Olympia (Resort)

Olympia
Olympia
General information
Type	Exclusive chalet village
Location	Herminius Mons, Eribia Major, Belfras
Elevation	1,179 m (3,868 ft)
Construction started	1947
Completed	1951
Renovated	1989 (Post-purchase); 2010
Owner	Aurea Group
Governing body	Belfrasian Federation
Design and construction
Architect	Micon Architecture
Other information
Number of suites	35
Number of restaurants	4

Olympia is a chalet village located in northern Eribia Major on the slopes of Herminius Mons, the second largest mountain in Belfras. The village and surrounding areas are owned by Aurea Group, which purchased the village in 1982. Aurea Group utilise their resorts subsidiary Paradisum resorts for operation of the village, who following two renovation periods offer the 35 chalets as an exclusive resort for the wealthy and nobility alike.

History

Village

The village was redesigned after being purchased by Aurea Group in 1989, with the main lodge and two chalets remaining whilst the rest where demolished to restructure the village. It's final form following renovations include 35 exclusive chalets of varying size, 82 'auxiliary' buildings for the chalets including staff housing, food stores or guest-owned security housing, the Lodge - The village's main building - three restaurants, one bar, two spas and the security center which is located behind an artificially built terrain landmark to obstruct visual. The village has a winding road which places most of the chalets facing east with an unobstructed view of the sunset, while the rest are at the top of the ridge the village is located on, allowing a 360-degree view.

The lodge is the first building reached by road when traveling from the nearby town of Aosta and features a welcome center, one of the four restaurants for the village, a nightclub, and a spa facility which is found both on the ground floor and basement. The lodge also has an underground heated car park and electric taxis to shuttle guests from their vehicles to their chalets. Each chalet features a dedicated phone service to the lodge to request these vehicles for transportation around the village, and in adverse conditions vehicles from four-by-fours to snowcats and snowmobiles, the latter of which can be privately rented for exploring the mountain. Guests may also use their own vehicles, but no parking spaces are available at the chalets aside from the largest three and as such must be parked at the lodge. The largest three chalets are owned properties that feature an underground car park, a private gym, sauna, massage parlour, party area and five floors with six bedrooms.

Security, safety and transportation

Olympia has two paved roads that lead up to the main lodge from the nearby town of Aosta. The town also features a small airstrip with a hangar and VIP building specifically for Olympia. Guests may then travel to the village either by road or helicopter, as the village features two separate helipads, one being at the main lodge and the other being adjacent to the security building located on the outskirts of the village. Staff at the village have a number of all-terrain vehicles and specific snow vehicles such as snowcats for usage in adverse conditions.

The village's security building also features a fully capable medical center, which in a full-scale emergency can provide life-saving aid to all residents of the village for up to 20 days. This was the result of a 'chaos scenario' meeting by the Aurea Group to figure out what the worst possible case scenarios for the village would be and how to combat it. In the event of an avalanche directly striking the village, the buildings are built on stakes lodging deep into the mountain and have reinforced steel embedded into the main walls rated to survive an impact from an avalanche. Each chalet has a designated hidden safe-room for guests to shelter inside of, which features battery-powered radios, heaters, and rations for a 5-day stay. In the event that they are trapped from leaving or a multitude of guests become sick or injured, the medical center will be able to provide aid for twice the period it is expected a rescue party will take to reach the village. In the event of a fire the main lodge is located far enough away from the chalets to provide protection from the fire 'leaping' to or from it and if needs be the security building can shelter the residents until they are able to be taken to Aosta, which has fire vehicles dedicated for travelling to Olympia in bad conditions and can reach the village in 30 minutes.

Security for the village is run by Rook Security, a subsidiary of the Aurea Group much like Paradisum Resorts. Security for the chalet is operated from a dedicated security building located on the outskirts of the village and features perimeter cameras, a helipad on the building, two survival shelters and accommodations for security to stay at the main building for 6 months at a time. Rook Security work alongside the Eribian Rangers for policing the mountainside and have previously worked with them in apprehending and prosecuting paparazzi camping out in the snow. According to a VIP pamphlet for the village, the security at the village prioritise guest comfort, safety and privacy by having security cameras around the village monitored by highly trusted personnel and recordings kept in a secure facility or deleted upon a guests request. In 2014 a news-report brought a negative light to Rook Security when photographer Prisca Zimisce vanished near the village. Rangers investigating believed she was there to illegally take photographs of visitors to the resort and Zimisce's employer was fined B$520,000 for intention to invade privacy, which was donated from Aurea Group to Zimisce's family. Negative press for Rook Security came after Zimisce's body was discovered three miles from the village, causing critics to begin claiming that Rook Security had something to do with her demise. A coroners report indicated that it was "very high chances" that Zimisce had perished from hypothermia caused by not wearing appropriate clothing and may have gotten lost in the darkness. Injuries on her body may have been caused by tripping onto rocks, but according to the coroner none of the injuries seemed consistent with being made by another person or an animal.