HOTELS, RESORTS & SPAS HOME-GROWN DESTINATIONS
cocktail party kicks off a week that would make Willy Wonka proud. Guests can partake in chocolate and wine pairing sessions, truffle workshops, cocoa-themed dinners and more. Things get even sweeter each
August when the resorts celebrate Chocolate Heritage Month, providing guests with a pass to the Chocolate Laboratory and offering special packages featuring the likes of chocolate spa treatments, sensory tasting experiences and, at Jade Mountain, a chocolate lover’s breakfast. The treats needn’t be limited
to certain months, though. Hotel Chocolat’s Boucan resort, also in Saint Lucia, is dedicated to all things cocoa throughout the year, offering tree-to-bar experiences which begin with a walk through its on-site cocoa groves and culminate with a homemade chocolate bar (tasting is mandatory, of course).
◗ HOME BREWING If it’s more alcohol that piques your clients’ interest, however, suggest a stay at Hunter Valley Resort in Australia, two hours from Sydney. This
family-owned abode is home to 70 acres of sprawling emerald vineyards, alongside a brewery for beer lovers which ferments 12 types of craft beer. “Guests can enjoy meals made from seasonal ingredients grown in the Brewhouse’s own garden,” says Rachel McMurdo, Travel 2’s assistant product manager for Oceania. “There’s even a candy school where they can learn to make alcohol-infused sweets.” Carrier recommends the five-star
Vila Vita Parc Resort & Spa, set amid a forest in the Algarve, Portugal. The resort has its own wine estate two hours inland, complete with expansive vineyards, flowering gardens and olive and orange groves, alongside a working farm producing organic ingredients. They’re served up at eight restaurants – one of which boasts two Michelin stars – and in the hotel’s underground wine cellar, where tastings await. Those caught up in the gin trend might be more swayed by Bella Luce in Guernsey, which distils the stuff in traditional copper stills. The hotel will be launching tasting sessions for 2018, so highlight this as a new hook for
those wanting a beverage-filled break without a long-haul flight.
◗ SPA TIME You don’t just have to limit these selling points to food and drink, however. Spa treatments made with home-grown ingredients are catching on too. At Aleenta Hua Hin in Thailand, ginger, lemongrass, mint, ylang ylang and other products are grown on a 25-acre organic farm for use in treatments, from scrubs and wraps to full-body massages, at the Ayurah Spa. Over in Germany, Jumeirah Frankfurt
CLOCKWISE
FROM FACING PAGE:
Jumeirah Frankfurt, Germany;
Aleenta Hua Hin, Thailand; Aristi
Mountain Resort, Greece; Jade Mountain and
Anse Chastanet, Saint Lucia;
and Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Oxfordshire
mixes things up with a Skyline Honey Treatment, a 60 or 90-minute indulgence using honey produced in its 28th-floor rooftop apiary (from €120), where more than 40,000 bees reside. The honey is also served at breakfast and in cocktails. A similar approach is taken at
the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto. Here, 300,000 rooftop bees produce around 800 pounds of honey a year – a significant portion of which goes into Honey Cream Ale, produced by the Mill St Brewery round the corner. Now that’s sweet.
17 August 2017
travelweekly.co.uk 53
PICTURE: SAMATCHA APAISUWAN
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