Hello active seniors, I have a really great tip for you: A hiking week for fit pensioners with the staff of Hotel Sunstar Davos Platz.
I'm not being ironic. We just went on this trip and the week was really great, even though the three of us are not (yet) retirees. Annett and I (both 52) and especially Stephanie (19) are far outside the target group that the hotel actively advertises to.
Our German travel company didn't mention the hiking week specifically for seniors and only promoted the hotel including the hiking package. That's why we booked it and were completely surprised when we arrived by the number of silver foxes. Actually, we felt a bit out of place at first.
But that quickly changed, because not only was the package with all the services great, but also the family atmosphere.
There is no reason to doubt the performance of our fellow hikers. As I mentioned before, many of them are in really good shape.
The hotel definitely benefits from this orientation, as the occupancy seems to be really good. This is not a given in Davos. There are actually many good hotels here. Maybe too many.
Yesterday, we first walked past a very special one and later even stopped by for a short visit. It is the InterContinental, which is very visible from afar. It is also called the Golden Egg because of its shape and color. Although it is very noble and unique, it remains closed for many weeks of the year. There are simply too few booking inquiries. This is the case with several hotels here.
That's why hoteliers have to come up with something, like our Sunstar Hotel with its theme weeks. By the way, single rooms here do not have an extra charge, which is an absolute exception and appeals to many solo travelers. This is another reason for the high occupancy of the hotel. In addition, many 'repeat offenders' come back every year because they liked it so much.
That is of course also due to the great program. There are four different hikes to choose from every day, which are organized and accompanied.
By the way, after some initial concerns, we switched from the easier group (green) to the slightly stronger one (yellow) starting from the second day. At least Annett and I almost regretted it yesterday, because our route led us steeply uphill for a while. And even though it was really exhausting, we didn't want to give up easily. The famous group pressure. That's why we continued to climb the mountain, panting heavily. But a little trick helped me. When I couldn't breathe anymore, I just took a short photo break. There was always some little plant or a view to enjoy.
Finally, when we reached the top, we continued to Schwarzsee, where we met with the other three groups for a barbecue. This brought all the hikers of this week together, which was not the case before. Adi, the chief hiking guide, even played the guitar and accordion and sang along.
Refreshed and relaxed, the three of us even took the cable car up to Jakobshorn after returning. It is located at 2590 m and it is naturally colder up there. The thermometer only showed 8 degrees. But when the sun was shining, it was still pleasant. And despite the low temperatures, we weren't alone up there. Especially mountain bikers love the mountain. They take the gondola up and then ride down with their bikes.
And there is another group of people you meet up there and in Davos quite often: Orthodox Jews. We talked to some of them. What we didn't know is that there are several hotels here that were bought by Jews. This has practical reasons. These hotels are now run kosher, which is extremely important for Orthodox Jews. That's why Davos is a popular vacation spot for them. At the top of Jakobshorn, one of them raised his hands towards the sky and said: 'Thank you God'. An interesting encounter.
Today, on our last day of hiking, we went towards Monstein. The place is known for its brewed beer. I don't know if that was the reason, but today our yellow group was the largest of all four. So we had two hiking guides accompanying us. But first we took the cable car up to Rinerhorn and then Barbara and Mario took care of half of us each. After about 17 km through the mountains, we were really glad to arrive in the small Monstein. Of course, most of us ordered the famous beer or the equally popular blueberry cake.
Strangely enough, just when we started to get used to it, the week is already over. But our hiking guides had something else in store for us. In the evening, the hotel showed a film montage of the highlights of this week for all the hikers. The hiking guides had been filming them in the background and collecting them.
After a long applause from us, we were all warmly invited to come back soon. Well, we'll see. We're not getting any younger after all. But someday, we will really be the target group 'Active Seniors' and hopefully just as fit as the retirees here now.
Greetings from a now slightly more active working person!
