Grand Hotel Kronenhof in winter with its natural ice rink
Winter is here, and the world?s illuminati, glitterati and party-rati are agglomerating in mountain resorts, from Aspen to St Moritz, to see the year out, talk about next year?s business over magnums of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, and, oh, also do some skiing between breakfast and long lunch.

Nowhere has such an aggregation of grand hotels as the Upper Engadine valley in Switzerland, home to St Moritz and a string of other villages studded around lakes, forests and various ski mountains.
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The discerning luxury traveller, looking for both solace and exclusivity, might be drawn away from the town of St Moritz and its Masseto-sipping revelers, and towards Pontresina, a village ten minutes? drive away in an adjoining valley, and specifically to the Kronenhof, its most luxurious hotel (and sister to St Moritz?s own celebrated Kulm). Why go now"
Late December and early January are when a significant section of Europe?s aristocracy decamp to the area; snow is plentiful right now, and you?re bound to know people to drop in on.
The welcome
Draw up the courtyard, at the lower end of a long high street studded with sixteenth and seventeenth century buildings, and you feel you have arrived at one of Europe?s grand old hotels. Doormen and receptionists have that perfect (and hard to find) blend of courtesy, genuine enthusiasm, and professionalism, without the over-formalit...