Hotels can be more than just a place to rest your head, finds Katie McGonagle
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Nothing spices up a hotel stay like a little bit of local flavour. Whether sampling new foods, trying out traditional activities or just chatting with the locals, guests come back with a real sense of what makes the destination tick.
They might not have to go far to seek it out either, as hotels increasingly return to their roots by bringing those local touches inside the resort.
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has introduced a series of Local Flair Getaways to tap into this trend. Toufic Tamim, vice-president of sales and marketing for the Middle East, says: “We wanted to encourage our guests to learn more about the culture or history of their destination. The Local Flair Getaways add meaning and a personal connection to the overall hotel experience: memories of an Arabic cooking lesson with a chef in Dubai are more intense and individual than a wonderful dinner, and learning about rare birds in Jordan or falcons at the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital helps them connect with the natural environment they are travelling in.”
So for a taste of what’s out there, we’ve picked a handful of hotels that go the extra mile to help their guests get under the skin of the local culture.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and it seems travellers are no different. Cooking classes are a good way to immerse clients in the smells and flavours of the destination – and pick up a new skill into the bargain.
The Shanti Maurice in Mauritius takes locally-sourced produce more seriously than most. Its new ‘15 Miles Menu’ only features foods caught, farmed or bred within 15 miles of the resort, from coconut-crusted fish with green banana rosti to sea urchin salad (€40 for guests staying half-board, or €60 otherwise).
Guests can also get a taste of home cooking with ‘Grandma’s Kitchen’ lessons, where they visit hotel staff at home to make Mauritian dishes such as fish curry and honey lamb with cinnamon.
Eat like a local but cook like a chef at Convento do Espinheiro, a Luxury Collection Hotel in Evora, in Portugal’s Alentejo region. Guests use the hotel’s private kitchen to make a tasca lunch – no-frills food packed with flavour – under the watchful eye of executive head chef Luis Mourao (€90).
For hearty hands-on cooking, Sandals Royal Plantation hosts Bon Vivant classes to show off Jamaica’s diverse cuisine. Expect lots of seafood – shrimp, lobster and fresh fish – plus stews and side dishes (£63 for two hours). Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor also offers a chance to cook authentic Cambodian cuisine, including a cookbook to take home ($75).
FROM FARM TO FORK
Get to the root of foodie culture by sending clients straight to the source. Villa San Michele in Florence encourages guests to go truffle hunting in the nearby San Miniato hills with an expert, before returning to the hotel for a tasting session (from £60 per half-day, October-November).
Guests can also go to ground at Le Meridien Penina in Portimao; pick wild mushrooms in the Monchique hills around the resort or visit the Ria de Alvor to search for razor clams, cockles and periwinkles, then learn to cook them the Algarvian way (sessions cost €65 per adult, €32 per child, including a tasting menu, November-February).
Alternatively, cooking classes at Maradiva Villas Resort & Spa in Mauritius start in the bustling food market at Port Louis and the kitchen gardens before using these local ingredients in a mix of traditional and modern cuisine.
Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay whisks its guests through a range of local flavours at Selia Artisanal Farm, home to producers of goats’ cheese, jams, organic wine, olives and olive oil. Add a chat to local suppliers, a private transfer by Porsche and a moonlit evening meal and visitors’ tastebuds will be tingling (€600 per couple).
IN FULL FLOW
Where there is good food, good wine is sure to follow, but you can do far more than drink a glass over dinner. Costa Navarino in Messenia, southwest Peloponnese, really lets guests get stuck into wine-making with a visit to its vineyards, a chance to hand-pick the fruits and join in on grape treading (August-September).
Abercrombie & Kent offers a wine-harvesting package with seven nights’ B&B accommodation at The Westin Resort, Costa Navarino, plus car hire and flights via Athens, from £1,095. The olive-picking season starts in November and offers a similar chance to get hands-on with local produce.
Visit The Luxury Collection’s Hotel Marques de Riscal in Elciego, northern Spain, in September and you can watch the grapes being harvested then use traditional tools to press the fruit (€70).
Mövenpick Hotel & Resort Beirut, meanwhile, offers a ‘Lebanon in a Wine Glass’ experience, a chance to learn about the country’s history through its wineries, from $125 for a full-day tour including transport, lunch and private guide around Massaya winery, Chateau Ksara and other vineyards.
BACK TO NATURE
Each destination boasts a unique mix of flora and fauna. Mövenpick Resort & Residence Aqaba and its counterpart at Tala Bay Aqaba, both in Jordan, host visits to Aqaba Bird Observatory to see birds such as Arabian warblers, white and black storks, flamingos and black-headed gulls, and to watch the migration of buzzards, steppe eagles and levant sparrowhawks in spring.
Wildlife-watchers can also try the Bird and Flower Sightseeing tour at Dreams Tulum Resort & Spa in Mexico, or get involved in the property’s conservation programme to protect caray green sea turtles, which lay their eggs on the beaches of Quintana Roo.
Over in Jamaica, Sunset at the Palms offers nature walks around the area guided by ‘Shorty’ the resident gardener.
