Val-d'Isère
in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

The first five-star chalet-hotel in Val d'Isère sits on a sunny south-facing slope and does ski-in, ski-out with Airelles' characteristic precision. Ralph Lauren plaids, dark woods, and warming chandeliers inside; a cinema, terrace restaurant, and deeply good spa beyond. Detail and service are the house speciality.

From the crew behind Paris's best cocktail bars, this Val d'Isère chalet has Savoyard bones but a resolutely cool interior by Dorothée Meilichzon, colour-block headboards, ochre tiles, and organic marble mirrors. The bar staff make the best cocktails in town (and spend summers in Ibiza). Steps from the slopes, with just enough 1990s nostalgia to feel like home.

A cluster of suites and chalets connected by underground tunnels just a stone's throw from Val d'Isère's pistes, La Mourra is more contemporary than the traditional spots nearby. Reclaimed wood, stone, and slate; a hammam in Susanne Kaufmann's spa; a Japanese restaurant and bar with real energy. Très modern mountain hamlet.

The highest hotel in France, 2,500 metres above Val d'Isère, reached in winter by gondola, is also one of the most special. A former cable car station turned covetable chalet, with thick woods, soft fabrics, and a touch of contemporary cool. The spa is the obvious post-slope destination; the restaurants (Le Refuge and Le Petit Refuge) are good enough to make leaving unnecessary.