4 Jul '19 in Holiday Guides
The Best Mountain Hotels
FOR OUR FULL HOTEL COLLECTION – CLICK HERE
As self confessed “chalet geeks”, we have always focused on catered ski holidays for our guests. However, this summer we have taken the plunge and put together a Ski Hotel portfolio for our clients. There are literally thousands of hotels out there from which to choose which can make the process long and arduous. We have put together our collection based on offering good quality hotels in a variety of resorts. So whilst we haven’t got every hotel under the sun on the website, the ones we have picked are very special indeed for their own differing reasons.
Hotels have always been the accommodation of choice for the majority of skiers since, well forever… The reasons being, you can pick the resort you want to visit rather than where the most applicable chalet is. So if you want somewhere REALLY off the beaten track, you can find a hotel to provide it. Hotels also tend to suit groups of 2 or 4 that want to spend some quality time together rather than socialising with other guests. You can get a lot of “you” time in hotels compared to chalets.
We’ve picked a shortlist of hotels for you to have a browse though below and as you can see, they aren’t all in the major resorts you might expect!
There are several hotels in Val D’Isere which at a glance would be more glam and glitz than the Avancher. The reason we love this one is the value for money it represents. Whilst a still only 3* Hotel it was refurbished a couple of years ago and the result is really quite outstanding. The hotel restaurant is renowned for it’s Savoyard specialities and the hotel lounge with open log fire provides a perfect place to relax before dinner. The compromise and the reason for the lower price in comparison to it’s cohorts is the location which is still only a few minutes walk to the lifts and centre but it doesn’t have the centrality that the landmark hotels in resort offer.
As alluded to earlier in this article, hotels have been quite secondary for us with chalets providing our bread and butter. One of the main reasons for us reconsidering this stance is this hotel. We started sending guests to the Hotel Steiner 3 years ago. All the guests that booked decided to return the following year. The hotel is in the high altitude resort of Obertauern but whilst high altitude it is still a short transfer from Salzburg. There are ample facilities in the hotel with a swimming pool, children’s play area as well as a separate area for teenagers. Combine this with unrivalled ski access, there’s no wonder our guests are returning year after year.
The Hotel Banyan is centrally located just a 2 minute walk from the Pedestrianised area in St Anton. The reason this hotel is on our top pick list is the flexible durations of stay it can offer. A lot of hotels insist you stay (or at least pay for) for the week. The Banyan in general will allow any duration of stay which is a godsend as St. Anton is a short break favourite thanks to its proximity to Innsbruck airport. The rooms in this 4* hotel are spacious and the majority of them have balconies looking onto the resort centre or up into the Arlberg ski area. The Hotel has relaxation facilities with a swimming pool and sauna too. One other thing…. The breakfasts in the Banyan are the stuff of legend!
Hotel le Grand Aigle – Serre Chevalier
Whilst most skiers will recognise the name of the resort, precious few have actually skied it and we find that odd because its a really lovely, wide-ranging ski area within 2 hours of Turin. Chalets are few on the ground here but there are some great hotels and this one is our favourite. The hotel is located on the Bez piste which leads into Villeneuve. The recent refurb job is simply outstanding, turning a very traditional building into something smart and modern but with lots of winks to the past. There are wellness facilities, flexible room layouts and most of all, its remarkably well priced.