Address: Courchevel moriond, 252 Rue du Marquis, 73120 Courchevel, France
Phone: +33 4 79 08 01 47
Website: portetta.com/

Low key and Courchevel rarely share the same sentence. But slide down mountain to 1650 where the Savoyard spirit endures, and you’ll find Portetta. It’s cosy without feeling overly twee, rustic while shining its shoes. Rooms are pared down but sumptuous in fabric and materials choices, a hallmark of its owners, the Hutsons (behind Lime Wood and the ever-growing group of Pigs). Not only is it ski-in/ski-out, but the backdoor opens to miles of unspoilt backcountry, where the pros can wiggle through Alpine woods, looking out for wildlife and carving tracks into fresh snow. Those sticking to the pistes are right on the Belvedere, with easy access to the lifts and Les Trois Vallées miles of scenic runs. They can snowplough home to backgammon boards and hot toddies in fire-lit rooms or, outside, the Fire & Ice Bar whose stone-baked pizzas are as legendary as their ‘Pistes Rouges’ cocktails. 

Address: 238 Rue des Clarines, 73120 Courchevel, France
Phone: +33 4 79 40 08 80
Website: https://www.lek2palace.com

Every inch the louche-lodge, high design, high expense Courchevel, Le K2 is an Alpine refuge for the 0.1 percenters and their Moncler-clad offspring. It’s all tonal and textured, warming the Tibetan-inspired architecture and exterior, and traces the traditional mountain hamlet formation, with mesmerising valley views from all snow-laden chalets. As well as scuffing the Pralong piste, the hotel smugly deploys its own chairlift, shooting guests and their instructors up into Les Trois Vallées’ snowy playground. They’re soon back, to wallow in the private pools, stew in the hot tubs, and tuck into Sébastien Vauxion’s sweet and savoury alchemy at le Sakara or L’Altiplano’s innovative Peruvian plates.

Address: Rue du Jardin Alpin, 73120 Courchevel, France
Phone: 0033 47900 3838
Website: airelles.com

Carved into a cliff, this classic hotel counts an assortment of uniquely designed rooms under its roof – The Virginia Suite, Suite 59, occupies an entire floor. The hotel’s freshwater swimming pool and direct access private beach will help you tune into the dolce far niente mindset.

Unapologetically traditional, in a glamorous, uncrusty sense, Les Airelles Courchevel is perched on the edge of the Jardin Alpin slopes like a grand, Habsburg hunting lodge. But for all its chandelier, trophy mural, family crest theatrics, this heritage hotel is in fact a 1990s creation, with superb techy touches and subterranean spa that engulfs guests for long afternoons. Every corner of its interior has a Brother’s Grimm, Alpine palace quality to it, whether it’s the profusion of carved wood, frescos and elaborate heritage headboards, or the large open fireplaces and ancestral portraits. Breakfast here is as fantastical as they come – fit for an Empress. 

Address: Rue du Jardin Alpin, 73120 Courchevel, France
Phone:  0033 47900 5050
Website: chevalblanc.com

Arty, chic and seriously louche, Cheval Blanc Courchevel’s muralled, mustard-hued exterior belies the angular spaces and contemporary artworks inside (expect Bruno Peinado’s mirrored horse piercing the driveway, and Andreas Gursky’s prints of the ant-like skiers. Alpine cosiness and savoyard prints and palettes are sent through a contemporary prism in the lounges and rooms, where lavish textiles and materials are layered to excess. The elemental-themed spa sits at piste level, where après oscillate between the sauna, steam room and hot tub, plonked a metre or so from the piste. And while its Jardin Alpin setting is a boon for the Fendi-clad skiers, the real drawer of this hotel is its Michelin-starred, futuristic 1947 restaurant and lobster lunches with jazz on its sunny terrace.

Address: 310 Rue de Bellecôte, 73120 Courchevel, France
Phone: 0033479080133
Website: aman.com 

Aman has brought its Far-Eastern minimalism and wellbeing philosophies to the Alps, with yoga classes, blonde woods and a double-level spa residing in a fortress-like structure high in 1850. Le Mélézin’s Alpine reference are subtle – with warm velvets and silvery hide – and gentle lighting sets a warm, slightly monastic bass note. As expected, the spa is the real show stopper with a pillared pool and bespoke programmes featuring crystals, hot oils and impressive body MOTs. The sumptuous minimalism in the rooms and brooding communal space spills onto Nama’s Japanese menus, where sashimi and Otoro tuna are a welcome hiatus from endless rounds of mountain raclette.