Airelles Courchevel, Les Airelles

Les Airelles occupies the Jardin Alpin, the wooded shelf above Courchevel 1850 that is the most sought-after address in the Trois Vallées — the largest linked ski area on earth. The building is pure theatre: a turreted, gabled Austro-Hungarian confection in painted timber and stone that looks like it was lifted from a Tyrolean fairy tale and given a Palace rating.

Inside, rooms and suites are decorated with an unapologetic richness — frescoed ceilings, marquetry, antique furniture, heavy fabrics — and the service ratio is among the highest in European hospitality. Ski-in ski-out access is genuine, with a dedicated ski room, valets and equipment handled entirely for you.

Below ground sits a substantial spa and a large indoor pool; above it, a gastronomic restaurant holding two Michelin stars alongside more casual alpine dining and a legendary patisserie. The children's village and dedicated kids' programme are unusually serious, which is part of why the hotel fills with families for the same weeks every winter, year after year.