A luxe snow-filled stay at Range Rover House
Lifestyle brands are adding hospitality experiences for their top clients. Range Rover joined the party this year with a plush alpine retreat in the Snowy Mountains.
A ski trip invariably means being outclassed on the slopes by a nimble five-year-old, contending with strange muscle aches from your exertions, and toasting the day at spirited apres-ski gatherings. This past August, on a four-day visit to the alpine village of Thredbo, I experienced a luxed-up version of the standard snow-filled foray. As a guest of Range Rover House, an invite-only pop-up, we enjoyed chef prepared meals, cold-therapy wellness sessions and coaching from snowboarder and Olympic medallist Tess Coady.
Range Rover, which hosted a harbourside retreat in Sydney last year, hightailed it to the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales with a fleet of its most exclusive vehicles. Situated moments from the ski fields, and with Kosciuszko National Park the scenic backdrop, its high-country lodge was decorated in modern chalet style, with jute rugs, cosy fabrics and a toasty fireplace.
Activities included snow-buggy excursions, guided ski runs and test drives of the Range Rover SV, SV Serenity and SV Intrepid along snow-lined roads. Back at the lodge, adventure gave way to wellness with sessions on breathwork, saunas, sound-baths, and cold plunges in a nearby stream. To bookend each day, we were treated to exceptional meals, including a dinner where loaves of mountain bread with miso butter were baked over a fire pit, wood-fired oysters were smoked on a bed of pine needles and whole pineapples were roasted in a blanket of salt.
In a design lounge, guests also had the opportunity to configure the colour and trim choices available in some of its latest models. Among its wide-ranging array of options are sustainable leather-free interiors. Personalising your own ride, like customising your own travel experiences, is true luxury.