La Mourra - Sequoia

KNOCK ON WOOD

On the edge of Val d’Isere, in a little hamlet composed of an exclusive boutique hotel and five luxury chalets, you find La Mourra Village. Here, the service of a five-star hotel and the privacy of a private chalet combine to make something quite magnificent. Although constructed in 2015, traditional architecture and materials have created an enclave that harmonises beautifully with the surroundings. Many ski chalet holidays make fabulous claims about how special they are. At La Mourra Village, the claim is valid.

Each chalet is finished and equipped to the same exacting standards They are spacious and decorated with a flair that adores the warmth of timber, rich colour schemes and deep comfort. Fabrics are heavy and wallpaper is opulent, both are often ambitiously patterned and yet so artfully that the whole comes together with a flourish.

They share the same basic layout with accommodation spread out over three or four floors connected by in-house lifts. Living areas are on the top, below that most of the bedrooms, down to a ground floor where you find the spa and another bedroom or two, and down to the basement where a cinema room (except in Ambre) is a protected zone away from the world, with deep sofas and furry cushions and throws for the ultimate in movie nights. From the basement there is access to the garages and the to the hotel.

Bedrooms are all en-suite with showers, bathtubs and separate toilets. The hotel’s wellness centre, also available to chalet guests, is a sparkling oasis but there might be little call for it. Each chalet has its own spa with pool, sauna, steam room and massage cabin. Statement wood burning stoves in the living areas and access to terraces and balconies with views to the mountains continue the chalet theme.

Breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner will be prepared and served by your chalet staff and your French trained chef, except if you decide to savour the exquisite Japanese fusion cuisine in the plush hotel restaurant. La Mourra prioritises attention to detail, so guests enjoy attentive concierge services and the hotel’s shuttle around the resort from 07:30 until 23:30 each day. Passageways from the basement of each chalet connect to the hotel where there is also a gracious wood panelled bar you might like to patronise for a night-cap. But you can, if you so choose, stay cossetted in the privileged seclusion of your chalet.

Chalet Séquoia - With its central wood burning stove separating the living and dining areas, the living space of Séquoia factors in a generous dose of the “wow” factor which continues throughout its 450m². The spa is a magical sybaritic retreat and shares the ground floor with one of the four double bedrooms. The other doubles are on the first floor along with the fifth bedroom which has three single beds, one of which is elevated.