C ONT INUE D ...
PEAK SUMMER SWIT Z ERL AND’S AL PINE REGION
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CULTURAL PARADISE OKINAWA IN JAPAN
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→ Te hotel has lake and mountain views to the south, while east, west and north overlook Mount Suvretta, parkland and the Corviglia ski area. Te property was recently renovated under British designer Sue Freeman, who has added a modern feel to the country-house theme with muted greys and greens, dark wood floors soſtened by patterned rugs, and panelled walls painted in muted neutrals, perhaps better to showcase the stunning vistas from every window. It’s not too casual. Tere is still a
Grand restaurant, where you need a jacket and tie for dinner – but in surroundings like this, it would seem strange to do otherwise. Tis is a property with a high number of returning guests and, judging from our stay, is a place where extended families take groups of rooms for special get-togethers, perhaps encouraged by the family-owned nature of the hotel and its history of being managed for long periods by families who get to know the guests well. Te hotel organises a free guided walk
and picnic every Wednesday, accompanied by the general manager (and his son, back for summer holidays when we were there). Tey were able to give us tips for the best walks, accessed by the cable cars up to the Corviglia and Corvatsch areas, adding to this insider feel. All of the five-star hotels have their
own boats on Lake Moritz where you can go sailing, and offer personal tuition in golf, tennis, swimming, hiking, pilates and yoga, to name a few of the activities. For those who like to keep busy, there’s
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There’s the sense that you are part of a long tradition of travellers who have relaxed here
→ formations of the Blue Cave, or playing peekaboo with garden eels at Manza Dream Hole. In the north, just off Kouri Island, is the wreck of the USS Emmons. Tis is a deep but fascinating dive on the ill-fated American destroyer, which was sunk by multiple kamikaze planes during the Second World War. Only 45 minutes away by boat, the beautiful
obviously lots to do,
and for those who just want to flop and relax, the lovely temperatures
(it famously boasts of enjoying 300 days of sunshine each year) and extensive spas at each of the hotels means there’s actually no need to do anything. And if the evenings are less frenetic
than the après-ski and late nights of the high season, there’s also the sense that you are part of a long tradition of travellers who have relaxed here. One evening we noticed several games of bridge being played in, well, the bridge room, and found an antique photo of the same room 70 years previously. What better way to relax aſter a day’s walking in the Alps, and a lovely meal in the evening, than with several hands of bridge? See
businesstraveller.com/tried-and-tested for reviews of Badrutt’s, the Kulm, the Kronenhof, Suvretta House, the Carlton and the Kempinski. BT
Kerama Islands offer shallow diving and snorkelling on colourful reefs that teem with life. Over the course of a few dives I spent quality time with hawksbill turtles, watched eagle rays soar past, explored underwater canyons and had a tête-à-tête (of sorts) with a very large spotted moray eel. My most inspiring sealife encounter came
– surprisingly – on land, when I visited the Churaumi Aquarium on Okinawa’s northern Motobu Peninsula. Japan’s largest aquarium is part of the Ocean Expo Park, which also includes an arboretum and tropical flower garden, a recreated traditional Okinawan native village, and the fascinating Oceanic Culture Museum, filled with all manner of Polynesian outriggers and seafaring craſt. Most people head straight for the aquarium,
though, and it’s easy to see why – the displays are captivating. At the enormous main tank, I was gobsmacked by the sight of two gigantic whale sharks, four manta rays, numerous other sharks and rays, giant trevally and schooling fish, all moving in graceful splendour around their manmade marine habitat. I stood and watched for half an hour, then
sat in the café on a table next to the glass for another 30 minutes, as mesmerised as I had been on Sunset Beach. Tere’s no doubt about it – nature in the Pacific sure knows how to put on a show. BT
bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om
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