TOURISM in Cyprus was born in the mountains.
Decades before we chose to spend our summers broiling on beaches, jostling for a few inches of space amongst the sticky, sandy hordes of Brits, Scandinavians, Russians and our own compatriots, we headed onwards and upwards in search of greenery, sweeping views and the cool, fresh air of the mountain villages.
Back then, we were joined by the wealthy of the Middle East who were even more eager to escape a heat far more intense than our own.
And a major magnet for that annual exodus was the imposing Forest Park Hotel on the outskirts of Platres. All these years later, it still is.
This month the hotel, still run by the family who built it back in 1936, celebrates its 75th birthday.
The hotel, which echoes with its long history of famous and not-so-famous guests, quite rightly trades on its past while still managing to keep up with the changing times and tourist scene. A stay at the Forest Park, or at the very least afternoon tea on its shady terrace, remains a major reason for visiting the mountains.
A birthday party last weekend brought together friends, family and past guests. Amongst them was Dan Barkai, the son of the hotel’s original architect, Sam Barkai. Another was the former mayor of Nicosia, Lellos Demetriades.
“I fell in love up here,” he said. “It was a nice atmosphere as you got to walk in the mountains, drink your tea in the afternoon and go horse riding.”
Years later he and his wife, Olga, would bring their young children to stay.
“We used to go in the winter too for skiing. For people then, going up to the mountains was a whole trip, especially before the days of air conditioning,” he said.
Heraklis Skyrianides, co-owner with his brother Antonis and the son of the founder George Skyrianides, painted a picture of wealth and luxury. He explained how only the wealthiest clientele stayed at the hotel, from Egypt, Palestine and the Sudan, adding that this was the market the hotel was initially built for.
“They would send their wives and children ahead and then join them later, staying usually from May to August,” said Skyrianides.
Skyrianides described trips to the mountains during the middle part of the twentieth century as the first type of tourism. “There was no air conditioning so people had to go up to the mountains for the cool,” he said.
Among the hotel’s most famous store of stories is that of King Farouk of Egypt who was a regular visitor until 1952, when he was overthrown and forced to abdicate. Along with his visits, the hotel lays claim to the invention of brandy sour by one of its barmen. The story goes that the king asked his aide to get him a drink that looked like ice tea, as he did not want to appear to be drinking alcohol in public. Stelios, the head barman, mixed two parts of the best Cypriot brandy and one part lemon squash, then added two drops of angostura bitters and topped the mixture with soda water.
Then there’s the tale of famous playwright and author Daphne Du Maurier who apparently wrote part of her novel Rebecca during her one month stay in the summer of 1936.
It also hosted the likes of Princess Irene of Greece in 1962, along with the then president, Archbishop Makarios III.
Nowadays, the hotel attracts slightly more Cypriots than foreign visitors. According to Heraklis, 60 per cent of the clientele now are Cypriots, some are middle-aged couples, others families. And they get many regulars too.
Bob and Pam Montgomery, from the UK, have been coming to stay at the hotel every year for the last 15 years, to enjoy the surrounding area and Cyprus’ hospitality. The couple have been visiting for so long that they have come to know and love the family, even having met George Skyrianides, the founder, before he died in 2001.
The story of how the hotel came to be built is a fascinating part of its history.
According to Heraklis, George Skyrianides was the first Cypriot to study hotel management, attending the well-known Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne in Switzerland. He came back to Cyprus full of ideas. The family already owned the Pafsilipon hotel in the area and it was George’s father’s wish to expand the business and introduce his son to it. George, however, had other plans. Due to construction difficulties the Pafsilipon could not be expanded so George decided to simply build another hotel.
The hotel boasts many firsts for Cyprus: the first hotel of its kind, the first swimming pool and the first building to use reinforced concrete. “They said the terrace would fall because they had no experience working with it,” laughed Heraklis.
The hotel has undergone extensive renovations over the years. The hotel now has 137 bedrooms and seven chalet suites, all with televisions offering channels in a wide variety of languages. Wi-fi is also available. A heated indoor pool now complements the beautifully situated outdoor pool (where the water is cooler than you think, even in the height of summer).
Yet, the Forest Park has lost none of the charm that made it so special in the first place. Sitting on the terrace as you eat your breakfast in the cool morning sun, it takes little imagination to picture a king of Egypt quaffing his ‘ice tea’.
