Forest Park Retro

I first visited the Forest Park Hotel in Platres, Cyprus in the summer of 1993 while working as a researcher on a Kienbaum Development Services project to restructure the Cyprus Tourism Organisation.

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At the time, the Forest Park was an example of tourism diversification: product development that took place in the Troodos Mountains as an alternative to the sun-sea-sand mass tourism product that persists in Cyprus (and worldwide) today.

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This was where King Farouk first tried the brandy sour, and where the leaders of the Gulf states would visit in the 1950s, in an era before the 24/7 news cycle and the internet. From the 1960s - 1980s, it was a place where the elite of Nicosia would spend their summer vacations.

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I remember spending a night there in 1993, high amid the pine trees, marvelling at the sense of serenity and peace.

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Since 1993, many other inland resorts were developed or emerged, including Kakopetria and Polis Chrisochous.

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So last Monday, I visited the Forest Park once more as part of our Tactical Sales training, and found that the feeling of serenity and peace is still there. The Hotel was built in 1932, initially as a resort to escape the summer heat, in the era when Cyprus was still a British Colony, and electric air conditioning was unknown.

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A new wing has been added, and solar panels have been installed to heat the outdoor swimming pool. But overall, the hotel has preserved its Colonial-era décor and fittings.

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Some photos of the Forest Park: simply too good to miss.