Cheval Blanc Courchevel, Courchevel, France

Cheval Blanc Courchevel is the ultimate ski-in, ski-out hotel in Courchevel 1850, and in a resort famous for its luxury, it still stands apart. The original Maison of LVMH's ultra-exclusive Cheval Blanc collection, it combines just 36 rooms and suites, a three-Michelin-star restaurant, a Guerlain spa and direct access to the largest linked ski area in the world. It is the kind of hotel where every detail has been considered, from preheated ski boots waiting on the slopes to a cigar yurt on the terrace, and where the atmosphere is as playful and colourful as it is refined.

Location: Courchevel, France

The hotel sits in Le Jardin Alpin, the most exclusive, wooded enclave of Courchevel 1850, high in the Savoie Alps. Courchevel is part of Les Trois Vallées, a vast linked ski area that also includes Méribel and Val Thorens, with hundreds of kilometres of groomed pistes. From the hotel, you clip into your skis and glide straight onto the slopes.

Courchevel's own altiport, one of the most dramatic airstrips in the world, is just a few minutes away for private flights. Most guests fly into Geneva, Lyon or Chambéry and transfer by road, or by helicopter for the full Courchevel experience. The hotel is a winter-only property, typically open from December to April.

Rooms and suites at Cheval Blanc Courchevel

With only 36 rooms and suites, the hotel feels more like a private residence than a large resort. Each room is individually designed, with bold colour palettes, contemporary art and design pieces, and luxurious materials such as cashmere, fur and leather. All are spacious, with sitting areas, and many have terraces or balconies facing the slopes or the forest. Some suites include in-room saunas and flotation baths.

Families and groups of friends are well catered for, with five interconnecting rooms and suites, and two Duplex Suites of 70 and 105 square metres that can be joined together. At the top of the range is the Chalet, a private three-bedroom residence spread over three floors with its own spa, screening room, living rooms and private lift opening directly onto a ski room and the slopes.

Facilities at Cheval Blanc Courchevel

Food is a central part of the experience. Le 1947 à Cheval Blanc, led by chef Yannick Alléno, is the only restaurant in Courchevel to hold three Michelin stars. It seats a small number of guests each night in an intimate setting, serving inventive, technically dazzling French haute cuisine. For something more relaxed, Le Restaurant de Cheval Blanc offers refined comfort dishes all day, La Terrasse serves wood-fired dishes in a cosy après-ski atmosphere, and Le Bar offers creative cocktails and live music. La Yourte Fumoir, a Mongolian yurt on the terrace, is a quirky hideaway for cigar lovers.

The Cheval Blanc Spa features exclusive Guerlain treatments designed specifically for winter sports and high altitude, with five treatment rooms and the Orchidée Salon for couples, plus a pool and wellness facilities.

Children are given their own worlds: Le Carrousel kids' club for younger ones, full of games and creative activities, and Le Paddock, a futuristic lounge for teenagers with video games and table football. The ski service is legendary, with equipment fitted and boots warmed so that guests simply walk out and ski. Beyond skiing, the concierge can arrange dog-sledding, snowshoeing and even early-morning hot-air balloon flights.

The mountain moment

The defining moment at Cheval Blanc is the ease and pleasure of skiing straight from the door into the Trois Vallées. Step out of the hotel in the morning with your warmed boots and freshly prepared skis, and within minutes you are carving across some of the best-groomed pistes in the Alps, with peaks stretching in every direction.

Then comes the return: skiing back to the hotel's terrace in the late-afternoon sun, before an evening that might end at Le 1947, one of the finest restaurants in the mountains anywhere.

Why Cheval Blanc Courchevel is one of the best mountain hotels

Cheval Blanc Courchevel earns its place because it represents the very top of Alpine ski luxury, delivered with warmth, wit and style. It combines an ideal ski location, three-Michelin-star dining, an excellent spa and some of the best family facilities of any luxury ski hotel, all in an intimate setting of just 36 rooms.

It is, of course, extremely expensive and very much a Courchevel experience, glamorous and polished. But for those who want the best of everything on the slopes, few hotels in the world come close.

When to go to Cheval Blanc Courchevel

Cheval Blanc is a winter-only hotel, typically open from December to April. December offers fresh snow and festive glamour, with Christmas and New Year the most expensive and heavily booked weeks of the season. January is often quieter, with cold, crisp conditions and excellent snow. February brings school holidays and busy slopes, so families should book very early. March and early April offer longer, sunnier days and relaxed lunches on the terrace. Reserve Le 1947 at the same time as your room, as it seats only a handful of guests.