Avenue Lodge

Class: First

Style: Cutting edge

Rooms: 54

It’s taken a while, but the modern-design boutique-hotel concept has finally trickled down (or should we say up?) from the cities to the ski resorts. Val d’Isere, for example, has more than a few fairly typical Savoyard ski lodges, some of them quite good — but there’s only one that’s as stylish as the Hotel Avenue Lodge, and that, we probably don’t need to add, is the Avenue Lodge itself.

The architect was Jean-Philippe Nuel, who you may know from such Parisian boutique hotels as the Duo and Le Général — so while some modern lodges buy a modernist chair or two and are done with it, the Avenue Lodge fully embraces design. Once you’re past the charming and photogenic exterior, it’s all deep, romantically lit earth tones and vivid red accents, and the rooms, though decked out in swanky brown and black, still feel properly rustic, owing to generous use of natural wood and stone.

Obviously all this attention paid to atmosphere bespeaks a certain emphasis on the après-ski offerings. Here the lounge is a bit swankier than the usual ski-lodge fare — if you fancy taking to the slopes by day (complete with on-site pro shop to take care of the details), and cocktails in an urbane, sexy space by night, then the Avenue Lodge is your place.