Private Skies #2

COURCHEVEL
Chalet Edelweiss
CES PALACES
DE MONTAGNE
Le K2
during his years of captivity in a German POW camp,
Laurent Chappis designed the plans for the Trois
Vallées. Who recalls this fascinating detail, other
than a few hardcore Savoyards and historians
Today, Courchevel towers worldwide as a destination
where ultimate luxury is on intimate terms with
snowy peaks; the Trois Vallées ski area, with its 600
kilometers of slopes, is the largest in the world. It’s
been dubbed “the Saint-Tropez of the Alps,” a name that the locals
don’t necessarily appreciate. Abroad, such nicknames are given
little stead. The “palaces” – France’s category for the top luxury
hotels – can be counted on one hand and are thus taken by storm
(elegantly, of course) in the season, and satisfying reservation
requests is sometimes a near-impossible task. The clientele is highprofile,
to say the least: Prince William and his wife, Kate, Lionel
Richie, Robbie Williams, George Clooney, Giorgio Armani, Roman
Abramovich, the royal families of Saudi Arabia and Morocco, the
emirs of Qatar. These famous faces have to divvy up the fifteen
luxury hotels available, including only three palaces: Le Cheval
Blanc, Les Airelles, and Le K2. Three palaces, three styles, and one
leitmotif: provide every guest with an unforgettable stay. In this
gilded cocoon, where “not possible” is rarely pronounced and
prices are rarely examined, nationalities, beliefs, and political
affiliations are utterly ignored. Here, Les Rouges, “The Reds,” are
instructors from the French Ski School, impeccably uniformed and
almost universally having physiognomies that would lead one to
believe they came straight out of a modeling agency.
In & out
At Courchevel 1850, you leave your hotel on skis (the very least you
might expect!) and, when returning from the slopes, hand your
gear over to experts, pros who will pamper every edge and binding
to ensure that, the next day, all is ready for your new adventures.
On and off the slopes, boredom has no place here. In the palaces,
everything is organized to keep children and adults entertained
and you need only glance at the calendar of events of each
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