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There’s no need to rough it in France – quite the contrary. You’ll find some of the finest chalets and hotels in the mountains over here, housing fully fledged spas and concocting gourmet wonders morning, noon and night.
With streets lined with designer shops and piano bars, every last whim’s catered for in the most luxurious French resorts. As for the skiing, you’ve got some of the world’s biggest, most snow sure ski areas on your doorstep.
France: Top 10 Luxury Ski Resorts
Courchevel 1850’s the master suite - a gaggle of the finest chalets, hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants and magnum-filled bars. Fashion takes centre stage here – Lagerfeld once furnished the cable cars with Chanel artwork – and the likes of Fendi, Dior and Gucci fill shop windows. But even outside this billionaire bolthole, when you factor in the likes of chilled-out Moriond and cute old Le Praz, 70% of lodgings have a four or five star rating (some are fully fledged palaces). They’ve cracked the code of luxury holidays from start to finish: If you’re private jetting it over, the resort has its own airfield, and many hotels have a ski valet who saves you from lugging equipment about at the beginning and end of the day. This helps when you’ve got the world’s biggest ski area as your back garden – all 600km of the glorious Trois Vallees. And whether you’ve spent the day skiing, shopping or spa-ing, replenishing and delicious food and drink await. Chef Rochedy at Le Chabichou whips up other worldly Savoyard and Cevenne delights – earning 2 Michelin stars and rightly so. Wash down with a Dom P. Jeroboam at L'Arc Club (designed by Lenny Kravitz, no less), or sip cognac to the tinkling piano at Piggy’s.
When skiing got trendy back in the day, Val d’Isère was leading the runway – and very much still is. It’s hard to imagine a quiet farming village these days, with luxury digs every which way (this is the home of Marco Polo, serial winner of France’s best ski chalet, where the pool is tiled with 23-carat gold...). Hedonistic Folie Douce must be experienced at least once – from the VIP Veranda – or if you prefer things a little more refined, its sister wine cellar stocks some 500 of the grandest Grands Crus. Downtown, restaurants abound. Even if your chalet already has a Michelin-trained chef, one starred La Table de L’Ours is worth a booking, to feast on lobster and racks of lamb next to roaring fires. Let’s not forget the ski area: Espace Killy has some serious pedigree as one of the world’s best, with a roster of private guides to show you local delicacies – whether you’re more for the Olympic pistes, powder pockets or the ones with the best views of Mt Blanc.
A French resort with more heritage, charm and class we’re yet to find: The Rothschild’s chose Megeve when they tired of St Moritz (a mean feat), transforming a medieval farming town into a winter destination fit for kings. The iconic Place de l’Eglise is the beating heart of the outfit (traffic-free - horse-drawn sleighs do the legwork here). And it’s flanked with some of the finest restaurants, bars and shops in all the land: Flocons de Sel knocks the socks off your usual restaurant, with a glittering 3 Michelin Stars and outfitters like Hermes are just as much a draw as the ski area. Which turns out to be one of the prettiest you’ll ever ski, with fairy-tale forest runs and open cruisers looking out to Mont Blanc. Après here has always been a refined affair, with Les Cinq Rues (France’s Ronnie Scotts) featuring the biggest names in the Jazz world and a veritable 1930’s casino. Though with a Folie Douce now gracing the slopes, there’s always a chance to let your hair down...
Chamonix is like a fine wine. As the oldest ski resort in France, it’s only improved with age, earning some resonating accolades along the way. They chose it for the first winter Olympics in ’24, and it’s regularly critic’s choice for off-piste and après ski. No mere bottle, this is the full Balthazar: a whole valley cocooning a proper town and a number of ski areas – from the powder thrills of Grand Montets to deliciously calm Balme. And the flavour’s wonderfully full-bodied, with the grassy tones of Spa Le Bachal (where all treatments are eco-friendly) and the mixed notes of Le Cap Horn: A seafood restaurant, tapas and oyster cave, jazz lounge and cocktail bar all in one. It’s not one for blind tasting though – you wouldn’t want to miss the views of Mont Blanc and her wondrous massif…
Playing centre court in the Three Valleys - Meribel has all the hallmarks of a Grand Slam champion. Posh chalets - tick. Fine dining - tick. Indulgent spas - tickety tick. Handy, as with a stonking great ski area to explore, nothing beats coming home to a cosy mountain pad, gobbling up good food and succumbing every last niggle to relentless pampering. Though skiing’s not the only way to wear your legs out here: The chic Coco boutique and neighboring Prada, Longchamp and D&G try even the most seasoned shopaholics. When it comes to lodgings, the hotel department has one clear winner: Kaila, where the facilities are so good you needn’t step outside for a second if you don’t want to. That’s not to say this is the be all and end all of luxury pads, it’s the chalets this place is famed for and there are some real humdingers (we’re talking private spas and cinemas, with staff to pander to every whim). If all that leaves the mouth watering, it’s straight up the Saulire gondola for Chef Mischler’s Savoy wonders at Fruitiere. Or pop down to St Martin to find out just what made Michelin award La Bouitte three glittering stars (we’ll wager it’s the Omble chevalier, which wouldn’t look out of place in the Tate).
Lake Geneva’s to one side, Mont Blanc’s to the other, and the resort itself is an achingly traditional huddle of low-rise chalets backed with a forest of pines: Les Gets makes a beautiful bolthole. Sprogs are welcomed with arms open, and the pace of life is deliciously slowed and steadied – no throbbing nightlife here. Spa hotels come with a roster of therapists to eke out all manner of ills. While world-leading chalets like the Corniche have all the essentials: Wine cellars, staffed spa floors, a SLIDE from the bar to the games room… Then there’s the skiing; the magnificent Portes du Soleil, where every kind of piste leads off as far as the eye can see.
All that glitters is not old – which new-build VT serves to prove. No ancient church spires pierce this skyline, nor do crumbling old chalets recall days of yore. But you barely notice as everything’s so darn slick and convenient. Schnebelen knew he was onto a winner when he designed the resort in ‘69 – it hogs the highest spot of the biggest ski area in the world, putting the surest snow on your doorstep (literally, the whole thing’s ski-out) and sonnet-worthy views from your bedroom window (over French, Swiss and Italian peaks). A fresh generation of top-notch hotels and restaurants are creeping onto the scene – and like the resort, they’re the top of their game. Take Altapura, where one of the three restaurants, La Laiterie - doesn’t just specialise in any old fondue, but champagne and truffle ones. Jean Sulpice now has a thwacking two Michelin stars in his eponymous eatery - deserved for every morsel he serves, where each dish tells a story from his past. Spas are many: Altapura’s Nordic and Baltic rituals are followed by a snow rubdown in their igloo relaxation area... But the real reason you come here’s the skiing. It’s almost endlessly snowy, and it’s vast, with a 600km mix of slopes and off-piste galore – a five star rating all round.
Morzine oozes Savoyard charm from the very pores of its slate roofed, wooden chalets. And when some house cinemas, wine cellars and banqueting rooms, you could easily hibernate all week in your private Alpine kingdom. Though it’s worth setting foot outside once or twice – you’re in the middle of the mammoth Portes du Soleil after all, and even if you don’t ski every inch of its 650km, the local runs include some gorgeous tree-lined cruisers. The village itself is gloriously unobtrusive: Less black-tie, Michelin-starred finesse and more fleeces and fondues a go go (we’d gladly gorge on the cheesy delights at Le Clin d’Oeil at every sitting).
When a village comes with a 3 Michelin-starred restaurant, it becomes a bit of a head turner. Though St Martin was widening eyes way before La Bouitte came onto the scene. It’s a beauty: Sleepy old Alpine farmhouses, a church steeple and not much else (but for snow and forest and mountains). As if serving the finest food in France wasn’t enough, La Bouitte also plays host to a marvelous spa, where you can bath in milk and honey or be cocooned in silk as you please. And while it all feels far, far away, you’re actually on the edge of the mighty Trois Vallees: The world’s biggest ski area with 600km of slopes to roam.
Back in the 1930s, engineer Jean Pomagalski (father of POMA lifts) installed France’s first drag lift here, and it was powered by the engine from a First World War American truck. Scoot forwards to modern times and Alpe d’Huez has an army of state-of-the-art lifts, with a host of high-end digs and eats taking care of downtime. Four star hotels house suites, spas and swimming pools, with Tardis-like wood-and-stone chalets welcoming guests with champagne receptions and wellness rooms. A private airport grants exclusive access straight into the action – a preferred choice of ‘action’ being a table at Michelin-starred L’Altiport which sits right next door. The huge and sun-drenched ski area certainly has the feel-good factor, and for the ultimate après, it’s onto the weird and wonderful Folie Douce for champagne showers and dancing like no-one's watching.
This is the definitive list of the best luxury French ski resorts. If you're looking for some savoire faire in your luxury ski resort, France has to be top of your list. There are many exclusive ski resorts in france and you can ski in a 5 star French ski resort for a lot less than the luxury ski resorts of other alpine nations.
The crème de la crème of these fine French resorts appear on our ultimate list of luxurious places to ski worldwide, where we've picked out the most brilliant bucket-list destinations across Europe, North America and beyond. You can also browse our best luxury resorts in Switzerland, Austria and Italy to see what the other big ski nations have to offer.
France’s Best Luxury Ski resorts
| Resort | Resort luxuries | Best restaurants | Best spas | Luxury hotel/chalet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courchevel | 5* & palace rated hotels, incredible chalets, designer shopping, numerous Michelin-star restaurants | Le 1947, Le Montgomerie, Le Kintessence, Le Chabichou | Grandes Alpes Spa, Le Chabichou & Spa, Goji Spa @ K2 Palace | Hotel Le Chabichou |
| Val d'Isere | Fabulous luxury chalets & 5* hotels, world-class ski area | L’Atelier d’Edmond, La Table de l’Ours, Pier Restaurant | Chalet Marco Polo’s private spa, Spa @ Hotel Christiania, Spa by Esthederm @ Avenue Lodge | Chalet Marco Polo |
| Megeve | Fabulous 5* hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants, designer shops | 1920, Flocons de Sel, Prima, La Table de l’Alpaga | Spa Four Seasons, Le Spa du M | Four Seasons Hotel Megeve |
| Chamonix | Classic mountain town, great foodie resort, Mont Blanc scenery | Albert 1er, La Remise, Coquelicot, Akashon | Spa Nuxe, QC Terme | Mont Blanc Chamonix |
| Meribel | Laid back lux, gorgeous chalets, 5* hotels, great après ski | L’Ekrin, Le 80, Le Cepe | NUXE Spa | Chalet Mont Tremblant |
| Les Gets | Charming chalet village, family friendly skiing, short airport transfers | Crychar | Private spa in Chalet Grand Corniche | Grand Corniche |
| Val Thorens | Cutting edge 5* hotels, gourmet dining, Europe’s highest resort | Les Explorateurs, Fitz Roy, Rene et Maxime Meilleur | Le Spa du Koh-I Norm Altapura Spa Pure Altitude, Spa By L'OCCITANE | Koh-I Nor |
| Morzine | Enormous Portes du Soleil ski area, laid back après ski | Le Tremplin, Le Ferme de la Frutiere, L’Atelier, Les Cotes | Le Dahu Spa | Hotel Les Champs Fleuris |
| Saint Martin De Belleville | Charming 3 Vallees villages, Michelin star dining | René et Maxime Meilleur, Le Grenier, Le Montagnard | La Bela Vya Spa | Hotel St Martin |
| Alpe d’Huez | Big, sunny ski area, great après ski | Au Chamois d’Or, Signal 2108 | Black Diamond Luxury Spa | Hotel Daria-I Nor |
We update this list often but facilities can change, so if any specific feature is essential to your trip, make sure you ask us to confirm the details before you book your holiday.
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