Best Mountain Hotels

Journal · Seasonal

10 Best Mountain Hotels for Christmas and New Year

By the Best Mountain Hotels editorial team ·

Glass igloos in the snow beneath the northern lights at Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort, Finnish Lapland

Few places capture the magic of Christmas like the mountains. Snow on the rooftops, a fire in the hearth, sleigh rides, skating on frozen lakes and long dinners after a day outdoors: a mountain hotel at Christmas is the stuff of childhood dreams, and of grown-up ones too.

These are 10 of the best mountain hotels for Christmas and New Year, from a glass igloo in Lapland, where Santa has a home, to a St. Moritz palace, a cowboy ranch in Colorado and a festive feast in Yosemite that has been held since 1927. One word of advice: book now. Christmas and New Year are the busiest weeks of the year at almost every hotel on this list.

The best mountain hotels for Christmas at a glance

Europe

1. Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort, Finnish Lapland

Best for: families, couples and northern lights hunters

The hotel that made the glass igloo famous lies deep in the snowy forests of Lapland, well north of the Arctic Circle. Santa Claus has a home in the resort's West Village, which makes the weeks before Christmas especially popular with families, and there are reindeer and husky safaris, sleigh rides and, on clear nights, the northern lights over your bed. Read our review of Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort.

2. Badrutt's Palace, St. Moritz

Best for: special occasions, families and lovers of Alpine glamour

St. Moritz is widely credited as the birthplace of the Alpine winter holiday, after Johannes Badrutt bet his English summer guests in 1864 that they would love the Engadine in winter. The family's turreted Palace, above the frozen lake, has a private ice rink and a kids' club in winter, and its Christmas, New Year and February events book up far in advance. Read our review of Badrutt's Palace.

3. The Alpina Gstaad, Gstaad

Best for: couples, food lovers and spa lovers

Gstaad is the most discreet and glamorous of Swiss ski resorts, and its Christmas and New Year season is one of the most stylish in the Alps. The Alpina, a grand modern chalet on the hillside above the village, has a Michelin-starred restaurant and a Six Senses Spa. Read our review of The Alpina Gstaad.

4. Schloss Elmau, Bavarian Alps

Best for: couples, families and music lovers

A castle hotel in a hidden valley beneath the Wetterstein mountains, Schloss Elmau hosts up to around 200 concerts and readings a year in its historic concert hall. In winter, festive concerts, cosy spa days, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing make it one of the most original places in Europe to spend Christmas. Read our review of Schloss Elmau.

5. Hotel de la Poste, Cortina d'Ampezzo

Best for: couples and families

The weeks around Christmas and New Year are Cortina's most glamorous, when the Corso Italia, the pedestrian street at the heart of town, is at its liveliest. Hotel de la Poste, a historic coaching inn where Ernest Hemingway stayed, has its sunny terrace right on the Corso. Read our review of Hotel de la Poste.

6. Heritage Hotel Hallstatt, Austria

Best for: couples and photographers on a budget

In winter, the crowds leave Hallstatt, the fairytale village on a lake in Austria's Salzkammergut, and snow settles on the rooftops. Staying overnight lets you see it at its most magical, with Christmas markets in the region and rates lower than in summer. Read our review of Heritage Hotel Hallstatt.

North America

7. The Ahwahnee, Yosemite

Best for: families and history lovers

Every December since 1927, the grandest hotel in America's national parks has hosted the Bracebridge Dinner, a festive feast in its great dining room. Winter is quiet and beautiful in Yosemite Valley, with snow on the valley floor beneath the granite walls. Read our review of The Ahwahnee.

8. Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Banff National Park

Best for: couples and families

In winter, the lake in front of the Chateau freezes into one of the most beautiful skating rinks in the world, floodlit at night. Sleigh rides along the shore, snowshoeing, skiing at Lake Louise and the new BASIN hydrotherapy area complete a classic Canadian Christmas. Read our review of Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.

9. Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff

Best for: families and lovers of grand hotels

On a winter evening, with its windows glowing and snow on its turrets, the castle in the Rockies looks like a scene from a fairytale. Winter brings skating, skiing at Banff's three ski areas and festive events, and Christmas books up early. Read our review of Fairmont Banff Springs.

10. Vista Verde Ranch, Steamboat Springs

Best for: families and couples

Families are welcome at this all-inclusive Colorado guest ranch over Christmas and New Year. Each log cabin has a wood stove or fireplace and a private hot tub on the deck, and days are spent on horseback, on cross-country skis or on horse-drawn sleigh rides through the snowy valley. Read our review of Vista Verde Ranch.

Planning a mountain Christmas

Book as early as you can: at most of these hotels, Christmas and New Year are the busiest and most expensive weeks of the year, minimum stays often apply, and the most popular rooms, from glass igloos to family suites, sell out months ahead. Check opening dates too, as many mountain hotels open for the winter only in early or mid-December. For a quieter, better-value festive break, consider the weeks before Christmas, when the snow has arrived, the Christmas markets are open and the slopes are calm.

For more festive inspiration, see our guides to the most beautiful Christmas markets in the mountains, winter wonderland villages in the Alps and hotels where you can see the northern lights.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the best mountain hotels for Christmas?

Our favourites include Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort in Finnish Lapland, Badrutt's Palace in St. Moritz, The Alpina Gstaad, Schloss Elmau in Bavaria, The Ahwahnee in Yosemite, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and Vista Verde Ranch in Colorado.

Where can I spend Christmas with Santa in the mountains?

At Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort in Finnish Lapland, Santa Claus has a home in the resort's West Village, popular with families in the weeks before Christmas.

When should I book a mountain hotel for Christmas?

As early as possible. Christmas and New Year are the busiest weeks of the year at most mountain hotels, and minimum stays often apply.

What is the Bracebridge Dinner?

A festive feast held at The Ahwahnee in Yosemite every December since 1927.

The hotels in this story

Glass igloos in snow beneath the northern lights at Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort, Saariselkä, Finnish Lapland

Saariselkä · Scandinavia

Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort

Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort is the hotel that made the glass igloo famous. Deep in the snowy forests of Finnish Lapland, well north of the Arctic Circle, its domed glass rooms let you lie in a warm bed and watch the Northern Lights dance across the sky overhead. It has become one of the most searched-for winter stays in the world, and it remains one of the most magical ways to experience the Arctic.

Badrutt's Palace and its green-roofed tower above St. Moritz, Switzerland

St. Moritz · Alps

Badrutt's Palace

The legendary grand palace hotel overlooking the St. Moritz lake.

Hotel exterior in winter evening in snowy forest at The Alpina Gstaad, Gstaad, Switzerland

Gstaad · Alps

The Alpina Gstaad

The Alpina Gstaad is one of the most celebrated luxury hotels in the Alps, a grand modern chalet on a hillside above the village of Gstaad, the most discreet and glamorous of Swiss ski resorts. Opened in 2012, it was the first major luxury hotel built in Gstaad in around a century, and it combines traditional Simmentaler craftsmanship with contemporary art, outstanding dining and a vast spa.

Panorama of Elmau valley with chapel and Wetterstein mountains in autumn, Bavarian Alps, Germany

Bavarian Alps · Alps

Schloss Elmau

Schloss Elmau is a castle hotel in a hidden valley of the Bavarian Alps, and one of the most unusual luxury retreats in Europe. Part spa resort, part cultural centre, it hosts hundreds of concerts and readings every year in its historic concert hall, and it is set in an alpine meadow beneath the dramatic Wetterstein mountains. It became world-famous as the setting of the G7 summits in 2015 and 2022.

Outdoor terrace with mountain views, Hotel de la Poste, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

Cortina d'Ampezzo · Dolomites

Hotel de la Poste

Hotel de la Poste is Cortina's most famous historic hotel, set right on the Corso Italia, the glamorous pedestrian street at the heart of town. Once the post office and coaching inn, it has been run by a local family for generations and has welcomed skiers, film stars and writers, including Ernest Hemingway, who returned several times; one room is now dedicated to him. Its sunny terrace is one of the best places in Cortina to watch the world go by.

Lakeside exterior of Heritage Hotel Hallstatt's Kainz house beneath the hillside church

Hallstatt · Alps

Heritage Hotel Hallstatt

Heritage Hotel Hallstatt puts you in the heart of one of the most photographed villages on Earth. Hallstatt clings to a narrow ledge between a steep mountainside and a deep, dark lake in Austria's Salzkammergut, its pastel houses and slender church spire reflected in the water. By day it is crowded with visitors; at dusk, when the coaches leave, it becomes the quiet, magical place that made it famous, and staying overnight is the only way to experience that.

The Ahwahnee illuminated at dusk beneath Yosemite cliffs in winter, Yosemite National Park, USA

Yosemite National Park · California

The Ahwahnee

The Ahwahnee is the grandest hotel in America's national parks, a monumental lodge of stone, timber and stained glass set beneath the soaring granite walls of Yosemite Valley. Opened in 1927, it has welcomed presidents, royalty and film stars, and its interiors inspired some of the most famous hotel scenes in cinema. Staying here puts you in the heart of one of the most celebrated landscapes on Earth, with Half Dome and Yosemite Falls on your doorstep.

Guests looking across the lake toward the hotel exterior, Lake Louise, Canada

Lake Louise · Canadian Rockies

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise stands on the shore of the most photographed lake in the Canadian Rockies, and few hotel views anywhere are as instantly recognisable. In front of it, the water glows an impossible turquoise; at the far end, the Victoria Glacier hangs between the peaks like a frozen waterfall. The Canadian Pacific Railway built a simple log chalet here in 1890, and over the following decades it grew into the grand, château-style hotel that now anchors one of North America's great mountain landscapes.

Castle-like hotel among forest and misty mountains at Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff, Canada

Banff · Canadian Rockies

Fairmont Banff Springs

Fairmont Banff Springs is the castle in the Rockies, one of the most famous hotels in Canada and a landmark of Banff National Park. Opened by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1888, its turreted, Scottish baronial towers rise from the forest above the meeting of the Bow and Spray rivers, with mountains on every side. It was the railway's dream of luring travellers into the wilderness; as the CPR's William Van Horne put it, "If we can't export the scenery, we will import the tourists."

Snow-covered Hinman log cabin at Vista Verde Ranch, Clark, Colorado.

Clark, near Steamboat Springs · Colorado

Vista Verde Ranch

Vista Verde Ranch is the Colorado cowboy dream, done in style. Hidden in a high valley north of Steamboat Springs and surrounded on three sides by national forest, this all-inclusive guest ranch has just a dozen hand-built log cabins, each with a wood stove or fireplace and a private hot tub on the deck. Days are spent on horseback, on cross-country skis or in a horse-drawn sleigh, and evenings around the fire in the timber lodge. It has been named one of the best dude ranches in America by USA Today readers.