November 6, 2024

Adventure Chronicles Forum

Navigating Travel Tales

What Alpine Hotels Get Right About Family Travel

What Alpine Hotels Get Right About Family Travel

Pleasing both parents and children at the same time is no easy feat. A few Swiss-French properties are setting the standard—here’s how they do it.

As a new-ish parent, I often wonder what hotels mean when they tout ‘family-friendly’ service. Is it kid-centric, i.e. water slides, in-room diaper pails, plush cribs and pizza menus? Or are we talking parent-centric, as in qualified childcare staff and safe, spacious play areas designed so that children can play and parents can actually reconnect? And, what does togetherness look like? Ideally, activities in the great outdoors should create lifelong memories that get prime placement on the living room mantle.

At any five-star resort, all three elements should be excellent. But, that’s too often not the case in the U.S. Very broadly speaking, European hotels have an advantage when it comes to family travel. Much of this is cultural: attitudes toward family hospitality are a natural extension of societies built upon a strong foundation of family support services, ample parental leave policies and comprehensive childcare. Ahem: Children are our future, right?

Two high-end examples of this are found at the historic Gstaad Palace in Switzerland and Hôtel Royal, overlooking the crescent-shaped Lake Geneva between France and Switzerland. Both properties boast robust children’s programming, and invest in the hiring and training of specialized childcare staff to meet higher expectations from guests. The difference that makes for parents is remarkable. Here are the highlights:

THE KIDS CLUBS

When I go to pick up my toddler from the Le Kid’s Resort, which has its very own house on Hôtel Royal’s 46 acre estate, she immediately shouts: It’s not time yet! I try not to laugh, because she’s center stage in a full red ladybug costume, wielding a magic wand and taking her rehearsal-to-performance remit quite seriously. As are the other lions, tigers and princesses. I didn’t tell the staff that my parenting philosophy embraces the importance of imagination—but here they all are, creating imaginary worlds under the supervision of full-time ‘activity leaders.’ And boy, are they spoiled for choice; summer club kids can choose between the outdoor jungle gym, arts and crafts, padel courts or guided nature walks.

What brings me peace of mind is the staff-to-kid ratio: Throughout the year, there are six full-time staff members at the Kids Club, which can increase “up to 25 members during school holidays” per management, including children’s coordinators, early childhood professionals, reception staff and a swimming supervisor with a minimum BNSSA qualification.

Inside Gstaad Palace, children are welcomed to join Sammy’s Kids Club free of charge (the service is included in your room rate). The family-owned hotel chose to source its childcare staff from a UK-based company called Worldwide Kids. “Last winter, we teamed up with Worldwide Kids, which trains staff according to international standards. They speak multiple languages, and they really take great care of the kids. It is extremely expensive, if I may say so. But it pays off because when the kids are happy, the parents are happy,” said Stefan Ludwig, Executive Assistant Manager at Gstaad Palace.

I was indeed delighted when I overheard club counselors speaking French to my toddler. More importantly, I noticed what was missing in both kids clubs: there are no video games and no cell phones. No screen time, no stress. Thus assuaged, I could now free up a few hours to do the thing every parent needs to do after a red-eye coach flight with a three-year old, who required a foreign car seat be manually installed into a tiny rental car (no, Hertz doesn’t help you with this)—that is, book a spa treatment worthy of Gstaad Guy.

NEXT-LEVEL WELLNESS

If the Palace Spa is playing its cards, the signature 2-hour, multi-stage “Hammam Experience” is a Royal Flush. Firstly, the spa itself is nearly 6,000 square feet of zenitude, with an indoor and outdoor pool, a swanky fire-pit lounge and uplit juice-slash-champagne bar. Just padding around in terrycloth slippers is relaxing, but then Barbara, a slight young massage therapist from Puglia whispers: it’s time to begin. We enter a steam room, wherein I receive a calming foot bath and am served Moroccan mint tea served in Wedgewood china, before being escorted into an all-white ‘infinity room’ for 20-minutes of solo meditation on a bright-white chaise lounge. I try, and fail, to think about nothing. Next, we move into yet another room, this time a cave-like dome of black stone and flickering candlelight. Barbara gently guides me onto a stone slab and proceeds to apply a full body exfoliating scrub, which is washed off with big, billowing clouds of soap (I felt like a labrador getting hosed down after a car wash). Now here’s the fun part: you get to take a dip in your own private turquoise whirlpool, in front of a gas lit fireplace, before receiving a 30-minute warm oil massage. After this, my new Gstaad Gal persona has incredibly silky, smooth skin and a newfound desire to up sticks and move to Switzerland.

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

From Gstaad, travelers can access epic outdoor activities, including cycling tours of the Saanenland’s mountainous terrain, river rafting on the Saane, or paragliding over the canton of Bern. With a toddler, we want something far more low-key: so a Gstaad Palace driver shuttled us to the local ski lift for easy hiking, a fondue lunch and breathtaking views.

The ski gondola becomes our private cabin into a bright blue summer sky over Wispile mountain. It’s my toddler’s first time riding in a gondola, and she’s ecstatic. Not just to be soaring above the tall pines, but to spot a happy herd of “Moo Cows! Down there!” I crack open the window to see, and lo, as if pre-orchestrated for full effect, the joyous clanging of cowbells.

I entered adulthood associating cowbell with Christopher Walken and Will Farrell in the famous Saturday Night Live comedy sketch, More Cowbell, circa 2000. The distinct tone only Walken could conjure: More cowbell! Explore the space! The image of Farrell’s fuzzy navel forever in my memory.

Twenty-four years later, we hear the real thing. It is round and resonant, and gives us a feeling of wonderment: at the musicality of nature, the majesty of the mountains, and yes, at the happy heifers ding-donging across the hills. …Okay, it’s just a cow with a collar. But have you seen what the Swiss do to these things? They’re gorgeous leather-bound, hand-stitched objet d’arts, often embossed with a white-on-red coat of arms of the Swiss Confederation—a heraldic shield proudly preserving this pastoral way of life.

Swept up in the fairytale backdrop of it all, it’s easy to feel like a doe-eyed Julie Andrews running through fields of wildflowers (which are everywhere). But there is great beauty to be found in the Alpine summer, which celebrates nature, ritual, and that fabulous family-style pastime: fondue. Because what better way to glorify the cow than with a great big bowl of molten, grass-fed, free-roaming cheese.

FAMILY MEALS

Both Gstaad Palace and Hotel Rôyal run restaurants that cater to both adult and children’s preferences with à la carte menus. We had our favorite family meals al fresco at La Grande Terrasse, with views of the still snow-capped mountains. There really is no need for a kids menu, because the portions are modest enough, and the career waiters in waistcoats accommodate adjustments with ease. I did worry that my little one might upset the elegant vibe of white tablecloths, fresh flowers and live piano music, but the staff was ever-ready with coloring books and crayons to keep her occupied.

At Hotel Rôyal, you can book a table at the gastronomic, Michelin-starred Les Fresques for a romantic dinner, but you’ll want to book on-property babysitting services before you take that leap. Instead, my little one went berserk for the European-style breakfast buffet (fruit! yogurt! muesli!) at the more relaxed La Veranda eatery, which offers “Le Menu des Enfants,” including crowd pleasers like creamy vegetable soup, roast chicken breast, rigatoni pasta and caramelized creme brûlée.

It is telling that many families who stay at these Alpine gems are regulars, returning year after year, generation after generation to resorts that made their names as winter ski havens over the last century. Today, they are blossoming as popular summer destinations for entire families.

I asked Kate Herz, a luxury travel agent with Jacada Travel, who specializes in family travel, why? “Some European countries are really good with families. They just have such a warmth, and a welcoming attitude towards children. It’s about how parents are made to feel, and how children are made to feel, which is really lovely.” For our part, we were made to feel honored, simply by taking part in a Swiss-French tradition: spending our summer holiday together, as a family.


link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Copyright © All rights reserved. | Newsphere by AF themes.