The ‘Suisse’ Hamptons- Day 18
This was the last week of touring Switzerland and I was determined to make it the best one. We headed to St. Moritz for the day after the usual early breakfast at 7am and jet to the bus stop before 7:22. Once on the bus I was already writing down my day to get a head start on the blogging…before, Mark our tour guide gave us all assignments. I was one of the photographers for the day.
We reached the train station with no injury and caught the train at 7:58 departing to St. Moritz. I took some pictures for the ride. Soon I felt a little sleepy but tried to stay up for 2 and a half hour ride. Soon we reached St. Moritz and saw a taxi waiting for us at the train station. The group split among two vans and reached the hotel right on time for the site inspection.
We walked inside after an introduction from Andrea Kube, the assistant Front Office Manager of the hotel. We walked to the lobby that had a very old fashioned and slightly 70’s or 80’s decor and air about it. The bar was all pine wood with stools to complete the look. Soon someone else joined us, Stefanos Giannakis, the concierge manager gave us some history and brief background n the hotel which started in 1905. In the early stages of the hotel, it became a skiing lodge for the rich and famous and still is today. He had two keys crossed pins on both his lapels signifying the prestigious concierge organization which requires him to speak more than 3 languages. He has worked in more than four positons at hotels.
He was very nice and welcoming to us all. We started the tour in two of the conference rooms then moved on while he told us that usually the wealthy guests arrive in fur. This started with the British in the 1940’s making St. Moritz a very exclusive place for the stars. If guests do not know how to ski the hotel calls a skiing school nearby. The hotel is owned by a cultural corporation which is a non-profit. They open year round unlike big hotel’s with high luxury standards.
We moved downstairs to look at the restaurants and ski storage rooms for people to place their skis while enjoying a meal or inside the hotel. They have 4 restaurants in the hotel and we saw a pizzeria. It had a warm and cozy feel with pine furniture, low maintenance decor, and very Swiss style. It had a connecting smoking room available.
As we walked through the rooms, I noticed that they don’t really focus on the style of the bedrooms as they all were very family oriented and had similar old-fashioned style and feel. However, most of the rooms had a terrace view of the lake which made the rooms very much worth it. They have junior, double, and family suites. I noticed that all the bathrooms didn’t have any amenities like shampoo and conditioner inside which surprised me.
We visited the spa area which had a nice gym and massage room plus sauna. When in the gym, I noticed to the side outside of the window was several solar panels that provide energy to the hotel. It also provide a panoramic view of the lake and the homes that dotted along the lake coast.
We went back downstairs to cross into the next building which was built after the original site. They had halls for musicians to play a range of music. Soon the tour ended and we had a lovely farewell from the hotel. Then walked to the bus stop and waited for a quick ride to the tourist office in town. The bus driver seemed reminiscent of a city cab with no traffic so was a little shaky getting off the bus. We walked through the old town and noticed all the expensive shops like Rolex, Lamm, and other name brand store that were way out of my spending budget.
We reached the tourist office and took some pictures and had lunch outside on the benches available. It was nice enjoying lunch with everyone and feeling a little giddy about the trip and how well it was going. Soon, Mark gave us the option to take a bus back now or later to Chur. Almost everyone had a hand (or foot) against the notion of staying so we took the next bus back to the train staion. On the way back to the rails, I took a couple pictures from the bus of the mountain near the lake, it was a beautiful sight to see.
Once back on the train, I took a power nap because I felt tired and still unrestful. Once back in Chur, we had chance to shop in Migros or other shops for necessarry items. We meet back at 5pm for a bus back to the school. Dinner was served a little later than scheduled but I was okay with that. I was blogging into the night then got ready for the next to last days here in Switzerland. I went to bed feeling very bittersweet about my impending journey home.
