Eight of the best luxury ski holidays for this winter

The secret for the success of any chalet holiday is to provide a level of comfort, cuisine, and service that exceeds everyday life. At the upper end of the market these holidays become a sumptuous escape to a private five-star chalet - the essentially British concept of sharing with other couples and families becomes rarer.

The crucial difference between the chalet and the hotel at this level is that no five-star hotel can hope to provide such a stratospheric level of personalised service for just a handful of guests.

While prices at the billionaire end continue to rise, and there’s no shortage of high net wealth clientele prepared to fork out huge sums for exclusive luxury pads with extraordinary trimmings, it’s not essential to be a Russian oligarch, movie star or IT billionaire with homes scattered around the world to experience an extra level of service and privacy.

Here’s our pick of the best for the forthcoming season, with chauffeurs and champagne on tap, and hot tubs and home cinemas as standard.

Unless stated otherwise, prices are for the whole chalet for seven nights, half-board, and include all drinks and chauffeur service, but do not include flights and transfers.

Best for a champagne lifestyle

Verbier, Switzerland

Guests can choose from 10 complimentary house wines and two house champagnes – Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut and GH Mumm Cordon Rouge – throughout a stay at Chalet Pierre Avoi (available for exclusive use by a group of up to 14, plus two children). Located in the secluded Plan-Praz area of chic Verbier, it has a panoramic terrace with fire pit, a dedicated room for massage and treatments, two sitting rooms, a sauna and an outdoor hot tub, plus trained chefs to cater for any dietary requests.

Need to know 

From £20,900 with Ski Verbier Exclusive.

Best for being right on the piste

St Martin de Belleville, France

Chez Bugi is brand new for February 2018 and it’s a rarity for St Martin de Belleville, a traditional village with direct access to the massive Trois Vallées ski area, in that it’s ski-in/ski-out. The chalet is located in a new enclave in the village centre, and has six en-suite bedrooms. The overall look is light and woody, with wooden walls, ceilings, floors and furniture, and is decorated in muted, neutral colours – cream, taupe and dove grey – and sumptuous fabrics. It has floor-to-ceiling windows, stone fireplaces, an open-plan living room/dining room and a snug.

Need to know 

From £13,800 with The White Mountain Company.

Best for an extra level of privacy

Val d’Isère, France

La Bergerie is one of five ski-in/ski-out Le Chardon Mountain Lodges clustered in the La Legettaz district of Val d’Isère. This one is set on the site of an ancient shepherd’s hut, and retains some of the original stone and wood features, fusing them with cutting-edge facilities. Sleeps 12 to 13 in six doubles and one single room; extras include two outdoor hot tubs and a home cinema.

Need to know

From £11,940 with Le Chardon Mountain Lodges.

Best for historic grandeur

Lech, Austria

Chalet 1597 is one of Lech’s finest and it is named after the year it was originally built. Located close to access to Lech’s Rüfikopf ski area, the chalet has five bedrooms set on three floors, sleeping up to 12 people. It has been refurbished with great attention to detail, and has a stone wine cellar where guests enjoy drinks before dinner, as well as an impressive dining room. The master suite has its own drawing room/study, with en-suite bathroom featuring a freestanding roll-top bath. The facilities include an in-house cinema seating 14 and a spa area complete with bio sauna, massage room and outdoor hot tub.

Need to know 

From £18,840 with Bramble Ski.

Best for foodies keen to eat out

Zermatt, Switzerland

Standalone Chalet Ulysse looks up at the Matterhorn and is five minutes’ walk from the Matterhorn Express gondola. For much of the season it’s possible to ski back to within 200 metres of the front door. Zermatt is the foodie capital of the Alps with the widest choice of enticing mountain lunch spots all worthy of a Michelin spa. The crew at Matterhorn Chalets also pride themselves on their own sophisticated fare, but dinner is included on four evenings during a week so there is chance to eat out. Chalet Ulysse is flexible on numbers - the main chalet sleeps up to eight and a self-contained ground-floor apartment sleeps up to four. Groups can take over the whole place.

Need to know

From 16,000CHF for the whole property sleeping 12, including daily breakfast and afternoon tea, and dinner on four nights, with Matterhorn Chalets.

Best for active families

Morzine, France

Chalet Jejalp in Morzine is a short 80-minute transfer from Geneva airport, and full of delectable extras, making it great for families. Sleeping 10 adults and four children, the chalet is built around a central atrium, which includes a double-height glass wine cellar spread over two floors; it also has several separate entertaining areas including a large living room with open fireplace. The cinema room is next to a fully stocked bar (drinks are complimentary, including champagne and spirits) with pool table – the bar can be closed off and hidden from children. The spa area has floor-to-ceiling windows, and there’s also a gym.

Need to know

From £18,225 with Consensio.

Best for fantastic views

Val d’Isère, France

Calistoga is the latest chalet to join the stable of Hip Hideouts, the luxury Val d’Isère specialist. The house, situated on the edge of the village in the resort’s quiet Le Crêt quartier, was the former family home of the daughter of one of Val’s original families. Decoration is alpine with a contemporary twist. The giant sitting room has double-height ceilings, huge picture windows, lots of reclaimed timber and stone, along with rich fabrics. Five bedrooms, each with their own individually-designed bathroom, sleep 10 people. There’s also an eight-metre long pool with superb views of the valley - indeed, the chalet has the best sunset views in all of Val d’Isère.

Need to know

From £12,500 with Hip Hideouts.

Best for heliskiing from the door

Revelstoke, Canada

Nothing says luxury quite like being whisked into the wilderness from a private helipad and returning to a five-star chalet to enjoy a private spa, cinema and gourmet food. Bighorn sits in the backwoods of British Columbia at the base of Revelstoke’s lifts. This huge lodge is owned by a pair of powder-obsessed Brits whose building expertise and passion for the mountains produced this pinnacle of accommodation. The eight guest suites sleeping up to 16 people are at least twice the size of those found in luxury chalets in the Alps. The spa area has a pool, gym, sauna, massage rooms and an outdoor hot tub. The quality of service (liveried staff) and cuisine (the kitchen has a teppanyaki grill) is extraordinary.

Need to know

From C$68,250 with Bighorn Revelstoke. Selkirk Tangiers offers private heliskiing on the nearby powder-covered peaks, from C$14,480 for a day for a private helicopter for eight people.