Les Suites de la Potiniere

Class: Deluxe

Style: Stylish alternative

Rooms: 15

Please note: Les Suites De La Potiniere is a seasonal hotel, operating from mid-December thru mid-April.

It makes sense that the highest of the four Courchevel villages would also be the loftiest, in a less literal way. Courchevel 1850 may only be 1,750 meters above sea level, but perhaps it’s the unabashed luxuriousness of the place that elevates it those last hundred meters. Here they do things differently: take a very fine medium-sized luxury lodge, for example, and divide it into just fifteen suites, while keeping the full-service spa, the high-end restaurant, and the on-site ski shop. The result, of course, is Les Suites de la Poitinière.

The renovations haven’t just made the accommodations more spacious, they’ve fundamentally altered the Poitinière’s style as well. Gone is any vestige of anything that might be considered rustic — you can’t build recessed lighting into timbered ceilings, and you wouldn’t hang contemporary artworks on kitschy patterned wallpapers. And as urbane as the suites are, they’re slightly outdone by the penthouse, which is 450 square meters of pure luxury living — were it not for the snowy peaks out the window, it could easily be mistaken for a city-center high-rise apartment. Between that and the distinctly modern nightclub vibe of the après-ski lounge, it might take some reminding that you’re here to ski in the first place.