LUX April 2017

LUX - April 2017 9 Planhotel Hospitality Group been in direct contact with the Italian Embassy, the Swiss Embassy and the authorities of the reference country. We are often identified as highly secure areas, where our citizens are sent in particular cases. Part of our DNA is to guarantee and constantly raise our levels of safety and security. In particular I can tell you that our ‘Dream of Africa’ resort in Malindi has been acknowledged by the American Embassy as the only hotel in which its dependents can seek refuge thanks to the high security of the structure. One of the pearls of the Planhotel Group has a breathtaking view of Lake Lugano: refined elegance, contemporaneity in hospitality as well as in the gourmet and wellness aspects. The View in Lugano, a challenge won? It’s a wonderful hotel, created for a luxury real estate holding in Ticino composed of 65 exclusive apartments. Consequently, it was created for the guests of the owners of these luxury apartments. We immediately fell in love with it for the nearness to the lake. I would say that we became the driving force for tourism that was missing in Lugano, a local and international business or leisure segment that wants the best. We filled a market niche that had been left open, and in effect today the response is very high. It’s a hotel with a “wow” effect above and beyond the best expectations for each client. It’s like a great luxury yacht on the lake, the ultramodern rooms were conceived as owner’s staterooms. Soft pavement lights, the view plays a fundamental role. When making a booking on the site’s “my page”, each guest can personalize the reservation: for example, choose the preferred fragrance for the room, that makes him feel at home. Guests can choose from seven types of pillows, even scented, with argan or lavender, chamomile or eucalyptus. There’s a surprising and quite large wellness center - open to off the- street guests as well - with treatment rooms, a room for halotherapy with the benefits of salt from the Himalayas. We organize yoga events and there are many initiatives aimed at propagating our wellness philosophy. There each guest can select a free electric bicycle or Smart to discover the surrounding areas. Surely the gourmet part is equally exciting, can you give us any hints as to events during 2017? Yes, we are a consolidated part of the well-known star chef event San Pellegrino Sapori Ticino. Following the success of the previous editions, both Planhotel Hospitality Group and Jeunes Restaurateures d Èurope joined forces to celebrate ‘Dining with The Stars 2017’. Across the whole of Europe, forty-nine star chefs brought their culinary expertise to the enchanting island resorts of Diamonds Athuruga and Diamonds Thudufushi in the Maldives and for the first time to Diamonds Star of the East on the exotic island of Zanzibar. Last year to celebrate the tenth anniversary of this excellent gastronomic initiative we hosted the extraordinary and multiple-starred Cerea family, the pride of Italy, and it was a great success. This year we will once again welcome this not-to-be-missed event with Piedmont chef Davide Scabin. See you there.