When I first visited Switzerland, I had heard of up-market St. Moritz where the wealthy come to play.
But thanks to a local suggestion, I chose to go to Sils Maria, a tiny village just a couple of lakes away, with a permanent population of only 750.
And over the years since then, my visits to Sils Maria’s top-ranked Hotel Privata have become ever more memorable.
The building was born in 1630 as a farmhouse. In its present reincarnation, the hotel will be celebrating its 100th birthday in 2021.
Fourth generation Corina Giovanoli has run the hotel since 2008. And I’m sure keeping it all in the family has ensured the hotel’s quality, popularity and success.
Recently I did go back again: my fifth visit. I have always enjoyed Switzerland’s early summer with snow still on the mountain peaks yet fields of fragrant alpine flowers at the lower elevations. And Hotel Privata has its own exquisite garden, carefully and lovingly tended by Corina’s mother Ursula.
The extra touches make all the difference: French service at dinner, with seconds if you are still hungry; instantly changing a reserved seat in the restaurant to a better position if a special friend shows up unexpectedly; mending a torn shirt pocket; complimentary afternoon tea in the garden with a sweet treat and perhaps home-grown rhubarb.
Another advantage of visiting the Engadin area in summer is the valuable pass you receive if you stay more than two nights, providing free travel on bus, train and most importantly mountain gondola, railway and chairlift.
Otherwise, you would spend up to $100 for a single return trip on some of the higher mountain peaks. And the free bus pass even takes you as far as Chiavenna, just across the Italian border.
For such a tiny village, Sils plus the surrounding area offer a surprising number of unusual activities like standing/riding on a “trotti” – trotinette, a heavy-duty scooter with mountain bike wheels and brakes – down the hiking path/trail from the Marguns gondola top station at 2,273m.
Or having a beautifying milk bath on offer at the Alp-Schaukaserei, just below the Morteratsch glacier, the by-product of the cheese-making process. I declined, but a modern-day Cleopatra stripped off, climbed into the wooden tub and afterward reported her skin remained especially smooth and silky.
Finally, on a visit to the 2,926m Eggishorn lookout, in the nearby Bernese alps, I lucked upon a group of alphorn players rehearsing for an upcoming concert.
They stood with their four-metre instruments stretched out down on to the snow in front of them with a backdrop of spectacular snow-covered peaks. They even finished off with an impromptu yodel. It couldn’t have been any more Swiss than that.
See www.hotelprivata.ch/en for more.
Coast Reporter money columnist Mike Grenby also teaches travel writing journalism and public speaking at Bond University on Australia’s Gold Coast - mgrenby@bond.edu.au
