The Best Luxury Ski Chalets

Though he may have claimed that his goal was to produce something “completely different”, rather than France’s number one ski chalet, Monsieur Montel’s Marco Polo repeatedly takes the gong for France’s (sometimes the world’s) best chalet. No wonder, when there are touches like the spa ceiling? taken from an ancient Moroccan souk, and the swimming pool tiles ? 24-carat gold, purely to “complement the colours of the ceiling”…
Favourite features: The descending pool projector, wine and cheese caves and those bespoke Lacroix golden goddesses.

Built inside a former 17th century monastery, the monumental Toit du Monde complex is a homage to days gone by and at the same time completely up-to-date. Hoist yourself off the antique furniture and take a swim in the indoor-outdoor pool (the depth of which can be controlled with the touch of a button). Further quirks include bedroom suites themed on each of the world’s loftiest peaks –Toit du Monde means “roof of the world” after all.
Favourite features : Ensuite hammams in every bedroom, 2 cigar rooms (unique to a chalet) with humidifiers and extractors and the ridiculous swim-in/swim-out pools with adjustable depths and wave machines

The flagship property of the Le Chardon group in the private La Gittaz area, it’s generally understood that what happens in Le Chardon, stays in Le Chardon. Spread over 4 floors, it sleeps 20 guests in 10 gorgeously rustic bedrooms and has 2 huge lounges. A skier’s dream, it’s literally perched on the Solaise mountain, so you can hit the slopes from the heated boot room and ski practically straight back into one of the massage rooms when the thighs start to burn.
Favourite features: the 18ft outdoor swim spa, a choice of 2 outdoor tubs, the hand crafted snow bar on the terrace

The Alpine abode of the rich and the royal (Wills and Kate are rumoured to have stayed a few years ago), Chesa Falcun oozes just the right level of understated elegance. The architects were clearly mindful of their lofty surroundings ? fitting in plenty of balconies and heated terraces (one heated and covered) for gazing out over the valley. With cupboards fit to bursting with toys, sledges, and DVDs, sprogs have the time of their lives and there’s a seventh bedroom for personal staff, should you wish to bring nanny.
Favourite features: the outdoor hot tub with partial covering for when it’s snowing, the master bedroom’s open fire and the Michelin-star trained chef

Though it takes its name from the Swahili for “home”, take a tour of the vaulted living room and Italian marble spa in the Chalet Nyumba and you’ll swiftly conclude it’s unlike any pad you’ve ever had the keys to. Ethnic artworks and carvings from the Savannah join worn leather sofas and lots of antique Alpine wood, all looking out from the biggest picture windows over Verbier. There’s even a separate Mazot –sleeping 6- for staff or a second family...
Favourite features: The L-shaped pool with adjustable depth and currents, a projector cinema room and the chalet philanthropy ?they’ve been known to support the Give A Future Foundation, funding educational projects in Ethiopia

You’ll have to walk around chalet Lhotse a fair few times to fully appreciate all the design details, from the cow-hide clad and hollow-stone baths to cleverly placed drinks and snacks in the boot room – it’s easy to see a family resemblance to sister chalet, Marco Polo. The finishing touches may change with the times but some features (we hope) will always remain - like those floor-to-ceiling windows looking over the Face de Bellevarde piste, the Mongolian carved wooden doorways and the dazzling ground floor spa.
Favourite features: the snug children’s mezzanine area, projector screens over pool and lounge and the living room’s grand piano

Built into a hillside in the Petit Village area of Zermatt, the designers of the Chalet Grace knew what they were doing when they positioned it with soaring views of the Matterhorn. The visual treats continue inside, where ubiquitous blonde woods are finished with antique pieces like the French stone fireplace and armoires of varnished old-wood.
Favourite features: the “star-lit” wellness floor, an outdoor hot tub bathed in line with the Matterhorn and the games room with card and pool tables

A fitting name for this colossal chalet – though access’s a lot simpler: there’s doorstep skiing, a 12-car underground garage, even a helipad? which it would surely be rude not to use... The time you’d have wasted in customs will be put to much better use in the spa, or gazing out at beautiful Megeve from the outdoor infinity pool.
Favourite features: the choice between indoor or outdoor swimming pools, a fantastic children’s bedroom and the cinema room with under lit seats

Anyone who’s been to Verbier knows, you simply have to ski it in style – the quickest route to which is the shiny new No. 14. Investors have thrown millions into transforming the Hotel Les Rois Mages into the resort’s biggest chalet. And it’s been worth every penny - between them, Fiona Barratt Interiors of London and architect Patrice Coupy (incidentally, the same team Branson employed for his local chalet) have created design magic: a blend of natural tones, gorgeous fireplaces and a spa clad in grey stone. Adding to the dream team, Dan Cox (chef at The Fat Duck, Fera at Claridges and winner of the Roux scholarship) has been seen in the kitchen lately – so you can imagine the knock-out nosh on offer.
Favourite features: the padded cinema’s enormous sofa, the terrace’s cedar hot tub, the extensive spa facilities of a former hotel