The World's Nicest Hotel has a Baby

Every year since 2006 we have argued that the best skiing in Europe can be found in the Dolomites. The posts can be found here and here’s a summary of why we have never felt the need to go anywhere else:

·      One ski pass = 1,200 kilometers of trails, 510 lifts across 12 valleys encompassing 3 regions of Italy. That’s the equivalent of skiing from New York to Chicago in an area so special it has been declared a World Heritage Site

·      Dramatic scenery and delightful villages that offer the very best of Austrian and Italian traditions and culture

·      An almost infinite number of mountain huts and restaurants with exceptionally wonderful food and drink at attractive prices

And now there’s another reason: The Berghotel Ladinia. This small, charming 3-star hotel has been recently taken over by the Costa family who own and run the fabulous Hotel La Perla next door. (Our recent post about La Perla can be found here).

 Ladinia was always a great little hotel with its perfect ski-on, ski-off position and chalet coziness but now with the Costa’s imprimatur, it has been taken to a whole new level of specialness. It’s bijou but everything reflects the family’s passion for quality - from the décor, to the staff, to the food and drink. For the price, you will not find better value. And if you wish, for an additional charge, you can use the spa facilities at Hotel La Perla that my ski buddies describe as lovely and very restorative.

So another year and No Crowds skiing advice holds firm. If you want to impress someone, go to Zermatt but if you want to ski more, eat better and spend less, head for Corvara where the world’s nicest hotel and its new berghotel baby await you.

Photo Credit: Gary Ransom

No Crowds Bestows Top Award to World’s Nicest Hotel

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.

You Can't Go Home

"You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood ... back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame ... back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time…"

Thomas Wolfe

“You can’t go back to Parkhotel Planac.”

No Crowds

Every year since 2005, we have skied in a wonderful, undiscovered region of the Dolomites called the Alta Badia. The advantages are many. It is a massive area of dramatic scenery, easy skiing, few lines, excellent food and comparatively low prices. For most of those years, we stayed at a brilliantly positioned hotel on the slopes outside the town of Corvara called the Parkhotel Planac. A comfortable 3 star with good food and charming staff, we were happy as clams and if you care, you can read about those halcyon days here.

But how it pains me to write the next sentence. Reader, they sold it. Yes, our hotel was sold and is under new management. All the things that made the place convenient and charming – the shuttle bus into town – gone. The gala dinner where the chef paraded something on fire around the dining room – gone. The carnival party (even during Lent) when we danced the night away with Chez Guevara and Scooby Doo – gone. What is left is a rather soulless place, desperately in need of renovation.

In fairness, the new staff tried to make us happy, the food was still pretty good, the rooms were clean and the position on the slope still fantastic. But now that the shuttle bus has been axed, you really need to bring a car if you are going to stay at Planac. As far as No Crowds is concerned, this was our last year.

As for Corvara, we still love it – for all the reasons we written about over the years. So we are searching for a new ski-on, ski-off 3* hotel in the Alta Badia filled with good food and good cheer..If you know of one, please do get in touch.

Photo Credit: Dubai Gary

Why is Lucca so Lucky?

Driving through the imposing medieval walls into the small Tuscan city of Lucca, we asked ourselves three questions:

Why does everyone look so happy?
Why is everyone on a bike?
Where is all the tourist hoopla?

Over the course of our three-day break, we found answers to all our questions.

First, everyone looks happy because they live and work in one of God’s green acres. According to Forbes magazine, Lucca is the second most idyllic place to live in Europe (after Patmos, Greece) and “has all the charm of Tuscany without the crowds … This is a quiet, though classy town, with lawyers and housewives peddling the narrow cobblestone streets past thousand year old churches and made-in-Italy fashion boutiques.” OK, that explains the contentment but …

Why does everone ride a bike? Because the busses don’t fit through the walled entrance and because most of the perfectly preserved historic centre has been pedestrianized. Locals and visitors alike find it more fun and easier to wiz around on bicycles. Bike rentals are everywhere and prices are reasonable (inquire at the tourist office). A highlight for visitors is to cycle the 4 km circuit around the broad, tree-lined ramparts.

But what about the tourist hulabaloo? As Lucca is a classy town and seems to appeal to a more discerning kind of tourist, the “tour bus, fake handbag and warped post card” options you find all over Florence and Pisa are in short supply. We did find lovely and fairly priced Italian linens in a shop called Butterfly on the Piazza S. Frediano and our daughter was able to find beautiful but affordable Italian paper and notebooks at the tobacconist on Via Santa Croce. Cultural offerings including churches, museums and ‘climbable’ bell towers were equally impressive and uncrowded.

Finally, we were delighted with our hotel and the restaurants. Thanks to the suggestion of Italian friends, we stayed at the mid-priced Hotel Ilaria, which was a great recommendation. This hotel benefits from an excellent location, charming staff, and lots of freebies including parking, WiFi, bicycles and drinks and snacks. Our rooms in the annexe, a former 14th century church, were large, nicely appointed and dead quiet. Rates include a generous buffet breakfast.

The best meal we had was at the Buca di Sant Antonio. This romantic restaurant has been a Mecca for the great and the good since 1782. The food and service were excellent. Also good was the Antica Locanda dell’Angelo where we feasted on budget busting truffles. We had a tasty €10-a-head lunch at Ristorante Gli Orti di via Elisa and the Café di Simo, with its belle époque interior, is a great place to see and be seen.

All in all, our three days in Lucca was hard to fault on any count. This town is indeed lucky, and we’ll be back.

Photo from Rex Maximillian's photo stream on Flickr.

A Roman Romance

“What would you say to a weekend in Rome?”

Having sworn off short haul air travel, trying to save some money and bearing in mind we’d been there before, I did not hesitate.

“Sure, that sounds great, let’s go.”

But to go to Rome without the children, to go, as they say, “a deux”, that would be a new experience. This was to be a travel story about romance, about ardent emotional attachments, about dreamy, imaginative habits of mind. We were going to Rome for 48 hours in search of romance but would we find it?

We got off to a bad start thanks to the inexplicable failings of Heathrow’s new Terminal 5. Leaving aside the confusing signage (don’t they test this stuff), you can’t convince me that queuing for 30 minutes for security at 6 o’clock in the morning in a flagship terminal that cost 8.4 billion dollars and 100 million man hours to build is anything short of pathetic. We were told there were problems with both the machines and staffing but this is what got me mad. EVERY store in the beautifully appointed and glamorously lit mega shopping area, including Prada, Dior, and Gucci, was fully staffed at 6:00 am and open for business. So how come the security staff can’t make it on time but the Prada and Gucci staff can? I’m sure I’m not alone in saying - I don’t want a damn handbag, I just want to get on my flight. After cursing air travel in the 21st century and promising never to buy anything at Heathrow ever again, we finally took off for our romantic weekend in Rome.

Things instantly took a turn for the better when we arrived at the atmospheric Hotel Locarno, a 1920s time capsule located on a small street just off the Piazza del Popolo. The Locarno is so bathed in sepia tones, so “out of time” and has so much faded charm, that you can’t help but think you have stepped onto a film set. In a way, you have, something that was recognised by the film director, Bernard Weber, who made the hotel both his home in Rome and the star of his 1978 film, Hotel Locarno, about a collection of characters who sought refuge from the modern world within it walls.

We were hooked instantly although our room, despite high ceilings and old fashioned furnishings, was nevertheless rather poky. Well, we did ask for their cheapest room. La Sorellina (the baby sister now living in Sydney but also back in town for a visit), who knows the hotel well, assures me that the deluxe rooms and suites are grand affairs. In the end, we were ridiculously happy at the Locarno, despite the poky room. Every thing else, the location, the public spaces, the bar, the roof terrace, the free old fashioned bicycles (perfect for riding in the nearby Borghese Gardens) put us in a wonderful, and yes, very romantic mood.

And what do people in search of romance do for fun in Rome. They eat. Thanks to the La Sorellina, we had one of those lunches that you can only have if you know someone. In this case, the restaurant was on the via del Croce, two blocks in from the via del Corso and I think it was called “Frescatteria” although it’s hard to be sure since the place has no number and no sign. There also was no phone, no credit cards and no coffee. The food was great. We had excellent stracetti and at €18 per person in one of Rome’s most expensive neighbourhoods, it was an absolute bargain.

Don’t you dare write about this restaurant, La Sorellina admonished at the end of the meal. Of course, writing about something and being able to find it are two different things but if you head down the via del Croce at lunch time and you see a small room crammed with people eating, go in. You’re probably there.

After lunch and to satisfy our desire for more romance, and a cup of coffee, we headed for Caffe Greco, Rome’s oldest and most atmospheric cafe on the via Condotti. Yes, its touristic and expensive but at the same time, the place still has much of the incomparable elegance that made it a favourite of the intellectual giants of the times. Chopin, Berlioz, Wagner and Mendellssohn, Goethe, Byron, Shelley and Keats, they all took their coffee there. Hans Christian Andersen lived upstairs. Blink, and despite the hordes of Japanese tourists, you are transported to another time when it was common to wile away the hours in Napoleonic splendour. The ageing waiters in frock coats (ours had a large bandage slapped up the side of his head) add to the old world atmosphere. La Sorellina reports that Caffe Greco is at its best in the early evening when the tourists have mostly departed and the Italians like to meet for a post shopping aperitivo.

That evening, we ate fish with La Sorellina and family at the Monserrato. It’s an intimate place where the day’s catch is prominently displayed as you come in the door. Needless to say, you would only put your fish out for all to see if they were very, very fresh. The Italians would spot a bad one in a heartbeat. We ate spaghetti vongole with gusto. Throughout the meal the Sorrelina’s children were clucked over and indulged and gazing down the table crowded with food and lively with conversation, I reflected on the fact that in Rome, even family dinners have a romance all their own.

On day two we continued our pursuit of great meals and civilising experiences. We spent a interesting morning at Trajan’s Market which has been newly reopened after a $7.6 million renovation. The results are impressive and go a long way to help visitors visualise what is no longer there. Later, we had lunch on the terrace of Da Giggetto in the old Jewish ghetto, stuffing ourselves on fried artichokes, zucchini flowers and bucatini all’ amatriciana and dinner at Trattoria da Settimio all’Arancio where the bistecca Florentina is so huge and obscene that they have to hang a side extension off your table to fit it all in.

Sadly, after 48 hours of indulging our appetites, admiring beauty and celebrating civilisation, it was time to return home. We had gone to Rome looking for romance and had been seduced, yet again, by that singular experience that is the Eternal City.

Useful Addresses

Hotel Locarno
Via della Penna 22
Tel: 39 06 361 0841
Fax: 39 06 321 5249
info@hotellocarno.com

Frescatteria
Somewhere on the via del Croce
No phone

Caffee Greco
Via Condotti 86
Tel: 06 67 82 554

Ristorante Monserrato
Via Monserrato 96
Tel: 0668 73 386

Da Giggetto
Via del Portico di Ottavia, 21a
Tel: 06 6861 105

Trattoria da Settimio all’ Arancio
Via dell Arancio 50
Tel: 06 68 76 119


Photo: Couple in MG, Ruth Orkin, 1951, Florence

And We Won't Mention Corvara

Last year at this time, I put my relationship with my brother-in-law on the line by writing about Corvara, an unheralded gem of a ski resort located in the Alta Badia region of the Dolomites in Italy which he wants to keep all to himself. This year, I invited a posse of “Alpha” skiers from the US and Europe to stress- test that overused phrase, “this is the best kept secret in the Alps”. A risky business considering that this season, European resorts have experienced some of the worst conditions on record. But I am happy to report that we had plenty of snow, conditions were excellent, we skied, ate and drank ourselves silly and now I run the risk of alienating not only my family but most of my best ski buddies by writing about Corvara.

Getting my Corvara converts to join me this year was no easy matter. The Dolomites have never commanded the international attention of skiing cognoscenti and there were some in our group who felt the terrain would be too easy, some who could not understand why we weren’t going to Cortina and a mild climate of disbelief that a resort no one had ever heard of could deliver a world class ski experience. To make matters worse, we were going to an untested hotel that, although ideally situated on a run next to a ski lift, was 1.5 kilometres out of town. If we didn’t like the place, we were isolated and stuck. My worries were endless. What if there was no snow? What if we don’t like the hotel? What if my love affair with Corvara and the Dolomites was not contagious? How do you get into a witness protection program?

Things got off to a bumpy start. The Cortina die-hards turned a 2 hour drive from Treviso into a 5 hour marathon, which included several turns around the Cortina one way system, a few stops at local establishments to recuperate, and several wrong attempts at finding the right mountain pass. Well, I did much worse than that three years ago having directed my family to the wrong Corvara (be forewarned, there are two) on the other side of the Dolomites which turned a three hour journey into eight. Even if your marriage can endure these drives, I would encourage you, if you are renting a car and driving to Corvara from any of the gateway airports (Venice, Treviso, Verona, Brescia, Milan or Bergamo), to get yourself a good map. Otherwise, you can order a taxi (roughly €700 round trip for 5 people) to take you to and from the airport. If you can get a flight to Bolzano, the taxi ride is shorter and cheaper. But the bottom line remains that transport to Corvara ain't easy. The assumption is that you are an Italian or German family, you speak the languages and know the roads. In the end of the day, it is probably what saves the place.

As for the skiing, my Alpha skiers were more than sold. When we arrived there was not a lot of snow and some of it was man-made, but what was there was superbly maintained. Overall, conditions were good and at higher elevations, excellent. Forty eight hours into our adventure, it snowed 6 to 8 inches, turned cold and the sun came out. Perfect. With 1,220 kilometres of prepared slopes and 460 lifts to choose from, we skied with abandon and without a lift line in sight.

As good as the skiing was, ultimately it was the drama and majesty of the Dolomites which won the hearts and minds of my friends. Even good photographs rarely do these mountains justice. “I just can’t believe how beautiful this is” was the constant refrain. Two highlights of the week were the ski tour to the Sanctuary of Santa Croce, with a church begun in 1485 by Archbishop “Konrad” of Bressanone with a good restaurant and the Lagazuoi Ski Tour which includes eerie views of World War I trenches set in cliffs almost 3,000 metres above sea level, an 8 kilometre run which descends Mount Lagazuoi (1,130 vertical metres) and a rope tow pulled by draft horses which transports skiers across the valley.

This is skiing about as far away from the maddening crowds as you can get. It has history, phenomenal natural beauty, and no crowds. This is my idea of alpine heaven. And if it is testosterone runs you are looking for, head over to Arraba where you can meet up with the snow boarders for more thrilling slopes. If it is three hour gourmet dining sandwiched between a little skiing and sunbathing that turns you on, try either the terrace restaurant Moritzino at Piz La Ila (the best mountain restaurant I’ve ever eaten at) or the terrace of the Armantarola Hotel near San Cassiano. For an inexpensive but good lunch in an out-of-the-way location, head for the Rifugio Passo Incisa in Arabba.

And what about our hotel? We loved it. The Parkhotel Planac is comfortable, well appointed, well run, fantastically situated and good value. The owner and staff deliver that hard to find combination of being “laid back” and “on top of their game” all at the same time. We were a large and noisy bunch but this fazed Planac not a bit. When we were making too much of a ruckus for our elderly German neighbours at dinner, they were discretely and happily moved to quieter quarters. Throughout our stay, requests were dealt with quickly and with charm. We paid €109 per person for a standard room with breakfast and dinner. Deluxe rooms are also available for €20 more per person per day and if that is in your budget the rooms are beautiful and more than worth it. We ran a pre-dinner bar for the group out of one of the deluxe rooms, Club 111, which saved us a ton of money on our bar bill and it was very “gemuetlich”.

T he food at Planac is classic Sud Tyrolese fare which combines elements of both the Austrian and Italian kitchen. Meals were well prepared, there was plenty of choice and portions were generous. Our waiters were professional but fun. The Welllness centre is run by a delightful and enthusiastic young woman who will massage, exfoliate and beautify you to your heart’s content. The sauna and whirlpool are included in the price of the room. There is a free shuttle service which takes you into town in the morning and afternoons. During the middle of the day, a trip to town is €5 for the journey for a group. Internet and wifi access are available.

If you happen to be at Planac in February for Carnival, get ready for the party of your life. We were all given “behaviour transforming” hats and wigs by hotel staff who were dressed as monks, Chez Guevara, angels, transvestites and more. With the help of a good live band, we danced the night away. My nine year old daughter Eloise was shocked at our behaviour. We were shocked at hers! The next morning, the entire kitchen staff complimented us on our party skills. I can’t remember when I have had more fun and that pretty much sums up our week in the Dolomites.

The bottom line is this. Corvara really is the best kept secret in the Alps. If you want a resort that will impress your friends, go to Lech or Zurs or Zermatt. If you want to pay less, wait less and enjoy yourself more, get a map and head for Corvara. Just be sure not to mention it.

Useful Addresses

For taxi service to and from Corvara
Pescosta Alfredo
Tel 0471 836393
Cell 347 261 5525

Parkhotel Planac
Via Planac, 13
I-39033 Corvara in Badia
Tel: 39 0471 83 62 10
Fax: 39 0471 83 65 98
info@planac.com
http://www.planac.com/

Moritzino’s Ristorante Gourmet
Piz La Ila
Tel 0471 847407 – 847403
Fax 0471 847395
Cell 335 600 94 56
http://www.moritzino.it/

Hotel Armentarola
I-39030 San Cassiano
Tel: 0471 84 95 22
Fax: 0471 84 93 89
info@armentarola.com

Rifugio Passo Incisa
32020 Arabba
Tel and fax 0436 79313

Photo courtesy of the Alta Badia Tourist Board website www.altabadia.org

Sicily - Great in Any Weather

Another school holiday loomed. One of our favourite things to do when all else fails is to freeload off my sister in her fab “La Dolce Vita” apartment in the ancient centre of Rome. “Could you put up with us for a few days”, I asked? “How about you meet us in Sicily for a long weekend” she countered and so the deal was struck.

Given that we only had an elongated weekend; Alexa was recommending the small village of Scopello, an easy 40 minute drive west from Palermo Airport and a short distance from the Zingarao Nature Reserve. The Zingaro , covering 4,000 acres with four miles of what many consider the most spectacular coastline in Sicily also represents one of the most intact ecological environments in the Mediterranean basin.

We were to stay at the Pensione Tranchina in Scopello, recommended by Karen Brown and others, owned and run by a Sicilian/Panamanian couple known for their warm welcome and knowledge of the local area.

A few days before our departure, a devastated Alexa called to say that the weather report for Sicily for the June weekend was uncharacteristically horrendous with rain, wind and low temperatures. One can only be philosophical about these things plus the acid test of a travel destination is whether it can charm visitors in less than charming weather. As it turned out, our weather was indeed lousy but Sicily was magical.

For us, the allure of the island centred on the combination of good beaches, exciting landscapes and coastline, great food and top tier antiquities. From our base in Scopello in the west, which is closer to North Africa than the Italian mainland, we could easily reach the empty beaches in the Zingaro Nature Reserve along well marked hiking trails. Equally accessible were the awe inspiring ancient Hellenic ruins of Selinute and Segesta and the medieval mountain town of Erice.

Selinute, the site of the Greek city of Selinus, lies in spectacular isolation on the coast. One has to use a lot of imagination to reconstruct the Greek colony from the collapsed temples and heaps of ancient rubble levelled over the centuries by earthquakes. Nevertheless, even our eight year old daughter was caught up in the romance of the enormous site, recounting for us the exciting tales of ancient gods and goddesses. After a heavy morning of antiquities, we had a good lunch at the Hotel Alceste in the beach resort of Marinella di Selinute, which is a five minute drive from the ruins of Selinus.

On another rainy day, we spent the morning at Segesta, the rival city of Selinus. Again, the ruins are set in dramatic isolation, this time in the middle of the countryside. More intact than Selinus with a superb Doric temple, the beautifully sited theatre proved the highlight for the children, who put on a performance of Shakespeare followed by popular songs for an appreciative audience of tourists.

Also to be recommended is the medieval mountain town of Erice towering 800 meters above sea level. On a good day, it is said that you can see both Mount Etna and Tunisia from the summit. Needless to say, we saw neither, but what we did do was have a jolly lunch at Ulisse ( the Cave of Polyphemus where the Cyclops ate 6 of Ulysses men can be found in Erice) near the main square where my brother-in-law drank the olive oil, much to the consternation of the proprietor. We visited an interesting modern art gallery, bought beautifully made non-touristy ceramics in a small shop, again off the main square and the olive oil drinking brother-in-law claims to have gotten the best old fashioned shave with a hot towel on the way back to the car. Not bad for a grey day.

Despite the uncooperative weather, I found Sicily to be a perfect No Crowds destination. The Sicilians were wonderful hosts, proud of their island and happy to share its rich heritage with an increasing number of visitors. Palermo Airport was modern, quick to get in and out of and surprisingly efficient.

Scopello proved to be an unspoiled medieval hamlet located on an incredibly idyllic stretch of coast, featured in the George Clooney film Ocean’s Twelve. In a perfect case of life imitating art, when the heist movie, Ocean’s Twelve, was filming in Scopello, several members of known Mafia families were arrested for trying to infiltrate the set, a charge which the producer of the film vigorously denies. For the record, we saw absolutely no evidence of anything sinister anywhere in Sicily, but then I’m no Julia Roberts.

Pensione Tranchina was a spotlessly clean and friendly place that offered excellent value, particularly the delicious four course dinners at €19 per person. We also had good meals in Scopello at Torre Benistra which has a beautiful outdoor terrace and Il Baglio in the courtyard.

The area around Scopello, particularly the romantic remains of the old tuna fishery, is delightful and popular with snorkelers and divers. The Zingaro Reserve is a brilliant example of conservation of which the Sicilians should be proud.

Of course our stay was too short and we visited only a fraction of what the island has to offer. But thanks to Alexa’s excellent planning, we were able to enjoy the best of Sicily on a busy holiday weekend with no crowds. We’ll be back and who knows, maybe next time in good weather.

Pensione Tranchina
Via A. Diaz n. 7
91014 Scopello
Tel: 0924541099
Fax: 0924541232
pensionetranchina@interfree.it

Torre Benistra
Via Natale di Roma
Scopello
Tel: 0924 541 128

Ulisse
Via Chiaramonte 45
Erice
Tel: 0923 869 333

Hotel Alceste
Via Alceste 21
Marinella di Selinute
Tel: 0924 46 184