Luxury Catered Ski Chalets
First things first - the success of your stay in one of the many luxury catered ski chalets on the market usually comes down to the standard of food and drink that you will be served. Luxury ski chalet chefs know how to cook. The majority of chefs with top operators have experience in both fine dining and private catering and use their experience to create extraordinary meals for your enjoyment. Their CV’s make for impressive reading; experience includes working in top London restaurants, cooking on luxury super yachts and even, in one case, a stint on Necker Island.
Staying in a luxury catered ski chalet means you will be surrounded by opulence and the food is no exception, your chef will cook you a bespoke menu using local ingredients that rival any food in resort. Meals can be as extravagant as filet of beef cooked sous vide at 58.2 celsius, served with parsnip puree, truffled potato fondant and confit shallots or they can be a simple mountain favourites like meat fondue or raclette. No matter what, you know each meal will be prepared with the greatest care and with the finest ingredients.
While a stay in one of the Alps luxury catered ski chalets will guarantee you a week of the finest dining you can hope to encounter, special occasions seem to bring out the best in mountain chefs. Christmas dinner, New Year’s Eve, birthdays and anniversaries are all great reasons to drink and be merry and when you are staying in a luxury chalet this is even truer. Chef’s can recreate special meals for anniversaries, cook up huge buffets for New Year’s galas or Christmas dinners, make you very favourite dessert on your birthday and your host will make sure everything is washed down with a glass of champagne.
Luxury Catered Ski Chalets - Delicious Chalet Wine
Speaking of drink, wine is no exception to the rule of excellence applied across the board in luxury catered ski chalets. Wine lists include excellent local wines as well as those from more traditional regions, specially selected with the help of sommeliers and paired with your food. For the luxury ski chalet operator, Consensio, hosts and chefs work together to pair the wine selection with your food; whether it be selecting Malbec to accompany a beef entrecote, Sancerre to dovetail with scallops or the perfect sweet wine to enjoy with dessert.
But, where’s the fizz you ask? Well, champagne is never found wanting in luxury catered ski chalets. In Chalet La Rocher, in Val d’Isere, guests are treated to no less than four different Laurent Perrier champagnes; a brut, vintage brut, ultra-brut and a pink rose. The champagne is waiting for you on arrival and does not stop flowing until you leave!
Luxury Catered Ski Chalets - the Service
Alongside the food, service in luxury catered ski chalets is top class. Before your arrival in resort you will already have talked with your chef to plan meals and a concierge to arrange all your transfer details and any special requests you might have. Upon arrival you are greeted by smiling staff that will whisk away your bags and help you relax with food, tea and, of course, a champagne reception. Your first morning, often the most difficult of the week, is made stress-free thanks to the staff. You can take your tea with milk and one sugar in the comfort of your bed before choosing anything you like for breakfast and then taking your private car direct to the lifts. In the afternoon you can call the driver to meet you at the bottom of the slopes, or your favourite après bar, and you will return to the chalet to be served a luxurious take on afternoon tea, complete with sweet and savoury delights. The chalet hosts will make sure everything is organised and ready before you return and then wait on you, hand and foot.
Service, like the food, is impeccable when you stay in a luxury catered ski chalet. Champagne can be served for breakfast to mark special occasions (or, just because), staff can dress up and perform skits for themed dinner parties and afternoon tea can be taken on the side of the mountain with a champagne reception. Nothing is too much trouble when you book luxury. In Val d’Isere a driver for luxury operator Scott Dunn once drove to Bourg-St-Maurice and back to fetch sombreros for that night’s Mexican themed evening and the head chef in the Arlberg Lodges in St Anton created a 9 course Heston Blumenthal inspired ‘Fat Duck’ menu on request throughout the season.
Locations of Luxury Chalets
Where are these luxury catered ski chalets to be found you may ask. The recognised premier league resorts of Val d’Isere, Zermatt, St Anton, Courchevel and Verbier and all have a huge selection of properties available. Verbier alone has over 50 luxury catered ski chalets; Richard Branson’s ‘The Lodge’ is a stand out example of the kind of luxurious property that you can enjoy your holiday from - it comes complete with swimming pool, sauna and a hot tub.
Other lesser known resorts offer luxurious winter ski chalet breaks. Lech in Austria is slowly getting the luxury ski chalets that the area is crying out for. St Martin de Belleville in the Three Valleys area of France is also carving out a name for itself as a luxury ski chalet resort.
When booking a luxury ski holiday it is important to consider every detail and the luxury operators that run catered chalets do exactly this. From food, to service and everything in between you can sit back and enjoy yourself on the ultimate ski trip.
