Even if you’re not a die-hard skier, you will probably have heard of Courchevel, the luxury ski resort perched up in the French Alps. The winter equivalent to Saint Tropez, it comes with the most palace hotels and Michelin starred restaurants in the country after Paris, and couture labels like Chanel and Fendi have also set up in town.
However, Courchevel isn’t all just razzle dazzle. It also ranks high when it comes to skiing. Set right on the slopes to Les Trois Vallées, the largest skiable domain in Europe, it is one of the most beautiful in the world.
Frequented by top A-listers from George Clooney to British royals, the reams of hotels in the area are well trained in how to cater to guests’ every whim, making it choose where to stay no slim affair.
Expect everything from mammoth private chalets with huge heated swimming pools and mountain views, to historic hotels abound with local Savoyard charm (think open fireplaces, wooden interiors and furry rugs). If, however, you like your hotels cozy but on the contemporary side and without too much fuss or bling, then the unassuming Le Strato Hotel ticks all the boxes.
A five-star outfit right on the slopes in the Bellecôte area at 1,850m of altitude (Courchevel’s highest spot), the big point-scorer is the breath-taking, entirely unobstructed view of the mountains, a rarity in Courchevel as most hotels are huddled together. And there’s nothing like watching the colours changing across the gleaming white snowy panorama under crisp blue skies, right from the comfort of the hotel bar or, better still, your own bed. Because all rooms come with the same killer views.
Owned by the Boix-Vives family, who built one of the first ski lifts in Courchevel, were the former owners of Rossignol ski equipment company and invented the revolutionary Strato ski model, which is where the hotel got its name. The story is still close to the owners’ hearts.
The history is explained downstairs on panels hanging in the state-of-the-art boot room, which also comes with its own café and ultra-chic ski apparel curated by maison Bernard Orcel.
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Le Strato is a small outfit of 25 guestrooms and a spacious chalet, and comes with a Sothy’s branded spa and a heated indoor pool with mountain views as well as a steam room and sauna for unwinding after a day on the slopes. At the spa, but also throughout the hotel, the interiors are a contemporary baroque mix of styles and artworks from the owners’ collection.
The magnificent views aside, the other highlight is young executive chef Lowell Mesnier’s cuisine at the Beaumanière 1850 restaurant, the Alpine offshoot of two-Michelin star chef Jean-André Charial’s L’Oustau de Beaumanière in Provence, South of France.
Bringing back forgotten recipes with a mountainside twist combined with a sunny taste of the south (a nudge to its big sister), Lowell’s signature has to be the tender Dombe chicken slow-cooked in a cow’s bladder. Cut and served from a trolley at the table, it is impressive and novel, but it’s also delicious.
Other dishes include roasted turbot white fish, also a star dish at the Baumanière in the south, stuffed veal with black truffle as well as suckling pig – all as delicious as each other. And don’t miss out on the desserts, especially the light-as-air millefeuille pastry layered with Florentine pistachio and Madagascar vanilla ice-cream.
With fantastic dining options, killer views and a setting that couldn’t be closer to the slopes, the hotel might be one of the smallest in town, but it has a lot to offer. While skiers explore the magnificent domain, non-skiers can also get that being-at-one-with-nature feeling while staying cocooned indoors and watching the dazzling colours change over the Alps. So rejuvenating in itself that it is priceless.
