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Travel<br />
UP, UP AND AWAY!<br />
5 MOUNTAIN RETREATS TO STAY IN<br />
Perched high above crowded resorts or standing majestically in solitary, these stunning alpine retreats<br />
offer more than just a bed to sleep in after a long hike or a casual stroll — spectacular views and<br />
serenity. Here are five mountain accommodations that will take your breath away.<br />
SCHWARENBACH HOTEL<br />
KANDERSTEG, SWITZERLAND<br />
In 1897, in his 'A Tramp Abroad' memoirs, Mark Twain said<br />
the Schwarenbach Hotel sat "on a lonely spot among the<br />
peaks where it’s swept by the trailing fringes of the cloud<br />
rack and is rained on and snowed on and pelted and<br />
persecuted by the storms nearly every day of its life." He's<br />
not wrong. The place does give off a dreary yet chillinglyhaunting<br />
effect at first glance. But don't be fooled by its<br />
exteriors. The 18th century building was initially built as a<br />
customs house but today, located at 2,061 metres above sea<br />
level, it has become an ideal destination not just to spend<br />
the night overlooking the Swiss Alps but serves as a meeting<br />
spot for groups, conferences, schools and companies.<br />
Halfway up the Gemmi pass (a high mountain pass) from<br />
Kandersteg, the Schwarenbach Hotel links the north of the<br />
Bernese Oberland and the Valais regions. Other notable<br />
guests apart from Twain include Picasso, Jules Verne and<br />
Edward Whymper. Their stays have been recorded in the<br />
Hotel's guest book but strangely, Twain's entry is still missing.<br />
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