With every passing World Ski Awards, it becomes clearer that Europe is the place to visit if you’re looking for some great slopes and cute chalets. This year’s celebrations, held in Kitzbühel, Austria, saw Switzerland, Austria, and France taking home the majority of the awards, although there were some worldwide category winners from Japan, China and the UAE. Since the 2018 World Ski Awards have just ended, we thought we’d create our own list exploring the world’s leading luxury ski resorts.
Courchevel 1850, France
Situated 1850m high in Les Trois Vallees, at one end of the world’s largest lift-linked ski area, Courchevel 1850 offers a beautiful collection of chalets all ranging in size. At the very heart of the resort you’ll find Le Chabichou, a cozy alpine hotel with 42 luxury suites, although there are several other retreats, including boutique hotel Le K2 Palace and the newly opened L’Apogee Courchevel, dotted around the slopes. Regardless of which chalet you choose, chances are it will come with a swimming pool, a hot tub, a sauna, a steam room and even a cinema.
If you actually ever want to leave the luxury of your chalet, there are a few Michelin-starred restaurants to try, bars to lean against and even a luxury nightclub where you can dance the night away. During the day, you may even find time to hit the 600km of pistes. Out there, you’ll find plenty of instructors that are absolutely fantastic, or if you’re experienced you can even try some off-piste terrain for a real challenge.
Eagle Point Resort, USA
To prevent being too Europe-focused, we thought it was best to include one of North America’s best luxury ski resorts: Eagle Point Resort, Utah. Plus, this resort really deserves a place on our list as it doesn’t get much more luxurious than having 600 acres made up of 40 pistes all to yourself. Between Tuesday and Thursday each week, Eagle Point Resort is available for private hire for up to 200 guests, all of whom will be catered upon like royalty.
Once there, you can enjoy premium condos complete with outdoor hot tubs, a bar, and a nightclub. Or, you can book entire days of skiing lessons with certified instructors who will get you ready to hit one of the mountain’s five backcountry gates. Before you go ahead and book though, you better have won a lottery jackpot or inherited a fortune, because regardless of how many people you bring, private hire costs $10,000 a day and weekend bookings aren’t much cheaper.
Cortina, Italy
Finally, we have the Dolomite dwelling of Cortina d’Ampezzo, where the high rollers of the world go to shop as well as ski. In addition to pristine slopes, Cortina is home to several lavish stores selling furs, jewelry, antiques and other such extravagant luxuries. There are plenty of chic boutiques, fine restaurants and wine bars, or you can watch some snow polo while sipping champagne if you fancy it.
Of all the accommodation available, the five-star Cristallo Hotel Spa & Golf is perhaps the best, with glamorous, vintage décor suites and incredibly attentive staff. As for actually skiing, the ski area is split into four sections: Faloria, Tofana, Cinque Torri and Lagazuoi, with the latter two only available by bus. Each is unique, offering a wide variety of experiences for every sort of skier.
