My Weekend of Leisure - On Steroids

byBigbroian

1.2K followers

8 years ago

Well, I've seen how the upper 1% of the population here in Canada lives this weekend. I was invited, by a client and friend to join him at a resort in the Okanagan Valley of B.C. He is the owner of some auto dealerships and other investments, who I have had the pleasure to do corporate-to-corporate business with over the past few years. He invited me and two others, also businessmen, to join him and relax for a few days.

The place is called Sparkling Hill Resort. It is located in the mountains of the Okanagan Valley, about 10 miles south of Vernon. It sits on the top (literally) of a mountain. The mountaintop was literally cut off to build this resort!! The place is 3 miles from the nearest private homes, which look out over the most challenging golf course in North America - Predator Ridge.

We arrived Thursday afternoon and our first view of the resort was overlooking the view of the golf course and up to the mountaintop. It's perched there like an old Medieval Castle, only all glass, crystal and steel. The photo does not do it much good when you are there staring at the views.

Some of the ENTRY amenities were valet parking, baggage handling, (and some of the older ladies arriving carried like they were boarding the Titanic) and instant service for drinks and such.

We were registered and shown to our suites by well-liveried personnel (can't call them staff), who explained the resort as we walked. My suite was (here are the directions given to me at the checkin), 'Go down this hallway (she pointed to my right) to the elevator and go up one floor; turn left from there and go to the next elevator and press the minus 2 button and it will take you to your floor. Camillo will meet you there and show you to your room.' "Camillo?" it asked. She said, 'Yes, he's the valet for that section of that floor.'

Stupid me, "What is the minus 2 button?" She, 'It takes you down to your floor. You have a suite facing Okanagan Lake and it's 2 floors below us on the west side.'

'Nuff said. I followed my directions and met our valet at the elevator. He was very personable and had already placed my baggage in my suite. It went down before I even finished registering!! I was in suite -212. Upon entering, the first thing that drew my attention was the size of the bed. King size with a vengeance. I didn't know that they made them that big. Camillo showed me the sitting room, which faced the floor-to-ceiling windows with the view of a lifetime out over the lake. The bath was a joy to behold and I did spend an inordinate amount of time in the jetted stone tub.

I am attaching a photo I took of the bed/bath area. That big case in the center of the photo is about $50,000 worth of Swarovski crystals. The whole place is built with the healing properties and such of these crystals front and center. I read the introductory brochure in the suite and it said that there were over 3.5 million Swarovski crystals used in the construction of the building. The whole resort cost about $0 million to build.

There are multiple ways to dine, and there is a barrista bar that puts Starbucks to shame and it's the smallest dining area of about 6500 square feet.

I found out that the suites cost around $300 per night and that includes free breakfast each day, and access to all the amenities, except for the KUR Spa.

I used the spa twice and would definitely recommend it - especially the cyrotherapy sauna. It has a temperature of -110 celsius. I tried it for 10 minutes and was ready to come out. It DID ease the pains in my legs and joints though.

All in all, I enjoyed my foray into the world of the wealthy and have added it to my goals and my bucket list.

When I was invited, I thought about a wine tour resort or a boating resort. THIS place covers those and then a lot more. I was truly blessed to be invited by my friend and hope he remembers me next time.