We must avoid at all costs skidding into the last corner of the year in a family debate about amnesty. But if one has been short-sighted, the truth is that alternatives to the New Year's Eve family dinner are beginning to become scarce: 97% of the hotels in Benidorm no longer have a room on December 31, according to the most used reservation platform .
It is still possible to go all out on that trip to a romantic Central European city... and expose yourself to the freezing community winter; A getaway to the sunny southern hemisphere is always tempting... but who has the time and budget; and as a last resort, you can sign up for the party-dinner at the chic restaurant in the neighborhood... what a sad thing, please.
Instead, there are those who prefer to have the luxury of changing the year at full speed, but avoiding the risk of getting stranded in a snowy Nordic airport. Very close, in the temperate mountains of Alicante, it is possible.
For example, at the Vivood hotel, overlooking the Guadalest valley, that small town that is nevertheless a powerful magnet for tourists. Nearby, but safe from the bustling bustle of buses loaded with Brits arriving from Benidorm, we are offered a villa with a heated outdoor pool, external shower, spectacular views, solarium terrace, large living room, and a room equipped with a projector. cinema, piped music, King size bed and home automation technology.
There are more affordable options, such as the premium pool, which instead of "only" a pool has an outdoor jacuzzi, or the double suite, which should be enough if we have gone home from home. But wow, what are 1420 euros for two people on such a special night, especially if they are especially interested in sharing it.
Of course, the bill includes a "grand gala dinner", with an appetizer, two starters, two main dishes and two desserts, plus Christmas sweets and a drink. At the pre-cocktail party, violin and dancer music is promised and after dinner a ceremony with its ritual chimes and a New Year's Eve party with a DJ until 2 in the morning. The dress code (recommended clothing) invites attendees to wear - it does not say to show - some gold item or garment.
The menu opens with an appetizer of caviar on fine cauliflower cream, followed by two starters - esgarraet in a salad on a trembling ripe tomato and truffle and parmesan ravioli with boletus and macadamia nut air - and two main dishes: charcoal-roasted grouper , soft foam of majorero cheese, sweet potato puree and green mojo; and low-temperature lamb on fruit chutney, smoked pumpkin puree and turmeric crunch.
For dessert: melon soaked in caipirinha on spiced yogurt soup and lemon and basil sorbet; and a hazelnut sponge cake, milk chocolate sponge, coffee ice cream and whiskey slushie. It probably takes less time to eat it than to pronounce it.
Almost the best of all is that along with the morning breakfast, a "wellness session to start the new year" is included, which seems appropriate after such a dinner and the more than likely debauchery that one will have indulged in to dislodge the accumulated calories and justify the payment of such an invoice.
