Ultima Courchevel

My wife is a luxury travel consultant dealing with High Net worth clients so I have been fortunate enough to stay at some of the worlds finest hotels over the past two decades and this place was staggering. Firstly I’ve always found the whole butler thing a bit awkward but Daria was incredibly perceptive and could not have done anything more to make our stay perfect. Being situated at the side of the Belvedere run, with an exquisite ‘boot room’ where our gear awaited, with a team assembled to make getting into it and out of it again an effortless experience. Shortly after we were floating in the 37-38deg indoor/outdoor pool, while our muscles recovered. Next our superb chef was freestyling incredible international food fusions in our chalet. The concept is a hybrid between catered chalet and hotel and it is very, very clever. It’s essentially a long corridor. The front comprises the restaurant, bar and spa, while the rear contains the entrances to each detached chalet that rise out of the hidden lower building as individual chocolate-box chalets each with access to the piste behind via private decking areas that connect the upper floors to the slopes. On the upper floor is a large but cozy living area and kitchen dining area that are all beautifully finished. The overall theme of the hotel decor is a perfectly balanced blend of understated opulence. The place looks, smells, and feels perfect. I am a very fussy person but compared to many of the other ultra-luxury experiences we’ve had, this was impossible to fault. The transfers are in a brand new Mercedes people carrier with the usual bottled water provided and the driver was more than happy to drop us and collect us from the nightlife, so we got to experience the whole party scene without it being outside our balcony door. This last point is perhaps the most important - if you think you want 1850 - I don’t think you do… if you want the best of everything, you want the Ultima.