This one has Bond written all over it: swanky hotels, Michelin-starred food, ragging a Ferrari on a Formula 1 track and, of course, skiing. (Fortunately, wearing Roger Moore’s canary-yellow Bogner onesie for the last is optional.) Throw in a sultry Spanish backdrop, a personal trainer to prepare you for hitting the slopes and a spa with its own lagoon in which to recover afterwards, and all you need is a Bond girl to complete the ultimate drive and ski holiday.
New this winter, the aptly named “Full Speed Ahead” package embraces sybaritic excess in all its glory. First stop is the plush Majestic Hotel & Spa in Barcelona’s old town, where you can get comfy in your junior suite overlooking the grand Passeig de Gràcia. With three nights in town, there’s ample time to enjoy Barcelona’s treasures and to suffer at the hands of a personal trainer, who’ll whip you into shape for your imminent jaunt to the slopes of Andorra. However, the undisputed highlight of your time here will be a day spent at the legendary Barcelona-Catalunya race track. After a recon lap in the reassuring safety of a Hummer, you’ll step into a rather niftier Ferrari F430 F1 for 23 laps of the 2.892-mile circuit: 66.5 miles of driving joy. Reaching top speeds in excess of 196mph, you should do better in your Fezza than a Top Gear “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” although we don’t advise trying to better Kimi Räikkönnen’s record lap time of 1:21.670 …
Chef Nandu Jubany
Celebrate your driving prowess with a three-course dinner at Barcelona’s acclaimed restaurant, Petit Comitè. Located within stumbling distance from the Majestic on Passatge de la Concepció, the so-called Gastronomy Alley, Petit Comitè is the brainchild of Nandu Jubany, leader of the Spanish culinary avant-garde. You don’t even have to think about navigating the wine list – each course is accompanied by a wine selected by the sommelier.
Majestic Hotel & Spa Barcelona Exterior
Leaving Barcelona behind, you’ll be transferred to your suite in the Sport Hotel Hermitage & Spa in Soldeu, the only 5★ hotel located at the foot of the Grandvalira slopes. From here, you can ski straight out onto the 210km of pistes that make up one of Europe’s largest ski areas or, if that’s not enough, go for heli-ski gold and bag yourself a chopper for a couple of days. Après-ski comes in the form of afternoons whiled away on sunny terraces, chill-out time in the hotel’s impressive spa and deliberating which of the hotel’s six restaurants, including Koy Hermitage, run by Hideki Matsuhisa, to dine in … Just remember that you’re sorted for one night already, with a three-course dinner and paired wines at Nandu Jubany’s Alpine outpost, Origen.
Sport Hermitage Hotel & Spa
So, grab your Bond girl and your best swagger, and book yourself in for a “Full Speed Ahead” break. Because sometimes, the only thing better than skiing is skiing and driving a Ferrari in the same week.
Top price : £4578 for the six-night “Full Speed Ahead” package (hotelmajestic.es)*
Bargain price : from £406 for a seven-night Soldeu ski holiday (no driving) with Crystal Ski
*Travel dates apply from 1 December 2015 to 31 March 2016, excluding 29 December–2 January and 22–25 February, and are subject to availability
