Courchevel

: The Grand Account :

Courchevel 1850 was never meant to be merely a ski resort. Laid out after the war by architects who believed altitude deserved elegance, the highest village of Les Trois Vallées became the winter capital of a certain world: one in which royal households, financiers and old European families return each season as if to a private club above the clouds. The snow is groomed to a standard found nowhere else in the Alps; the boutiques of the Rue du Rocher rival those of Mayfair; and yet the village keeps its counsel. Here, discretion is the prevailing weather. One comes to Courchevel not to be seen, but to be perfectly, quietly accommodated.

The journey begins at your London door. An FFGR chauffeur carries you to Farnborough, from where a private jet reaches Chambéry in under two hours, or, for those who prefer the theatre of it, the mountain airstrip of Courchevel's own altiport, among the most exhilarating arrivals in aviation. A local driver, briefed on your preferences before wheels touch tarmac, completes the final ascent. Alternatively, the unhurried route: Le Shuttle from Folkestone, then the long, cinematic drive through France to the alpine switchbacks above Moûtiers, conducted in a Rolls-Royce Cullinan whose composure makes light of altitude. Luggage, skis and schedules are handled invisibly. You simply arrive, rested, at 1,850 metres.

Les Airelles remains the village's most storied address, a turreted fairy tale where service approaches the supernatural. Dinner belongs to Le 1947 à Cheval Blanc, where Yannick Alléno's three-Michelin-starred tasting menu unfolds for a mere handful of tables each evening. Days are best opened with first tracks on La Saulire before the lifts admit the world, and closed with tea beside the fire at L'Apogée or a quiet hour in the Guerlain spa at Cheval Blanc. For a final afternoon, ski untouched powder in the Vallée des Avals with a private guide, then return as the light turns gold on the Croix des Verdons. The mountain, like the village, rewards those who take their time.