There are many good reasons to prolong your summer at the Monastero Santa Rosa on the Amalfi Coast

Hamburg / Conca dei Marini, September 2020 – Getting some sun again. And enjoy the special light on the Amalfi Coast. At the same time you can enjoy peace and quiet and above all a lot of space and privacy. The Monastero Santa Rosa is the perfect place for this. The former Dominican monastery from the 17th century is enthroned on the top of a rugged rock spur. Wherever you are, you can look out over the Gulf of Salerno, which shimmers silvery in the morning sun and on whose horizon the sun sets like a picture book.

Condé Nast Traveler: BEST HOTEL IN ITALY

Only twenty rooms and suites are available in this charming refuge, which has been named the best hotel in Italy and one of the ten best hotels in the world by Condé Nast Traveler magazine. Three experiences make it unforgettable. Firstly, there is the bath in the infinity pool. You jump into the pool, swim out into the sky and seem to land in the sea. The second is the restaurant “Il Refettorio”, which was awarded a star by the Guide Michelin. In autumn, chef Christoph Bob and his team create menus made of porcini mushrooms, pumpkin and the so-called polpitielli, which translates as small pasta, but in reality are small squid, which are fished directly below the monastero. Vegetables and herbs come from his own garden. And last but not least, there is the wonderful spa in the former utility rooms of the former monastery. In autumn, the special treatment with the essence of grapes, which goes back to monastic rituals, is available here. After a foot and face bath, this includes a full body peeling and a massage with wine oil. All treatments are also offered in a special part of the terraced, biblical garden.

monasterosantarosa.com

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100 days to go until the opening of
the winter season with new spa

Hamburg / Sils Maria, September 2020 – In its simplicity and elegance it reminds one of a Roman bath. Daylight falls through large shafts onto the thermal pools ten meters below ground. The spa at Waldhaus Sils was designed by the Basel architects Miller & Maranta. When it was completed four years ago, the renowned hotel already had the potential for expansion. And this will now be completed at the beginning of the winter season: a textile-free area with a further sauna, fresh air area, a cooling area and a larger relaxation room with a magnificent view. “The building has been so perfectly thought out by Miller & Maranta that it does not restrict the view from the rooms to the mountain world. During the implementation we were also able to take into account the wishes and suggestions of our guests”, says Patrick Dietrich, who runs the Waldhaus Sils together with his brother Claudio Dietrich in the fifth generation of the family. The spa is managed by his sister, Carla Lehner-Dietrich. She says: “The generous extension fits perfectly into this era and offers guests numerous opportunities for relaxation. Anyone who, after a visit to the sauna, has lain in the new relaxation room and looked out into the mountain world will never forget this moment”. The loungers in the relaxation room were made especially for the hotel – from the larches that gave way to the spa building at the time. The therapists use spa products from Susanne Kaufmann for their treatments.

The Waldhaus Sils is enthroned like a castle above the village Sils Maria. In its more than 100-year-old history, it has become probably the most famous artists’ hotel on the continent. Among its visitors are guests such as Richard Strauss, Kurt Tucholsky, Erich Kästner, Max Reinhardt, Marc Chagall, Otto Klemperer, Max Liebermann, Gerhard Richter, Christoph Marthaler and Luchino Visconti. The writer Martin Mosebach wrote about the Belle Époque House, which is situated 1800 meters above sea level: “The end of the world could take place, and one would not learn of it in the Waldhaus until a week later, through an unagitated information from the porter.

www.waldhaus-sils.ch

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The ADLER Lodge ALPE provides its guests with
e-bikes of the Cult brand Bianchi ready. And your tour guide knows unforgettable routes across the most beautiful high alpine pasture in Europe

Hamburg / Alpe de Siusi, June 4th, 2020 – They are a mountain festival, reliable, and bella figura they also make – the turquoise e-bikes of the Italian cult brand Bianchi. Perfect for the Dolomites, they even open up the mighty Sassolungo Group, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Starting point is the ADLER Lodge ALPE on the Seiser Alm. Right in front of your door you can start. Already the gravel road, which leads across Europe’s most beautiful high alpine pasture, is an experience because of the magnificent view. Bike guide Georg Welponer has also prepared tours that allow guests of the lodge to get very close to the mountains: To Compatsch and Puflatsch, for example, and then on the beautiful panorama trail below the horse teeth. Or to the Sella Pass via a completely new route that is not yet shown on the maps. Or just to the Plattkofel. Georg Welponer says: “Up to the Zallinger Hut it’s an almost comfortable ride on the e-bike, despite the ascent, and there you’re right at the foot of the mighty mountain. From there, real experts also take the last ascent to the Plattkofelhütte – but be careful: the descent over the gravel road is so difficult that you keep seeing holidaymakers pushing their bikes downhill.

The ADLER Lodge ALPE, which has won many awards, stands alone on the UNESCO-protected Seiser Alm: an ensemble of 18 spacious suites and 12 luxurious chalets, all with their own sauna and fireplace. Elegant and comfortable, built from local woods and furnished in modern alpine style. The lobby is surrounded by a spacious veranda, and the breathtaking view of the Rosszähne and Sciliar can even be enjoyed from the heated infinity pool. E-bikes and guided tours are included in the price for guests, beginners get an introduction.

adler-lodge.com

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Hamburg Seaside Hotels take over
Resort on the Baa Atoll

Hamburg / Maldives, June 2019 – At sunset, says Gregor Gerlach, one sits on the terrace of his beach villa and sometimes experiences an unforgettable moment: “Then suddenly a ray floats past in the turquoise blue water. The Hamburg hotelier (50) is not raving about a personal holiday in the Maldives, but has acquired the Finolhu Resort on the Baa Atoll together with his sister Anouchka Gerlach (39) – a corresponding lease agreement for 50 years has now been concluded with the country’s Ministry of Tourism. The Seaside Hotels portfolio now includes a total of 11 hotels and resorts.

Finolhu – which means “sandbank” in translation – is considered one of the most beautiful resorts on the Baa Atoll, which is protected by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve. It was opened in June 2016 and consists of four islands with long beaches. 125 villas on the beach and above the water (more than half of them with private pools) and four restaurants are available for guests. “At 1,800 metres, the complex is extensive, and you won’t get an island frenzy there. Due to its size it is not only suitable for honeymooners, but also for families. We are very child-friendly,” says Gregor Gerlach. He and his team will nevertheless make small course corrections: The quality of the restaurants is to be optimised. And the Crab Shack restaurant, which has become a favourite place for many guests because its simplicity almost gives you a Robinson Crusoe feeling, will no longer be open only at lunchtime in the future: In the future it will also offer cocktails and snacks at sunset. Gregor Gerlach says: “Food and environmental protection are two important topics at Seaside Hotels, for both we have already received several awards”.

An environmental study on Baa Atoll determines for each hotel what can be built and how, and how things have to be maintained. In order to avoid garbage through plastic bottles, Finolhu Resort has created its own facility for bottling drinking water. And a hotel-owned marine biologist takes care of the responsible interaction between guests and the environment. The hotel has a total of around 350 employees. With its own laundry, power generation, carpentry and tailoring, Finolhu is largely self-sufficient. Employees are regularly sensitised to environmental aspects in courses. “We are extremely pleased with the new project,” says Gregor Gerlach. Finolhu’s partner hotel will be the Seaside Hotel on Gran Canaria – Grand Hotel Residencia. The multiple award-winning hotel is one of the Leading Hotels of the World and from now on regularly sends managers to the Maldives to exchange knowledge. For Seaside guests, Finolhu should become another exciting experience. Of course also because of the unique nature: The Baa Atoll is home to 1200 different species of fish. It is especially known for the world’s highest population of manta rays.

finolhu.com

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Two stars, 16 points and the top mark of 9.7 – just over a year after its reopening «Atlantis by Giardino» is Zurich’s favourite hotel according to critics and guests. And the celebrities are back too.

Zurich/Hamburg, November 3 2016 – There is a beautiful quote from one of the guests of the «Hotel Atlantis». He wrote: „The first time I came to Zurich, I visited the Atlantis. Since then I come to the Atlantis and visit Zurich.“ This quote also beautifully reflects the enthusiasm of today´s guests. Barely a year after the legendary house was reopened by the «Giardino Hotel Group» it is at the top of the rankings. After receiving two Michelin Guide qstars and 16 Gault Millau points for its „Ecco“ restaurant, the hotel guests have now given the Atlantis top marks: Number one on «Tripadvisor», 9.7 out of a possible 10 points on «booking.com» and voted «exceptional». Hotel critics are equally euphoric. In addition, the hotel has just been nominated for the „European Design Award“. And the stars are back too. The hotel doesn´t do any name dropping, of course. But some of its famous visitors document their stay at the «Atlantis» themselves. Rihanna for instance, posted a picture on «snapchat» a few weeks ago, showing herself on the wooden deck of the 25m outside pool. Here the stars continue a tradition, for in the 1970s the hotel was a hot spot for the big names of the music business: Grace Jones, Frank Zappa, Elton John and many more. A quote for the successful comeback of the hotel at the foot of the Üetliberg offers Tina Turner: «Simply the best». She stayed here too obviously.

The «Atlantis by Giardino» is a architectural jewel. A gem of Zurich´s postwar modernism. Parts of its facade and its famous spiral staircase are listed. The house includes 95 rooms and suites and combines style, elegance and mediterranean hospitality.

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Swiss hotel owner and art collector Carlos Gross is not a friend of bric-a-brac. „Lifestyle“ is an alien concept to him. So is the compulsion for „always-bigger-always-faster“. His Hotel Aldier in the Swiss mountain village of Sent has neither wellness nor fitness facilities. Instead it offers its guests a unique art collection, a magnificient library and above all, something that has gone a bit out of fashion – attention! For the coming season the hotelier has given his love for small things full rein. On arrival his guests will find a book as a welcome present on their pillows. The jam glasses will have labels including height meters – they indicate where Carlos Gross collected the fruit that he obviously made into jam himself. There is for instance „Elderberry 1290 above sea level“ or „Plum 928 above sea level“. The current menu has an equally charming note. Not only does it list dishes of an unpretentions, unfussy cuisine, motivated by imagination and sustained by local produce, but it also showcases the artwork of Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershoi.

„We want to give our guests a memorable time – and the feeling of staying with friends,“ says Carlos Gross. His hotel is a typical Engadiner home, built in 1865 and renovated by Swiss architekt Duri Vital. The foyer contains animal sculptures by Diego Giacometti. The salon shows black and white portraits by photographer Ernst Scheidegger. Original graphic work from Corbusier, Miro and Chillida decorate the 16 guest rooms.  Unique worldwide is the Alberto Giacometti collection. More than 100 litographies and engravings have found their home in the hotel´s museum, a white lime vaulted cellar; the painter in his studio, female nudes,  „objects mobiles“. A vast library is also part of the house – fiction throughout the breakfast room, art books in the honesty bar, first floor. The bar itself is reminiscent of a gentlemen´s club – simple, elegant and surprisingly funky.

Summer season starts June 10^th 2016. DR from 256 SF including breakfast.

Der Beitrag Simply Being! erschien zuerst auf TN Hotelconsulting.

He is being trained by a tenor at La Scala in Milan. And he occasionally belts out an aria while working as restaurant manager at the Hotel Giardino Ascona. He breeds parrots and drives the same motorbike as Tom Cruise. And because Mauro Pacchioli is a pilot as well he likes to invite guests to a little sightseeing flight over Lago Maggiore.

text: Tomas Niederberghaus, photos: Cyrus Saedi

„Let´s start with the most important thing“, says Mauro. „If the engine cuts out, please don´t panic. This aircraft can be landed like a glider.“ What an intro! Actually, Mauro Pacchioli has to smile himself after making it. He knows only too well that we are in Switzerland, where the precision of airplane maintenance is taken even more seriously than that of clockwork.

Moreover, the 44-year-old Italian is an experienced pilot. He has started his little white Piper Warrior, which is waiting for us at the sports and military airport Locarno, well over 500 times.

Mauro Pacchioli is a man of many talents and passions. He breeds plants and parrots and is training to become a classical singer at the Helvetic Music Institue Blinzona, where he is taught by a tenor from the Scala Milan. At his Giardino restaurant, Aphrodite, the maître d’ occasionally breaks into an aria at dinner time. His hotel guests only know him in formal suit. Now he is wearing a bomber jacket, Ray Bans and baseball cap. He climbs into the aircraft and starts the engine. Last security check. Mauro glances at the instruments, presses a few buttons, makes contact with the tower – then we´re rolling towards the runway. On the right hand side, a gas station, a bit further on a massive military helicopter. We come to a halt. The pilot test revs the engine in neutral: „Works beautifully“. Were the engine a singer, it would be a baritone.

„You have to fly a vecchia signora (an elderly lady) like this with style and sensitivity“.

Flight control gives its ok. Mauro moves the gas lever forwards. The plane starts rolling, gathering more and more speed. The lights on the left and right of the runway become solid lines. Take off! Incredible!

Heading south from Locarno over the green Brissago islands. Then we´re flying over Ascona at 120 miles an hour. It´s easy to make out the boats in the harbour and the promenade. Even the free spirits on Monte Veritá would still be visible, were they still looking for their happiness, dancing around in dresses of light.

A few seconds later the Hotel Giardino is below us, where Mauro has been working for the last 20 years. We are wearing head phones and communicate via microphones: „ How did you become a pilot?“, I ask. „ As a kid I loved remote control aeroplanes“, says Mauro. „A few years ago a friend of mine came from Vienna to Locarno. He called on the way to tell me he had just landed. That he flew the plane himself only dawned on me at dinnertime. When I took him to the airport on Sunday, I saw him enter his plane and take off – a mere 24 years old. I thought: „Cool – I would enjoy that too.“

Mauro immediately asked to have Saturdays off at the Giardino. Three years later he held his pilot´s licence in hands. His final test was a solo flight to Sion in Switzerland. His longest flight so far took him to Genua.

We´re also just flying over the border to Italy – at roughly 120 miles an hour. Visibility is perfect, we can make out the Alps on the horizon. Grandly we float high above the countryside. Verbania comes in sight, pretty historical buildings. In one of them lives Eros Buratti, the world famous cheese merchant. To the right the botanical gardens of Villa Taranto emerge, where the first camellias are blossoming already. Konrad Adenauer once donated a fir tree to the estate.

„Do you want to take over?“, Mauro asks. „Well, rather not, or perhaps…what do I have to do?“ I follow Mauro´s instructions, get hold of the steering in front of me and keep it steady. „As a pilot you need courage, discipline, concentration and respect for man and machine. Such a Vecchia Signora / an elderly lady needs to be treated with style and sensitivity.“ says Mauro. I push the steering column forward, the elderly lady drops down, we are now heading directly towards the Borromaic islands. To be more precise, towards the biggest of the islands, Isola Bella. Another elderly lady. Her summer palace and terraced park greet us from below. Napoleon stayed here. Carefully I pull the joystick towards me and we gain altitude again. Who’d want to drive a car after this adventure?

„Flying for me is like singing. I enter a different dimension.“

Somewhere above Centovalli – I have in the meantime handed the job back to the pilot again – Mauro makes contact with the tower and announces our return. Whoever called this patch of land Centovalli, must have been drunk. It´s only a single valley but it looks magnificent. Ragged cliffs, dense jungle, waterways, mountain ranges. And the Maggiatal, incredibly green as well. Somewhere down there lives Dimitri, the famous clown. Is he juggling balls right now? Or having his lunch time nap? „Look“, says Mauro and points towards a gigantic wall. 660 feet high. That is the dam wall James Bond jumped off in Goldeneye. These days bungee jumpers throw themselves off it. „Have you tried that too, Mauro?“, I ask. „No“, says the pilot, prepares for landing and, after an hour of flight time, brings the Piper Warrior safely to the ground.

In a few hours’ time he will be at his restaurant, Aphrodite, and maybe surprise his guests with some Caruso. Before we say our good byes he gets philosophical: „Flying for me is like singing. I enter a different dimension. High in the sky – or deeply immersed in an aria.“

Then he mounts his Kawasaki and disappears. By the way, he´s got the same motorbike as Tom Cruise in Top Gun.

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