Courchevel 1850

The highest of the Courchevel villages set the modern standard for ski luxury. Ski-in access, Michelin-starred dining, palace hotels and the Trois Vallées beyond the door create a destination where the mountain and the grand hotel belong to the same tradition.

Courchevel was planned after the Second World War as a purpose-built ski station in the Savoie, laid out on open slopes above the Bozel valley. Of its villages — Le Praz, Village, Moriond and 1850 — the highest became the most celebrated. It lies at the eastern end of Les 3 Vallées, linked by lift to Méribel and Val Thorens in what is widely described as the largest connected ski area in the world.

The resort grew quickly into a centre of Alpine hospitality, with the first French hotels to receive the Palace distinction, Michelin-starred dining rooms and its own altiport on the edge of the piste. The Jardin Alpin, a wooded quarter of chalets and hotels served by its own lift, holds several of the grandest houses; the shopping streets around the Croisette form the centre.

The ski season runs from early December to the second half of April, with the lifts of the Trois Vallées generally opening in the first or second week of December. Christmas and New Year are the most social and most sought-after weeks of the winter, and the February French school holidays are the busiest on the slopes.

January is cold, bright and quieter, with the best snow on north-facing runs; March brings longer days, warmer terraces and spring snow by the afternoon. The resort largely closes between late April and early July, and most palace hotels open only for the winter season, so booking early for the holiday weeks is essential.

Courchevel 1850 holds an unusual number of top-tier houses. Cheval Blanc Courchevel and L’Apogée Courchevel, an Oetker Collection hotel, both stand in the Jardin Alpin with ski-in access; Les Airelles, the Austro-Hungarian-style palace beside the Pralong slope, reopens each December; and Le K2 Palace stands in the Bellecôte quarter, facing the slopes.

None of these belongs to a group programme, and LVXVRY advises on and arranges each stay directly with the hotel. Most of the palace hotels open only from December to April, and the Christmas, New Year and February weeks are often committed many months ahead, so planning early matters; quieter January and March weeks offer the same houses with more choice of rooms and suites.