Experimental Chalet Verbier

Experimental Group made its name with cocktail bars in Paris and London before moving into hotels, and its Verbier chalet is the most characterful place to stay in a resort otherwise dominated by private chalet rentals. The building sits in the middle of the station rather than out on the edge, and the interiors, by Fabrizio Casiraghi, take the Alpine vocabulary of pine panelling and patterned textiles somewhere warmer and more knowing than the usual chalet pastiche.

There are 39 rooms and suites across categories from compact classics to a panorama suite looking at the Grand Combin. The spa works with the French skincare house Biologique Recherche and runs three treatment rooms alongside a hammam, sauna and cold plunge, plus a jacuzzi out on the terrace, which is the right place to be at the end of a long day on the Quatre Vallées.

Dining is handled by St Bernard, an Alpine restaurant built on Valais mountain cheeses, cured meats and seasonal vegetables, with an Experimental Cocktail Club by the fire. Underneath it all is the Farm Club, the nightclub that has been running in Verbier since 1971 and remains part of the resort's mythology. Verbier's skiing is extensive and genuinely difficult, with lift-served terrain from 1,500 to 3,300 metres.