Since when has No Crowds been dishing out travel awards? A
consultant friend of mine told me to do it years ago, but I wasn’t inspired or
ready. Now I am.
This readiness comes from a stay at the Hotel La Perla in
Corvara, Italy this September with my mother and father, aged respectively 84
and 90.
We had gone to the Dolomites to hike. That sentence is one of my favorite
party tricks. “What, your parents are still hiking – in the mountains!?! ”
Well, yes, in fact, they are - despite operations and arthritis and age-related
‘stuff’ large and small – yes, they are.
It was early last summer, when my father called to announce
that a hiking trip to the Dolomites was on the cards.
“Great, Dad, who are you going with?”
“Your mother and I are going by ourselves. We thought we
would go to the area where you and Alexa (my sister) like to ski. What do you
think is the best hotel?”
“Well Dad, I would go to Hotel La Perla. It has an excellent
reputation, a wonderful position in the village and a nice bar."
"OK, sounds good. If you like, why don’t you join us for a
few days."
"I would love to."
By the time I arrived, my parents were La Perla cognoscenti.
The Costa family who own and run the hotel perfectly understood the spirit of
this American couple who loved being able to be there. The bartender made their
favorite martinis perfectly. The food was lovely. Their Tyrolean-style room was
comfortable and stylish with a great view. The hotel had found them an
energetic and talented young man about the age of their grandchildren to serve
as a mountain guide. Everyone from the front desk to the staff in the dining
rooms valued the effort and importance of this trip to my parents. And as you
can imagine, my parents loved being valued.
But it was when it was time to say goodbye to this alpine arcadia,
that I realized how extraordinary La Perla is. As we emerged from the hotel for
the last time, lining our way to the taxi was a guard of honor comprised of the
staff and Costa family. And then
they burst into applause. Yes, you got that right, my parents were applauded
out of the hotel. They were applauded for their attitude to life, for their hats
(see picture above) and for all they had achieved during their stay. Once in the car,
my mother turned to me and said, “I have been to most of the grand hotels in
the world (if you know her, you know that statement is true). La Perla is the
nicest.”
And that is why No Crowds is proud to bestow its first award
to the Hotel La Perla in Corvara – the world’s nicest hotel.
