Les Hôtels d’en Haut, French Alps - review

With everything from group-share chalets and budget hostels to glitzy five-star hotels and trendy boutiques, it can be difficult to find the perfect place to stay in Les Trois Vallees.

Les Hôtels d’en Haut group, comprising of properties in Courcheval, Val Thorens and Megeve, offers laid-back elegance with a strong focus on style and design.

While the group might be ski-focused during the winter months, it’s gearing up to open its latest property, Les Roches Rouges, in Saint-Raphael in May, just in time to catch the sun.

Style

Hôtel des 3 Vallées is the oldest hotel in Courcheval, built in the early 1950s and taken over by the group in 2013. Re-designed from top to bottom by Gilles Leborgne, the distinctly modernist interior also pays homage to Coucheval’s golden era, with repurposed original pieces making up the reception and lounge.

Over in Val Thorens, Le Fiz Roy is a much grander affair, with a cavernous reception and open plan bar and restaurant but with the same quirky, homely feel, thanks to the focus on design-led, original features.

Away from the glitz of Les Trois Vallees, Alpaga in Megeve is more of an alpine village than a hotel, offering an array of suites and five three-storey chalets, with a more paired-back kind of luxury.

Facilities

Both Hôtel des 3 Vallées and Le Fiz Roy are located within a stone’s throw of the slopes, with handy ski shops on site.

Ski schools and personal instructors are available to book for beginners, with H3V’s convenient ski-in-ski-out making things easy for even the most wobbly of skiers.

The slopes are a short car ride from Alpaga, with the view of Mont Blanc, with the hotel running a handy car service for customers into the town. Open year round, the Alpaga is about more than just winter sports, offering Michelin star cuisine and the most inviting of outdoor hot tubs.

All three hotels offer well-equipped and luxurious spas, complete with swimming pools, steam rooms, saunas and a full menu of treatments.

Food and Drink

Chef Antony Tempesta oversees cuisine across the group and runs the kitchen at Aplaga’s exceptional Michelin-starred La Table.

José Bailly is Head Chef over at Le Fitz Roy, with his ‘Pomme de terre à la pomme de terres’ a stand-out starter and his dreamy dessert menu consisting of nougat crunchy pasty and tartelette citron. If something a little more basic is needed after a day on the slopes, next door’s aptly-named La Fondue is a must.

Stop by the well-stocked bar at the Alpaga to ask magic mixologist Carlito to whip you up a surprise martini… just don’t ask him what the ingredients are.

What to do in the summer

The HeH hotels might be perfect for a winter ski breaks, but there is also plenty to do in the summer months.

Thanks to it locations in the foothills of Mont Blanc, Megeve is a hiker’s paradise in the warm weather. The resort offers everything from horse-riding and golfing to slightly more adrenaline-fuelled activities such as rafting and paragliding.

Where next?

With time to plan for next season’s ski break, why not check out the group’s soon-to-be launched new Côte d'Azur property this summer?

Encompassing the group’s trademark fifties modernist design, Les Roches Rouges is located right on the water’s edge, close to the Esterel and 100km from Nice.

Double rooms at Hôtel des 3 Vallées start from £303 per night, with breakfast included. A double at Le Fitz Roy from £277, with half board available and at Alpaga rates are from £196.