Although I love the sport, I would only call myself a fair-weather skier. By that I mean I only go for a few days a year and only go out when the weather is…well, fair. For me a ski holiday is about 3 things: The hotel, the skiing and the restaurants.
As a travel writer and the owner of a bespoke travel company I have been lucky enough with my job to have been to most of the top European ski resorts. They are all great but the one that I think stands the test of time and ticks all of the boxes for me is Courchevel.
Perched at 1850 meters above sea level, in the Les Trois Vallees (the three valleys), the largest ski area in Europe, Courchevel has it all. But beware! It is notoriously very expensive so not for the faint hearted. So, when I read about the new, but more affordable hotel from LVMH called White 1921 I wanted to give it a test drive. LVMH have become a tour de force in the global hotel market with a spate of openings in recent years from the Maldives to St Barths, including two properties in Courchevel. One would imagine that anything designed by LVMH, the eponymous luxury goods marque (that started out by making travel trunks) would be splendid. I am happy to report that White 1921 and its bigger sister, the Cheval Blanc lived up to their reputation as great places to stay.
Cheval Blanc Courchevel
White 1921
White 1921
Getting to Courchevel is easy as you can fly to Geneva or Lyon. On arrival we took the hotel shuttle which was a very comfortable Mercedes Viano. The driving takes about 2.5 hours which seems long but once you are off the motorway you are spoilt with the breath taking scenery of the snow capped Alps.
We arrived at the hotel late in the afternoon to a warm staff welcome. As Courchevel caters to a very wealthy international set who expect a certain level of service that us mere mortals can only dream of most of the hotels have ski shops in them, which is very convenient. This means that one can get their kit and be ready to hit the slopes first thing the next morning.
