You have gracefully swung by Lac du Chevril and amid the plump snowflakes falling from the star studded skies, you can see the glittering lights of the mature tree lined streets of Val d’Isere. You have arrived into one of the World’s finest luxury ski resorts.
As any discerning skier knows, no luxury ski resort is complete without checking into your luxury chalet. Times have changed for Val d’Isere. Once upon a time you would have found humble farmers tending their animals on the high pastures but in today’s luxury market, sommeliers are tending to their wine cellar, hosts to their outdoor hot tubs and chefs to their banquets.
With Val d’Isere being home to some of the finest luxury chalets in the Alps, it is hard to pick where to call home on this year’s visit to the Isère Valley. However, with luxury comes a friend in high places. That friend in question is SkiBoutique. With a little bit of help, you finally managed to narrow the search down to seven of your favourite luxury chalets. That was tough. There was much deliberating between which stood out in this star-studded market of luxury ski chalets. The dilemma will become clearer below.
Let’s start with Chalet Marco Polo, one of the top twenty luxury chalets in the Alps. I’m sorry, I know that this should be helping the decision not adding to the confusion of opulence. Marco Polo adds a new dimension to luxury. Perfectly exemplified by the Christian Lacroix backdrop of gold-leaf tiles either side of the feature window. Verging on exotic opulence, the theme continues with the indoor swimming pool beneath engraved hand carved beams, indoor and outdoor hot tubs, hamman and sauna. If your definition of luxury is coming home from a day on Val d’Isere’s sun soaked slopes and letting the miles of piste melt away from you, then Marco Polo’s wellness area has your name on it.
How about if you could go from bathrobe to sheepskin rug, cocooned from winter on your very own snowfa? You never imagined it possible to be having a four course BBQ, on your snow cleared terrace, glass of champagne in hand, over looking Le Face. Why can’t luxury surprise you? Luxury seems to be shifting from acquiring things to acquiring experiences. As the candles compete in a dance off with the stars above, let this be one of those experiences.
It is not that you no longer crave nice things. Instead, from looking through such a portfolio of luxury chalets in Val d’Isere, you are beginning to realise that the definition of luxury has become too simple.
How about we redefine luxury by a location rather than a good. For this, your friends in high places have carefully selected Chalet Chardon. Luxury in its newest context is the enjoyment of the best that life can offer. The experience of beauty where your breath is so taken aback that you are reminded to love the life that you are living. We think that Chalet Chardon’s uninterrupted views of the Manchet Valley from your private 18foot swim spa will do just nicely. How about we leave a glass of the finest champagne nestled in the snow for you? It’s thirsty work taking in such views. To avoid the risk of luxury becoming stagnant, we recommend you admire the view from Chalet Chardon’s second hot tub.
If location is your new luxury, let us introduce you to a rather opulent little number we like to call Chalet La Tene. Traditionally, luxury denotes something that is enjoyed by certain people and not others. Those with privilege and an exclusivity that can only be enjoyed be an elite few. Even with ski in ski out access, perish such thoughts of the ski boot march to the slopes. Chalet La Tene’s chauffeur is at your beck and call this week and he will ensure that you and your pre-warmed boots are delivered to the exact piste that today’s skiing wish desires.
At the end of the day, you can proudly claim to be amongst Val d’Isere’s elite. You have the choice of not one but three different pistes that will swiftly return you to the comfort of your luxury chalet.
There’s no harm in luxury having a little competition. For Chalet La Tene, competition comes in the form of Chalet Daria. We did say this decision wasn’t going to be easy. If location is your luxury, you might like to know that Chalet Daria, on the convergence of three main runs, can also bring you swiftly home to the lap of luxury. Boasting one of the sunniest spots in the valley, you know that you’ll be able to soak up a few more rays over afternoon tea. Therefore enjoy spending a little longer at La Fruitiere enjoying each other’s company. After all, your laptop doesn’t often see the out of office. You can thank Val d’Isere later for the luxury of spending quality time together. Incase those few extra glasses of the finest vintage have spurred on après, don’t forget that Daria offers a luxury chauffeur service until 10pm each night.
As the definition of luxury shifts, so do our priorities. Luxury is a sense of beauty that only the dinning table at Chalet Daria can honor. The band of windows above, make you feel that the mountains are joining you for dinner. This is your very own menu. Designed for you out of your pre arrival menu consultation. This is luxury in terms of quality and knowledge at its finest and most precious.
The finest most precious luxuries are now often being defined from a greater awareness of the value of quality and craftsmanship. We now have an easier access to such things, for example by being a guest of Chalet Le Rocher. With 800m2 of the most carefully crafted grandeur, Le Rocher could be your ultimate luxury ski chalet. Complete with indoor swimming pool, cinema and his and hers walk in wardrobes, we wouldn’t blame you for wanting to keep all this to yourself. For some, the private road up to Le Rocher allows for the greatest luxury of them all, privacy.
At SkiBoutique, we want you to wholeheartedly embrace luxury. You are worth it and we think you deserve it. Let go of the everyday and let Chalet Lhotse look after you for your favourite days of the year. The complimentary spirits bar is stocked and ready with the most luxurious of liquors and your hosts know just how you like that cocktail. Pad around in your bathrobe and slippers, from afternoon tea to evening hot tub. We won’t tell anyone.
Luxury comes from the peace of mind of knowing that you and your champagne flute can relax in the sauna, whilst snow angels and snowball fights are being carried out under the watchful eye of your chalet host. You deserve a week off. Our lives are so often made up of routines that any time we can celebrate the specialness of life, let us embrace such luxury. This week the expert team at Chalet Lhotse will be there for children’s high tea and you get a week off from picking up socks. They seem to be magically folded and tidied away with every evening’s magical turndown service. Even sinking into bed can be a luxury.
This kind of luxury is not inaccessible, but it does take intention. As does reaching the summit of luxury. Chalet Kilimanjaro may just be your pinnacle of luxury ski chalet. Through the riches of your labour, you may have become accustomed to indulgence. Yes Kilimanjaro comes complete with luxury sauna and outdoor hot tub with those views and yes, champagne and canapés have become the expected luxurious norm. However, in today’s modern world, it takes that little bit of extra luxury for us to acknowledge the beauty of nature and the creativity of man. In Chalet Kilimanjaro, you no longer have to seek out beauty. If you want to make the conscious decision to discover such luxuries, I recommend a trip up your private flight of stairs to your master suite. Your king sized bed along with the windows carefully carved into the beams, will make every morning your own luxury viewing gallery to the snowy vista beyond.
Even if you are used to life in first class, let these luxury ski chalets in Val d’Isere take that up a notch or three. Maybe with the smallest of caveats that you might start to become dependent on this sort of luxury.