SNOW Alps 25-26 web - Flipbook - Page 44
P E R F E CFT LPULRARCI E S
Elizabeth Arthotel Lounge
Elizabeth Arthotel
Zsigmond Lucza, exhibited at Elizabeth Arthotel
Schatzi
Samnaun, the tiny Swiss hamlet that was once a waypoint for
smugglers of sugar and butter. Now, population 755, the town is
an Aladdin’s cave of watches, perfumes, cigars and booze. Much
of it seriously swanky, all is tax-free.
Behind the understated “Zegg: Watches and Jewellery”
sign (and past two burly security dudes) is a trove of exquisite
baubles and bezels — Rolex, Chopard, Breitling and more
occupy four floors of polished glass, with an elevator for tired
ski legs. Linger at the Champagne bar with les patrons, Olivier
and Monique Zegg – old friends of the Aloys Family – and try on
a few trinkets for size. Then pop over the street to their sister
boutique, a custom parfumerie where the air is sensual, and at
the back a cigar fumoir hums with perfect 69 percent humidity.
Finally, the crispy rösti at Chasa Montana takes an extra 20
minutes to prepare — and that’s the point. In Samnaun, they’ll
sell you the watch, and you’ll enjoy every second of it.
Considerably poorer but feeling richer — telling perfect time,
smelling wonderful, blood-to-champagne ratio still to the good —
we’ve skied back into Austria and Ischgl, in time for après at
Schatzi’s. Built into the base of Elizabeth Arthotel, this indooroutdoor party is classic Ischgl. Inside, the cathedral of beer and
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flashing lights is packed with dancing bodies and a dozen lithe
Eastern European performers whose mini-dirndls twirl and
flirt to the beat. Raising a flute as a 20-euro note gets tucked
into the dancer’s cleavage, Herr Günther observes the sybaritic
scene with the eye of a connoisseur: “This is art, too.” As a manabout-town visionary who’s had the likes of Paris Hilton and
Tamara Ecclestone on his arm, he should know.
The partying in this corner of the Silvretta is legendary,
yet these days, for all its glitz, Ischgl is maturing. Fewer
Jägerbombs, more smoked Negronis. Fewer wursts, more
wagyu. While the giant nightclubs of the past have slipped off
the menu, Schatzi’s still goes off — just not past 8pm.
So before the stars come out, we pad in soft robes upward
to the Elizabeth’s glass-walled penthouse swimming pool –
in time to watch skiers negotiate their last run of the day. An
internationally renowned spectacle, the last turns down the
somewhat-steep home-run piste is a highly entertaining goat
rodeo of tired legs and flatlanders whose antics are cheered on
enthusiastically by the Schatzi crowd – or, more salubriously,
from the warmth of the infinity pool.
In the swing of it now, there’s time to succumb to a soothing
