Hotel jested, Czech Republic
Sitting at 1,012m on the top of the highest peak of the Czech Republic’s Jested-Kozakov Ridge, near the city of Liberec in the region of Bohemia, is an ultra modern 59-bed hotel, restaurant and television tower. That’s right, the 95m high pointy bit on top is not just for decoration but for transmitting television images across the region.
Every room takes the space-age design ethos inside as well as out, and each one with views over the mountain tops, deep into Germany and Poland. To complete the James Bondesque experience there is a cable car to whisk you up to the hotel. In the winter the hotel is the highlight of the Jested ski resort, where downhill but particularly cross-country skiing is popular.
When the snows melt, stretching out in both directions along the 60km ridge is a network of well-signed hiking trails.
Price: from £46 per room per night
White Pod, Valais, switzerland
Any luxury glamping accommodation which ‘strongly recommends you take good mountain shoes and clothing’ is off to a good start in our book. And then there’s the incredible mountainscape framed by the completely transparent front of each geodetic half dome…
Each of the eight pods sits on its own spacious deck on the sloping hillside, and has plumbed in bathroom facilities and a wood burning stove to keep you cosy, even in the depth of winter.
Above the pods is the Dents du Midi, one of the Alps’ most famous mountain ranges, where you’ll find 25km of signposted hiking trails starting at your deck. Explore these on your own, with a guide, or even borrow a specially trained mountain dog that will help pull you up the steepest trails.
Price: from £605 for 3 days B&B in a family pod
Wildflower hall, himachal, Indian himalaya
Rising above the treetops of dense, fragrant pine and cedar forest, at an altitude of 2,545m above sea level, Wildflower Hall looks out across the state of Himachal Pradesh’s lower Himalaya to the snow-capped 6,000m-plus peaks of the Pir Panjal Range lining the horizon.
The high luxury ‘summer residence’ colonial style of the hotel is a nod to this region’s past and one of the site’s most famous residents, Lord Kitchener (he of ‘Your Country Needs YOU!’ poster fame), who lived here prior to the First World War. There is glorious trekking in the heavily wooded hilltops around the hotel and its tiny village of Chharabra, as well as in the nearby Shimla Reserve Forest Sanctuary, which is packed with wildlife such as jackals, flying foxes and eagles, and where even leopards still roam free.
Price: from £200 per room per night, full board
Alila jabal akhadar, Al Hajar, Oman
Sitting at 2,000m above sea level, the Alila Jabal Akhdar resort looks out over a deep, rugged gorge in Oman’s Al Hajar Mountains. High above the deserts below, the climate in this region is more Mediterranean than Arabian, as you’ll discover exploring the nearby wide upland Saiq Plateau, where walnuts and pomegranates are grown, and pink damask roses cover the mountain sides from March to May. Guided treks include exploring canyons and caves under Oman’s highest mountain, Jebel Shams, as well as heritage sites such as Nizwa Fort, Jabreen Castle and Bahla Fort.
Price: from £235 per room per night
Explora Patagonia, torres del paine, chile
Set on the edge of the mirror-like, turquoise waters of Lake Pehoé in the middle of the Torres del Paine National Park, the Explora has unrivalled views of the three granite peaks of the Paine mountain range that give the park its name. The hotel qualifies for our mountain-top hotel bucket-list as it’s the only luxury hotel in this spectacular, mountainous National Park. Some 50 guided hikes are available from the hotel to discover these incredible mountains, glaciers and pampas.
Price: £1,993 pp for 4 nights (all inc, exc. flights)
Kasbah du Toubkal, Morocco
Perched on a hilltop at the foot of north Africa’s highest mountain, Jbel Toubkal, and yet just 60 km from the city of Marrakech, the Kasbah du Toubkal sits at 1,820m above sea level. The boutique hotel is found in the quiet little village of Imlil, In the heart of the Toubkal National Park and is the perfect base for exploring the Atlas mountains by foot. Guided walks range from strolls to the Berber villages near the Kasbah, to day treks to the nearby 2,489m Col de Tizi Mzik and for the hardy, even an attempt on the 4,167m summit of Toubkal.
Price: from £108 per room per night B&B
