The world’s 10 most luxurious ski resorts
When “wintersporting” first became popular in the early 20th century, weeks spent in the Alps indulging in the new pursuits of skiing, sledding and curling were the exclusive preserve of thrill-seeking aristocrats, royals and film stars. The glamorous set whiled away their summers in St Tropez, Capri or Monte Carlo and spent winters in Alpine counterparts like St Moritz, Cortina d’Ampezzo and Zermatt.
Over the intervening decades, packaged holidays and purpose-built resorts have opened up the joy of skiing to an infinitely wider audience. Yet snowy winter destinations remain intrinsically linked with luxury – European royalty still flock to the Alpine stalwarts of Klosters and Lech, while millionaires fly their private jets into Courchevel and Aspen.
Ski resorts on both sides of the Atlantic bristle with Michelin-starred restaurants, lavish hotels and destination spas while ultra-luxury chalets come with chauffeur-driven cars, celebrity chefs, cinemas, helipads and spas as standard. Even if you can’t afford to stay in a £100,000-per-week chalet or drop £1,000 on a slopeside lunch for two, it’s entertaining to ski past these places and see who can.
The definition of what makes a ski resort luxurious is, of course, deeply personal. Designer shops and glittery nightlife will be key for some while others might insist on remote locations, Michelin-starred restaurants or access to a helipad. Or perhaps heated chairlifts and five-star slope grooming are paramount?
Whatever the priorities of the world’s richest skiers, their whims have encouraged resorts across the globe to up the ante, often to everyone’s benefit. Find a cosy bolthole to match your budget in one of the resorts below, book your lift passes and rentals in advance to secure the best prices for them, and you’ll be able to enjoy the very same manicured pistes, slick lift systems, high-quality dining and cultural scene that draws the rich and famous to them.
Verbier, Switzerland
Best for après loving expert skiers
Set on a south-facing balcony facing the Grand Combin massif, Verbier offers access to 410km of pistes spanning four valleys and some of the world’s most challenging off-piste. This mighty terrain has drawn expert freeriders from across the globe since the 1970s but Verbier’s evolution into an ultra-luxury lifestyle destination is more recent.
Pioneered in 2007 by the launch of The Lodge, Richard Branson’s vast chalet, and consolidated by the arrival of the W hotel (2017), subsequent additions such as 67 Pall Mall, Cordée des Alpes, Experimental Chalet Verbier and now the eye-popping Cabane Tortin, have sealed Verbier’s position in the luxury super league.
Many loyal Verbier types have shared the resort’s evolution – ski bums who once moshed to live performances of Rage against the Machine in Pub Mont Fort are now paid-up members of 67 Pall Mall, where they wash down local Val d’Hérens beef fillet with rare Swiss wines. Reassuringly, ski bums do still mosh at Pub Mont Fort, they just sleep in more affordable digs down in Bruson these days.
Where to stay
Verbier Exclusive (01608 674 011) offers seven nights fully catered accommodation at the lavish new Chalet Kitsiliano from £25,687 per week for up to 10 guests. You can fly to Geneva with SWISS from £100 return.
Plan your trip with our Verbier ski guide.
Courchevel, France
Best for mileage-hungry intermediates
Courchevel – and particularly the highest of its five villages, Courchevel 1850 – is the winter home of glamour, caviar and excess. The prices are sky high but it’s hard to fault the immaculately-groomed pistes, efficient lifts and suave multilingual instructors, as adept at teaching their fur-clad clients to master parallel turns as they are at securing their preferred table at La Soucoupe.
Bursting with ultra-luxury chalets and hotels, fur shops, and restaurants garnering 14 Michelin stars between them, Courchevel 1850 is the undisputed hot spot for glossy celebrities to ski and be seen. For those without a private jet budget, prices in Courchevel drop with altitude, with more affordable accommodation found in the lower-lying Moriond and Le Praz.
Part of the vast Trois Valleés ski area, Courchevel offers easy access to over 600km of pistes, enough to satisfy even the most mileage-hungry skiers. And for beginners and early intermediates, Courchevel’s 150km of local slopes provide ample entertainment, with some challenging off-piste terrain to boot.
Where to stay
The Ski Collection (023 9289 0960; skicollection.com) offers a week’s catered accommodation for eight adults at Chalet Hidden Peak from £13,282pp, including private jet and helicopter transfers.
Plan your trip with our Courchevel ski guide.
Aspen, Colorado
Best for the skiers who want it all
Aspen might be best known for the A-listers who flock to the Victorian mining town each Christmas, yet locals remain here for the diverse skiing offered across its five distinct mountains.
The recently expanded Aspen Mountain, which tops out at 11,212ft (3,415m), offers bumps runs galore as well as pine-punctured ridges and ungroomed trails through sun-dappled aspen glades; Highlands serves up some of North America’s steepest inbound descents from the 12,392-ft (3,777m) peak of Highlands Bowl; Buttermilk is ideal for ski touring and secret powder stashes; and Snowmass is the one-mountain wonder that runs the gamut from wide cruisey pistes and terrain parks to tree skiing and cliff drops.
Aspen adds to this rich ski mix a freethinking cultural spirit, reflected in a raft of art galleries and live music performances, as well as a globally acclaimed art museum, ballet, theatre and opera house. Save some pennies for a blow-out lunch at Cloud 9 Bistro or a Wagyu double cheeseburger at Ajax Tavern by staying in self-catered accommodation in Snowmass.
Where to stay
Ski Independence (0131 2438097; ski-i.com) offers seven nights in a double room at The Limelight Aspen from £2,989pp, B&B, including return flights AND transfers, based on two sharing.
Plan your trip with our Aspen ski guide.
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
Best for non-skiers
Encircled by the Dolomites, Cortina d’Ampezzo is blessed with one of the world’s most beautiful backdrops. Many visitors to “The Pearl of the Dolomites” eschew the scenic ski slopes to shop for fur, antiques and jewellery or watch snow polo while quaffing champagne. Glossy Italians indulge in the ritual passeggiata (evening stroll) along the Corso Italia, with locals ducking into the Enoteca Cortina for a glass of local wine, served with dainty cicchetti (appetizers).
Dolomiti afficionados pining for the three-Michelin-starred St. Hubertus in San Cassiano should visit the rustic-chic Baita Piè Tofana, where chef Federico Rovacchi, who spent six years at St. Hubertus, now creates his own culinary magic.
Those who do make it onto Cortina’s slopes will find flattering, intermediate-friendly slopes with jaw-dropping views and delightful rifugios. Thanks to the Cortina Skyline gondola, it’s now easy to reach the spectacular Cinque Torri section from Cortina and even ski beyond it into Alta Badia’s sprawling ski area. The 15-minute-long gondola ride also makes it the ideal spot for an inexpensive and scenic picnic lunch.
Where to stay
Set just outside of central Cortina, hugged by snow-topped larch forests, the intimate 33-room Rosapetra Spa Resort (rosapetracortina.it) offers doubles from £762, B&B. You can fly to Venice Marco Polo airport with easyJet (easyjet.com) from £129 return.
Plan your trip with our Cortina ski guide.
St Moritz, Switzerland
Best for off-snow glamour
Widely regarded as the cradle of Alpine winter tourism, St Moritz has long been the spiritual home of the world’s more eccentric, fun-loving, and glamorous elite. The chic community is divided into three villages dotted around Lake St Moritz – Dorf, Bad and Celerina – with Dorf having the pick of shops, nightlife and restaurants. Regular trains link St Moritz with neighboring villages like Pontresina and Samedan, where you’ll find less expensive accommodation.
Thanks to its proximity to Italy and a top altitude of nearly 10,850ft (3,305m), St Moritz boasts a rare combination of snow and sun reliability (plus delicious Italian cuisine). The ski area spans four sections – Corviglia, Corvatsch, Diavolezza/Lagalb and Zuoz – with St Moritz’s three villages all offering lift access to the intermediate playground of Corviglia. As the world’s first winter sports destination, St Moritz also boasts a hard-to-beat choice of non-ski attractions from ice skating and bobsleigh on the notorious Cresta Run to polo, horse racing and cricket on the frozen lake.
Where to stay
Stay at the newest five-star kid on the St Moritz block, the Grace La Margna (gracehotels.com), where doubles cost from £630 per night, including breakfast. You can fly to Zürich with easyJet (easyjet.com) from £115 return.
Plan your trip with our St Moritz ski guide.
Lech, Austria
Best for low-ley luxury and big skiing
With its discretely ultra-luxe hotels and chalets, frequented by generations of low-flying British and Dutch royals, you could say that Lech initiated stealth wealth. The tight-knit town is dominated by hotels, restaurants and shops owned by families like the Schneiders, Strolzes, Pfefferkorns and Walchs, who hail from Lech’s founding Walser people and are entrusted with the secrets of some of the world’s most powerful people.
The skiing might be big – Lech forms an integral part of Ski Arlberg, Austria’s largest ski area – but the scene in town is restrained, with regulars quaffing Dom Perignon at the mountain-top Balmalp or riverside Krone or sipping G&Ts in the fire-warmed Yurt in Hotel Arlberg’s garden. Lech regulars generally take their skiing seriously, here to enjoy the uncrowded pistes (Lech was the first resort in Europe to cap the number of day passes issued to 14,000 a day) and direct access to some of the best off-piste terrain in the Ski Arlberg area.
Where to stay
Stay at the subtly stylish The Barn, with its discrete location amid snow-clad pastures near Oberlech, from £7,772 per night, half board, for up to eight guests with Pepper Collection (peppercollection.com). You can fly to Innsbruck with easyJet (easyjet.com) from £45 return.
Plan your trip with our Lech ski guide.
Baqueira Beret, Spain
Best for sunshine and heliskiing
Well-to-do Spaniards have long recognised the joy of skiing in Baqueira Beret, a smart town in the Catalan Pyrenees favoured by the Spanish royal family since it opened in 1964.
Perched in the rugged Aran Valley, Baqueira offers a quixotic mix of pristine wilderness and Occitan cultural identity; 165km of predominantly intermediate pistes and world-class off-piste terrain across a 2,273-hectare area spanning five mountains; low-key tapas bars and sophisticated restaurants. There’s also relatively inexpensive heliskiing (from €290 per person for two drops).
While still less expensive than its Alpine counterparts, Baqueira’s luxury scene is flourishing, with a proliferation of plush new hotels and slopeside chalets attracting a cosmopolitan audience. While you can still enjoy an Iberian sirloin steak on the mountain at Cinco Jotas for under €20, you can also blow the budget on sushi and bubbles at the sun-drenched Moët & Chandon Winter Lounge or feast Wagyu carpaccio and blue lobster ravioli in Lionel Messi’s restaurant in the MIM hotel.
Where to stay
A week’s self-catered accommodation in the five-bedroom Chalet Enza costs from £11,576 with Emerald Stay (emeraldstay.com). You can fly to Toulouse with British Airways (ba.com) from £102 return.
Deer Valley, Utah
Best for on and off-slope pampering
Deer Valley supersizes ski luxury, introducing services and amenities you never knew you needed until you first experience them here. There’s a ban on snowboarders (they create unwanted bumps on the manicured slopes), complimentary valeted ski storage and the option to splurge $10,000 for a day’s exclusive access to Bald Mountain for you and 19 mates.
Deer Valley caps daily lift pass sales to ensure its cosseted skiers enjoy its 2,342 acres of flattering intermediate pistes, perfectly spaced glades and snow-choked backcountry without queuing or jostling for turns. (Although one imagines the $300-a-day lift tickets also serve as a restraint…)
The resort is poised to supersize its ski offering too, tripling in size for the 2025/26 season to become one of the largest in North America. Book lift tickets in advance to secure lower prices and your space on the mountain and stay in nearby Park City to be in with a chance of affording a day’s private ski tuition with a Deer Valley instructor (from $1,340 per day).
Where to stay
Stay in the heart of Deer Valley’s Silver Lake village at the ski-in/ski-out Stein Eriksen Lodge (steinlodge.com), where doubles cost from £860 per night, including breakfast. You can fly to Salt Lake City with Virgin Atlantic (virginatlantic.com) from £909 return.
Val d’Isère, France
Best for ski-loving families
Val d’Isère has been rated amongst the world’s top 10 ski resorts since the 1960s and spearheaded the luxury chalet evolution in the 1980s. It remains the resort of choice for chalet-loving Britons, as well as expert skiers and après revellers from across the globe, and the annual launch of ever more opulent hotels, chalets and mountain restaurants has sealed its place amidst the world’s most glamorous winter destinations.
With its remote setting in a box canyon near the Italian border, Val d‘Isère remains very much a skier’s resort and is particularly popular with families travelling with children. While adults capitalise on the 300km of high-altitude pistes and jaw-dropping off-piste terrain Val shares with neighbouring Tignes, children enjoy similarly extensive kids’ slopes and off-slope entertainment.
The town’s visceral connection with the mountains ensures it retains a staunch ski bum following despite its inexorable rise into the ultra-luxury bubble which, in combination with its family-friendly vibe, keeps its feet on the snowy ground.
Where to stay
Scott Dunn (020 3468 9752; scottdunn.com) offers seven nights at the sumptuous slopeside Les Barmes de l’Ours from £13,950, B&B, based on a family of four, including return flights and private transfers.
Plan your trip with our Val d’Isere ski guide.
Zermatt, Switzerland
Best for scenery and snow-safe slopes
With its shark tooth peak rising proudly above the Pennine Alps, the Matterhorn is arguably the world’s most recognisable mountain. Set at the foot of the mighty peak, the car-free village of Zermatt has welcomed mountaineers and skiers since the mid-19th century, blending scenic “wintersporting” and cosseting accommodation for aristocratic adventurers.
Many of today’s visitors stay in the same hotels – the Monte Rosa, Mont Cervin Palace, Schweizerhof, Riffelalp and Grand Hotel Zermatterhof – and ride the same Gornergrat train to sweep down snow-sure pistes on the flanks of the Matterhorn.
Fortunately, Zermatt has moved with the times, adding Europe’s highest gondola to create the continent’s longest pisted top-to-bottom descent, dropping 7,674 vertical feet (2,340m) along 15.5 miles (25km) of scenic trails. These trails are also peppered with some of the world’s finest mountain restaurants, such as Chez Vrony, Zum See and Findlerhof, where skiers and hikers tuck into truffle-doused pasta, tartiflette and rösti.
Where to stay
Bramble Ski (brambleski.com) offers seven nights for two in the one-bedroom Christiania Apartment 4, located in the heart of Zermatt, from £4,099, B&B, including daily housekeeping and served breakfasts.
Plan your trip with our Zermatt ski guide.
