kiddy Club’ - with indoor and outdoor fun (including meals) scheduled for small guests from the age of 3.

Whilst the kids are being entertained, the grown-ups will appreciate the sensational Alpin Spa. The main wall of the spa building is floor-to-ceiling glass, offering breathtaking views of the mountains, and the pine wood and stone meshes seamlessly with the external environment. The mezzanine level relaxation area, part of which is embedded in a snug grotto – replete with cradle-like, rocking sunloungers – is one of the cosiest I have come across. The Spa contains two saunas (bio and Finnish), a steam room, pool and wonderful large outdoor Jacuzzi. A plethora of treatments are available to soothe aching muscles after a hard day’s work on the slopes – I had a brilliant aromatherapy massage with Barbera, and my boyfriend was ‘manhandled’ (in a good way, I am told) by the spa’s excellent resident physiotherapist, Marc Shrader. The homemade ‘Almstern’ product line – employing high-grade extracts of Edelweiss and other nourishing mountain-sourced substances - is used both in the spa and the hotel toiletries. For those in search of more exotic massage techniques, the hotel boasts a Bangkokian practising Thai massage. The spa also houses a small yoga studio-cum-gym, and the hotel is a member of Welltain, a new healthy mountain lifestyle programme that makes the most of the alpine environment to achieve greater fitness.

A workout in the hotel’s gym might be advisable, because the hotel’s Gault-Millau award-winning cuisine is home cooked and delicious, with lots of Austrian specialties such as Strudel, Schnitzel and Kaiserschmarr’n (a caramelised, chopped up pancake), which can be enjoyed in any of the hotel’s four restaurants. As in the spa, so in the kitchen, stress is placed on local sourcing – the menu lists the nearby farms and suppliers from which the products derive. This emphasis on indigenous products forms part of the hotel’s eco-ethos, which is also manifested in its use of solar panels bio heating system.

The hotel operates a ‘Dine Around’ policy to enable guests to dine in each of the restaurants. The Alter Goldener Berg restaurant dates from 1430 and has handsome dark wood panelling and candle lighting. The family has been amassing a fine wine collection for the last fifty years and the result is a veritable treasure trove of vintages, considered one of the best wine cellars in the region.  

Relaxed, yet refined. The Goldener Berg is perfect for those seeking a first class ski holiday in supremely comfortable surroundings with a classic Austrian atmosphere. The Pfefferkorn family has created a place with that inimitable gemütlichkeit – meaning warm, cosy and hospitable – that puts it in a class of its own.

 

Hotel Goldener Berg, Oberlech 117, 6764 Lech/Vorarlberg, Tel. 05583/220 50

Hospiz Alm Hotel, St Christoph

The pretty Tyrolean village of St Christoph is just up the valley from St Anton, which enjoys a well-deserved reputation as the Mutter und Vater of all après-ski party towns. St Christoph, though its pistes are easily accessible from St Anton, could scarcely be more different. It is a genteel place, dominated by one hotel, the 650-year-old Hospiz, which somehow blends bags of Alpine character with extreme chic. It’s a neat trick. In my experience of the swishest Alpine hotels, chic and character tend to be mutually exclusive.

My boyfriend and I stayed at the Hospiz Alm Hotel in January. I had heard that the Hospiz was one of the best places to eat in the Alps, but nobody had told me that it was also one of the finest places to drink. Although the hotel was rebuilt after burning to the ground in 1957, the ancient wine cellar remained intact. It is as atmospheric as you might expect of a cellar daring from 1386, and contains a small vaulted dining room where favoured guests, who have included the crowned heard of Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain (not all at the same time), can be assured privacy. The Hospiz cellar contains mostly Bordeaux, of which the hotel’s patrician owner, Adi Werner, is a devotee. I gazed wide-eyed at a 1926 Chateau d’Yquem, and was duly astonished to learn that he keeps the really valuable stuff elsewhere.

At the adjacent Hospiz-Alm, a lively restaurant at the foot of the nursery slopes , there is a famous helter-skelter slide down to the loo and a unique wine cellar housing only big bottles, over a thousand of the, from three litre double-magnums to 18-litre methuselahs. The bright young sommelier, Hannes Mossauer showed me a Heath Robinson contraption, about the size and horsepower of a small family saloon, for extracting the corks. He also told me proudly that only six methuselahs were produced of the excellent 2000 vintage of that superb Saint-Emilion, Chateau Cheval Blanc, and all six were snapped up by the Hospiz. Even at 27,000 Euros each, there is no shortage of interest, but, magnificently, Herr Werner won’t always sell.” He needs them to have the passion,” explained Bruno.

Bedrooms are intelligently configured for families, and the children’s club takes care of the little monsters until 9pm. There are also myriad diversions inside the hotel to while away the time not spent skiing, eating and drinking, which are represented visually in the hotel’s logo, newly designed in 2011. The design seeks to convey the symbiosis between culinary delights, sport and art. Florian Werner is an art fan, collector and artist – his works and those of other famous contemporary artists are scattered thoughtfully throughout the hotel and are clustered in the hotel’s very own art gallery. A particular novelty is the ‘Artists in Residence’ project – artists are invited to the hotel to paint and guests are invited to watch and engage with the artist at work. 

Works of art pervade the wonderful 2000 metre square spa area, which is spread across two floors, and which contains an enormous pool, saunas, steam room and a vast, very well-equipped gym. There are also numerous dexterous therapists on hand to massage piste-pounded muscles. I don’t think that I have ever been on a ski holiday before where a gym visit seemed like a good idea post-piste, but the gym at the Arlberg Hospiz Hotel was such a delight to visit that my work out felt strangely pleasurable (and how else to justify that seventh course at supper)?

A word of warning – or perhaps encouragement - depending on your point of view. The Arlberg region is one of Europe’s snowiest places; you are more likely to be marooned than suffer snow shortages. The roads out of St Christoph were both closed for over twenty nail-biting hours towards the end of our stay. This was, however, a once-in-a-decade occurrence, and besides, I cannot think of anywhere in the world I would rather be stuck than at the Hospiz Alm Hotel.  

The Arlberg Hospiz  Hotel

The Werner Family
A-6580 St. Christoph / Arlberg
Austria

Tel: +43 (0) 5446 2611
Fax: +43 (0) 5446 3773
Email: info@arlberghospiz.at

 

 

Ananda in the Himalayas

Meandering through the swarming, sweaty streets of Old Delhi, it's hard to believe India is the home of such life-affirming practices as yoga, meditation and ayurveda. As you weave your way between the ramshackle buildings, narrowly avoiding being run over by cows and countless rickshaws, the last thing on your mind is relaxation and a holistic way of life. Yet just an hour north of Delhi by plane, in the foothills of the Himalayas, there's the perfect place to do just that.

Ananda Spa is in the grounds of Maharaja Tehri-Garhwal's picturesque palace, perched high above the spiritual city and ‘world capital of yoga’ of Rishikesh. In the late 1960s The Beatles came here to seek enlightenment, lean yoga, and meditate - much of the White Album was written at an Ashram in Rishikesh.

The award-winning Ananda opened its doors in 2000 with a mission to restore balance and harmonise energy. And its location, surrounded by forest in the high-altitude pristine air of the Himalayas makes it the perfect place to start. In Sanskrit, the word Ananda means bliss and contentment, and, like most spa resorts, it's certainly easy to feel that way here. What makes Ananda different, however, is that it draws on India's various philosophies and practices to help you chill out, slim down and clean up your body.

The palatial former maharajan residence blends the traditional Indian wellness regimes of Ayurveda, yoga and Vedanta (seeking a higher truth or knowledge through meditation) to holistically treat the mind, body and soul, while the peace and tranquility of Ananda is a real antidote to modern life.

I visited in December to experience Ananda’s Stress Management package, which is especially geared towards frazzled individuals. The vicissitudes of life as a corporate lawyer rendered this the obvious choice, but there are over thirteen different packages to choose from, including yogic detox, anti-ageing, Himalayan romance and a ladies spa getaway – each one tailored to a guest’s personal preferences.

Each package contains a unique combination of treatments and activities, but a full body scrub is the inaugural treatment for all the packages. Luis Molina, newly instated as the Spa Manager, explains that the scrub is at once psychologically, as well as physically significant as the initial therapeutic procedure – not only is it the most invigorating remedy after a long journey, but the feeling of sheer spotlessness after having been scoured with essential oil-infused sea salt results additionally in a feeling of mental clarity.

My package included a Wellness Consultation with an Ayurvedic Doctor, which involved a diagnosis of my bodily constitution, highlighting how diet and changes in lifestyle could improve my overall quality of life. Ayurveda is a holistic philosophy that matches foods to three different body types, or dosha. I was declared to be ‘vata’ (my boyfriend by contrast was pronounced ‘pitta’). Helpfully, the restaurant offers a menu with optimum suggestions for each of the three body types, in addition to the regular a la carte options. The food, by the way, is absolutely out of this world. Cast aside any preconceptions you might hold about ‘spa food’ – at Ananda deprivation is not on the agenda. Having said that, for those who are conscious of their weight, the good news is that every item on the menu has a calorie count. As well as recommending the foods you should be eating, the doctor will suggest a routine to help improve your health and wellbeing.

Ayurvedic principles are also a salient feature of the spa; the oils and lotions used in the treatments will be specific to your particular dosha. A particular highlight of my host of treatments, which included massages, private yoga classes and an insanely sublime Indian head massage was Sirodhara, or "third eye" - an ayurvedic treatment that involves a steady stream of oil being poured on to the centre of your forehead. It is said to calm the mind, improve the memory, help insomnia and ward off senile dementia. Well, if that's what it did, I wanted it.

To begin with, I was given an abhyanga treatment, which involves two therapists in a synchronised massage using herbal oils. Then I was rolled onto my back and the pouring began. First, the smell - sour and acrid: I wasn't convinced my nostrils could cope with this for 45 minutes. The next thing I knew, I was being woken up - I had slept through the entire shebang. Exactly the same thing happened the following day - first the smell, then near-coma, much to the amusement of the therapists.

To enhance the sense of calm there were breathing and relaxation classes, not to mention early-morning yoga in the palace's music pavilion taken by Rishi (otherwise known as Dishy Rishi), the best-looking yoga instructor on any side of the Himalayas.

Picking a package is the most cost-effective way to visit Ananda, but it is also possible to create your own agenda from the full range of ayurvedic treatments on offer, as well as the usual spa fare from over 40 available treatments such as Thai or Swedish massage, reflexology, body wraps and polishes, facials and pedicures. And should you choose aromatherapy make sure you ask for Pummy, who gave me the best aromatherapy massage that I have ever had.

There are a number of group activities available to all guests – two consecutive early morning yoga sessions for beginners and intermediates, a bi-weekly trek to a nearby temple, twice-daily lectures on spiritual topics, a weekly cookery class and a delightful dance show by children from a local orphanage. In fact, pretty much my only grumble is that there were simply not enough hours in the day for me to experience everything that I wanted to during my stay.

It could have been the altitude - 3,000 feet above sea-level in the foothills of the Himalayas; it might have been the closeness of Hradwar and Rishikesh - sacred Hindu pilgrimage sites - while the Ganges rushed down in the valley; but I have a niggling feeling that my exaggerated sense of wellbeing was actually due to the glorious fusion of massage, good food and daily yoga. I cannot recommend the Ananda experience highly enough.

 

Ananda Executive Stress Management Package from $3270 for 5 nights (plus 12% government tax)

The Palace Estate
Narendra Nagar
Tehri - Garhwal
Uttaranchal - 249175
INDIA
Telephone: 91-1378-227500
Facsimile: 91-1378-227550
Email: reservation@anandaspa.com

 

 

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Hotel Corvinus Budapest

With its grand Austro-Hungarian boulevards, Art Nouveau architecture and fin-de-siècle air, Budapest is one of the great showcases of central European culture. It is beautifully defined by the Danube, which runs through its heart, neatly bisecting urban Pest from the more rarefied hills of Buda. Its old-world coffee houses serve rich cakes and pastries. And its residents have been enjoying the natural hot-water springs and culture of bathing and spas since Roman times. A bonus in these lean times is that it is cheap: a recent survey conducted by the Post Office found that of all the central and eastern European cities outside the Eurozone, Budapest represented the best value of all.

If high culture and low cost are not temptation enough, further persuasion to visit – were any needed – is provided by the Hotel Corvinus – a postmodern five-star hotel, located close to both the tourist quarter and the financial district, with 335 beautifully outfitted rooms, 31 suites, three restaurants, an Asian spa and a luxury shopping arcade. The Hotel also owns a unique collection of contemporary Hungarian art, while the Kempinski Gallery exhibits temporary modern art shows. The hotel (the first Hungarian member of The Leading Hotels of the World and recipient of the prestigious “Seven Stars and Stripes” Award) boasts a serene atmosphere, luxurious rooms, elegant restaurants and state-of-the-art technology. In its blend of tradition and modernity the Corvinus is, in many ways, emblematic of modern day Budapest.

My room was decorated in hues of duck-egg blue, warm beige and silver. The pale wood bedhead was pale wood inset with lacquer; behind them, a feature wall was padded in turquoise, matching the drapes. The room also featured striped velvet sofas with roll arms, pale wood desks, complimentary wireless internet access and two desk chairs. The marble bathrooms was inset with mother of pearl mosaic chips in the floor and walls, and came replete with all the mod cons, a large walk in shower and an adjacent bath.

The Hotel showcases a smorgasbord of seasonal specials in the Bistro Jardin, Ristorante Giardino and Lobby Lounge & Bar, and the seasonal Kempinski Terrace and Fashion Lounge on the pedestrianised Fashion Street. Furthermore, the Hotel is now also home to Nobu, which was opened with much fanfare in autumn 2010. The sake barrel was cracked open by Robert De Niro, managing partner Meir Teiper, Andy Vajna, the owner of the restaurant and Nobu Matsuhisa himself while a star studded international A-list crowd watched.

In keeping with the long-standing Hungarian tradition of spas and well-being, the hotel features the Asian-accented Kempinski Spa, designed by Hungarian architect Agnes Balint, uses natural materials, including indigenous Indonesian and Chinese handcrafted furniture. The 500 square metre Spa, with its impressive vista over St Stephen’s Cathedral, features a fitness centre, indoor pool, a traditional Finnish sauna, steam bath, solarium and a therapeutic bath and massage suite, which is also suitable for treatments for couples. An ice well, heated Kneipp benches, foot soaking basins and several treatment rooms offering aromatherapy, combine with integrated audio and lighting systems to provide a holistic sensory experience that is unrivalled in Budapest. I asked the receptionist to recommend her favourite treatment, and she unhesitatingly answered ‘Pantai Luar’. I followed her tip, and was delighted; the 60 minute treatment involved a heady combination of heat, aromatic botanicals and massage using heated stamps of coconut, lime and herbs, and I left feeling utterly uplifted.

Locationwise, the hotel is second to none in downtown Budapest; a stone’s throw from Váci Street, Erzsébet Square and Vörösmarty tér, home to the famous Gerbeaud Cafe. The transportation hub Deák tér is also nearby for a quick escape by metro to all the other sights of the city.

Standard rooms from EUR 143 per night

Erzsébet tér 7-8 • Budapest -1051 • Hungary

www.kempinski.com/budapest 

Cinnamon Club

Since The Cinnamon Club opened in 2001, a steady procession of politicians, lobbyists, deal-makers and celebrities has made it one of the most fashionable of Westminster’s eateries. The restaurant occupies the site of what was previously the old Westminster library, a grand lump of red-brick Gothic Victoriana not far from the House of Commons. When it opened, some commentators held up the development as a marker for all that was wrong about 21st-century London. Supplanting a cathedral of learning with one where fat wallets spend their largesse on increasing their largeness. This is not entirely fair. It makes it sound like a gang of crack restauranteurs abseiled down the walls and flung themselves in through the leaded windows before burning the books and proclaiming kitchen rule. It didn't happen like that. Westminster council closed the library and offered up the building to a commercial interest. Iqbal Wahhab won the lease. At least it's not another office block. Plus there are attempts to replicate the air of a library; the gallery is packed with row after row of old books (although on closer inspection, the floor-to-ceiling bookcase in the smart bar reveals shelf contents presented more for decoration than erudition, and far too many Bibles for any real book lover).

The cavernous husk of the library bestows a cool, calm space with a lovely airy vault, fine parquet floors and great stretches of brown-leather panelling. It is a space that lends equally well to lunches as to dinners. In spite of its size, the clever lighting brings night-time intimacy to the place, reminiscent of evening sojourns spent enveloped in the library at university. More surprising still was the sociable buzz about the place, which for 7pm on a Monday night was nothing short of startling.

All curry clichés are banned from the menu, so don’t even bother if you want chicken tikka masala, onion bhaji or poppadoms. There is tandoori on the menu, but it is pigeon or Portobello mushroom. We settled for the tasting menu (my companion opting for the vegetarian version). The amuse-gueule was a magnificent mouthful of sweet potato fritter served with sweet tamarind sauce, which came perched on beautiful porcelain with a dainty fork.

Then came the starters. My friend declared his potato cake with date, spinach and apricot a revelation and enthused over his curried vegetable ravioli with a pomegranate extract and. The spice kick came subtly and the sweetness of the sauce played beautifully against it. My fish succession of salmon, scallop and king prawn (the latter simmered in saffron and almond sauce) was superb. All the fish was expertly cooked - crisp on the outside, and yet still tender within, and there was a gentleness to the tandoori spicing of the salmon that left an impression without overwhelming the flavour of the seafood itself.

My veggie chum, whose anticipation had been piqued by the potato cake, declared his main course of Portobello mushroom, vegetable curry and tomato naan ‘good but unexceptional’. By contrast my red deer with fenugreek onion sauce was a sensitively-spiced, achingly tender textural triumph. It was also beautifully presented, to the extent that we joked whether we should eat it or photograph it. I ended up doing both.

Pudding lifted the game yet again; saffron poached pears with lemon and pistachio mousse were delicate and soothing. But a cautionary note. The food is rich, very rich, and very abundant: a pre-pudding amuse-bouche, along with the pre-starter and the petits fours, took the tasting menu course tally from eight to eleven. Pre-prandial planning would therefore be prudent.

Although prices are high, the spectacular tasting menu, at £75, represents real value, and whilst the concept of upmarket Indian food may no longer be considered cutting-edge stuff, rarely is it realised at this level of innovation and excellence.

The Old Westminster Library,

30-32 Great Smith Street,London SW1P 3BUT: 020 7222 2555info@cinnamonclub.com