TravelWorld International Magazine Winter 2023

A French Alps
Chic chalet
in Courchevel
Story and Photos by Daniele Auvray
In the land of the griffin, everything is possible.
Just make a wish and it will come true.
It’s magical!
Or so it seemed to Mrs Raymonde Fenestraz, a native of Courchevel, who
embarked on building the chalet of her childhood dream, a pure fantasy
of her imagination! She had set her mind to have her very own castle, and
with a bit of “Savoie-faire”, and to the dismay of many, she did just that!
As a no-nonsense “Savoyard” lady, Mrs. Fenestraz proved to be a visionary.
What she had initially intended to be her family home ended as a palace
hotel instead. It is now famously known the world over as “Les Airelles”.
Set Rue du Jardin Alpin in
Courchevel 1850, the hotel was
awarded “Palace” status in May 2011.
Among well known luxury hotels and French Alps ski-resorts, she
raised the bar high by setting a trend for excellence that challenged her
competitors. Surprisingly, she was entirely new to the hotel business and
had only worked as a real estate developer up until then. She decided to run
her establishment simply as the lady of the house, receiving her customers
as if they were her guests, greeting each one personally upon their arrival.
She spared no expense in pampering them, as a perfect hostess would. Very
soon, through word of mouth, she was the talk of the town.
As a well cut diamond shows many sides to the same stone, among all of
the excellent resort-hotels of Courchevel, some will just shine brighter than
others. Les Airelles is such a gem.
Les Airelles was built in only two years and opened in 1991, as the replica
of a Tyrolean chalet. It was architecturally appealing because of its small
scale. It blended perfectly with its surrounding forest of larch trees and
which, when snow covered it, gave it the appearance of the “ideal dream”
chalet. It looked like a perfect drawing coming right out of a Disney
animated movie!
A lot of research went into the making of that “dream come true" for the
Fenestraz family. Together with their architect and decorator, they toured
the Italian, Austrian and Swiss Alps looking for inspiration to build the best
and most beautiful ski-hotel possible.
Never too old for fairy tales and lulled by
a poetic waltz of snowflakes the merry-goround
is an intrinsic fixture of the village.
The Fenestraz family love for their native “Savoie” still can be felt in every
single detail, starting with the hotel’s name itself. “Les airelles” are the
wild berries found growing in the local mountains. Beautiful mountain
scenes and those of local plants and herbs grace the surfaces of the interior
corridors and dining room and on the hotel’s facade. These were created by
an imported Venetian painter in the elegant form of hand-painted “trompe
l’oeil” décor, a visual art style that creates realistic looking imagery.
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With his superb uniform
the ski butler is in perfect
harmony with the elaborate
decor of the Palace and its
surrounding forest.
Les Airelles instantaneously became a sensation and was selected to host
the head of the olympic committee, together with Prince Albert of Monaco,
during the 1992 Winter Olympics, held in Albertville. Rumored to be
Courchevel’s number one ski resort hotel, it was known as “the place” to be
while in “Courch” for the who’s who of this “Rodeo drive” in the snow.
As seen in this fancy advertising post of
“L’atelier” ski shop in Courchevel 1850,
the mythical beast is still today very
much a part of the Savoyard psyche.
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