For Lovers of Peaceful Rest

We celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary this year at Lake Usma, in a quiet, secluded spot nestled in forest and water - SPA HOTEL USMA. You can stay in one of the hotel's twelve rooms or in a camping cabin; we chose the former. We had no intention of trying various SPA treatments (I have nothing to say about those), simply wanting to enjoy the warm weather, nature and solitude.

I should say upfront that for lovers of active recreation and loud parties, it might get quite dull here - there really isn't much to do. The presence of Lake Usma offered only evening swims and morning catamaran rides. Of course, no one was stopping you from going for a morning jog, a bike ride, or a game of ball if a group formed. Otherwise it's a great opportunity to leave your laptop at home and read the book you brought, enjoying sunbathing on the hotel terrace.

We would have liked more proactive information from reception, because finding out about options to hire boats, catamarans, enjoy the sauna, pool or any of the SPA treatments praised on the website required some effort. We only got to enjoy the catamaran because we spotted the boat pier with various water vessels during a walk along the lake shore and went to bother the reception desk - saying we'd like to, who do we talk to and what would it cost.

What we genuinely loved and thought was excellent was the food. Hats off to the Usma chefs - they know how to cook halibut in shrimp sauce, roast lamb and decent potato pancakes. Dishes were well seasoned and beautifully presented. One might quibble a little with the waiter's service - lacking experience and knowledge of which glass to serve red versus white wine in, or how to lay cutlery and napkins on the table (if they weren't forgotten in the first place). But then again, he's a local lad earning a bit on the side, friendly and helpful enough, and after clearing the tables he runs off to hand out life vests to guests setting off by boat or catamaran.

The hotel and camping guests were roughly half local, half foreign. So the place is known and recognised. It was also easy to find online. Overall, we came away with the feeling we'd like to return. Perhaps in winter, when the fireplace in the ground-floor dining room is lit.