The Christmas holidays have been wonderful, busy, fun – and knackering. So we decided to go on a retreat for a few days to the Forest Park Hotel in Platres, Troodos.

Platres sits on the southern slopes of Troodos, nestled among the pine forest. I drive through Platres every time I visit Troodos Square, which is just a few kilometres further up the mountain. Platres is my favourite mountain village with its beautiful chalets, tavernas and views.

The Forest Park Hotel is on the outskirts of Troodos, along the road that leads to Prodromos. Why did we decide to stay at the Forest Park Hotel? Because my neighbour has a framed 1930s publicity poster of the hotel on her lounge wall. I loved the poster and she told me she got it from the actual hotel and recommended a visit. She told me the hotel is one of the oldest in Cyprus, that it has a faded grandeur, harking back to its rich history when it hosted kings, presidents, princesses, authors and actors.

And that was it – I was sold.

Follow the signs from Platres to Trooditissa/Prodromos and you get to a little roundabout. On the right is a massive archway and a road that runs through it and snakes upwards towards the hotel in the trees.

As you drive upwards, the hotel comes into view. It is by no means a beautiful building, though the Art-Deco architecture at the front is dramatic. Imposing is probably the best way to describe it. The 137-room hotel was owned by George Skyrianides and was opened in 1936, at a time when hotels and tourism were a new concept in Cyprus. Today the hotel is still owned and run by the Skyrianides family.

As you approach the hotel, it feels disconcertingly like the driveway is taking you to the tradesmen’s entrance round the back. We wondered whether we’d gone the wrong way. But it ends at a courtyard with the Forest Park Hotel’s emblematic deer statue in the centre.

To the side of the statue is one of the most understated hotel entrances I’ve seen for hotel of this size. But just inside is a large comfy lobby filled with sofas; with a bar entrance on one side and the stairs on the other. On the walls are hung photos of various VIP guests by the hotel entrance, including the British Governor of Cyprus Sir Herbert Richmond Palmer, Princess Irene of Greece, and Archbishop Makarios III.

The hotel has expanded in its 80-year history and our room was in the newer wing. The room was large, with a good-sized bathroom, table, fridge and a balcony overlooking the courtyard. It was immaculately clean and comfortable. Like the rest of the hotel, the décor was dated. I couldn’t put my finger on the age – it certainly echoed the 1930s, but it was probably from the 70s. I confess I don’t like interior design styles from this era so it left me feeling a bit cold initially. There’s a difference between dated and classic, I think.

The Forest Park is a 4-star hotel, but don’t expect it to be swanky. My neighbour was right; it does have a faded grandeur, but doesn’t have the swanky feel of the more modern 4-star hotels or the posh classic feel of older hotels. It has two pools, a gym, sauna, jacuzzi, and a massage room – they aren’t state-of-the-art, but they are adequate. We paid €80 a night, including breakfast, which seemed a fair price.

During our three days at the Forest Park Hotel, we explored the entire place – and I saw that we were staying in a living museum. The place just oozes history. Along the corridors are more photos of the hotel through its history.  Ancient pieces of furniture sit in various nooks. In the lobby is a gorgeous little gold elevator that harks right back to the 1930s. Large conference rooms, lounges and dining rooms are named after some of the famous guests, such as Princess Irene of Greece, King Farouk of Egypt and Daphne Du Maurier. Daphne Du Maurier wrote some of her most famous novel Rebecca during a four-week stay at the Forest Park Hotel in 1936.

Breakfast was in a large dining area that backs onto a terrace with lots of outdoor seating – it must be lovely in the summer. There’s a good range of food in the buffet-breakfast and we were so stuffed that we didn’t need lunch. The staff were friendly and a really kind older gentleman made our toast for us, chatting to me and Goobie.  We had one evening meal at the hotel in a small dining room with a roaring fire. It was a four-course set meal that cost around €55 for the three of us. I hadn’t eaten for the last two days because of a stomach bug, so a four-course meal made up for it! We would have had more evening meals at the hotel, but dinner didn’t start until 7.30pm which was far too late for Goobie. Instead we ate at the Platres Cafe in the village. The service was fast and efficient, but not particularly friendly and the food was very average.

Our stay at the Forest Park Hotel felt wonderfully Christmassy. The roaring fires, the big Christmas trees, the phenomenal thunder storms in the night. I always wondered what thunder storms were like on Troodos, so much closer to the sky. They are LOUD and dramatic! We felt so cosy in our warm and comfortable room.

Since Goobie and I were still feeling wiped out after getting the Norovirus on Boxing Day, we didn’t stray far from the hotel. But we did pop up to Troodos Square for a couple of hours to enjoy the snow. I almost cried when I heard that there was snow on Troodos over Christmas. I mean, can this island get any more perfect?? It gives us wonderful warmth and sunshine most of the year AND it gives us a white Christmas. I can’t ever remember having a white Christmas, so enjoying the snow on Troodos felt really special.

For me, hotels are places to sleep in after having adventures elsewhere during the day. Not this time. I was happy staying put at the Forest Park Hotel. We spent afternoons in the comfy Princess Irene lounge playing board games and drinking hot chocolate.

We took strolls around the grounds. The outdoor pool was put in during the 1960s and was the first in Cyprus apparently. There are tennis courts, pool tables, table tennis, a children’s playground. What a refreshing summer retreat the hotel must be.

We visited the heated indoor pool. The pool is small but has a real charm. Loud Christmas music echoed off the walls. It was a little too cold for me, but Matt and Goobie had a dip in it.

We had night-caps in the bar while Goobie played the piano. We drank the famous Brandy Sour, Cyprus’s national cocktail. The Brandy Sour was invented at the hotel for King Farouk of Egypt. The story goes that the King liked the odd alcoholic drink but, being Muslim, didn’t want to create any controversy by being seen to drink alcohol in public. So he asked the barman at the Forest Park Hotel to make a cocktail that looked like iced-tea. Ha ha! Love it! The Brandy Sour contains brandy, lemon squash, angostura bitters and soda water.

Quite quickly into our stay at the Forest Park Hotel the unfamiliarity of the dated décor wore off and I started to absolutely love the hotel. Unlike many higher-end hotels, it was totally unpretentious. It had a warm family feel to it and the relaxed friendliness of the staff surpassed swankier 5-star hotels that I’ve stayed in.

On our last morning at the hotel we were in the lobby and I saw the friendly older gentlemen who’d made our toast at breakfast. I discovered that this man was Heraklis Skyrianides, CEO of the hotel and son of the hotel’s founder George Skyrianides! How many CEO’s do you know who are humble enough to make toast for their customers? Incredible. It totally reflects the warm family-run atmosphere of the hotel. Heraklis talked to me about the hotel, telling me he remembers when they used to host big orchestra-led concerts in the concert hall beneath the ground floor. It was closed to the public but I wish I’d had the guts to ask to have a look inside.

However, in a display cabinet behind Mr Skyrianides, I spotted the 1930s poster that my neighbour had on her lounge wall – the poster that had led me to the Forest Park Hotel in the first place. My neighbour was offered one free when she visited the hotel 15 years earlier. I thought there was no way they’d have any spares left, but I asked anyway. And they did! They were charging €40 for them, which seemed a bit steep but I didn’t care. And then Mr Skyrianides told me that these weren’t reproductions of the 1930s poster, they were the actual posters!! Apparently they’ve been sold for €500 on ebay. Suddenly €40 seemed like an incredible bargain. Mr Skyrianides told me that they’d found loads of them in an old store room that had been locked up for ages. I will absolutely treasure my poster – and as soon as I have it properly framed, it will take pride of place in my living room.

I’ve said before that I like hotels with soul. Many hotels can be uber-swanky and totally lack soul. The Forest Park definitely has soul. It has a real unique charm that I didn’t appreciate initially. If the Forest Park was totally modernised I think it would lose this charm and weaken the connection with its rich history. We had a cosy, restful and Christmassy stay at the Forest Park Hotel and felt privileged to have joined the many visitors who have stayed there in the last 80 years.