Feel the chill with HELLO!'s ski travel special

Aspen, Colorado

The scene: America’s A-list may be in constant flux, with tech billionaires and influencers as likely to turn heads these days as movie stars and singers, but whichever tribe is in the spotlight, you can be sure of one thing: you’ll see them on the streets of Aspen each winter.

It’s not just the allure of its reliable snow and uncrowded slopes that draws them. It’s the fact that they can walk with relative freedom around its Wild West-flavoured streets. This wealthy corner of theColorado Rockieslikes to leave celebrities in peace, so don’t be surprised if you rub shoulders with them browsing in the local branches ofPradaandGucci, buying a new ski jacket atMoncleror trying on aStetson in Kemo Sabe.

The A-list’s favourite time to visit is over Christmas and New Year. In the past three yearsKylie Jenner, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry and Ivanka Trumphave holidayed here, alongsideJeff Bezos, the Amazon founderwho has a home in the town’s ultra-exclusiveRed Mountain district.

Fancy joining them for a drink? Element 47 in The Little Nell, the luxury hotel, is the place to start. It sits right at the bottom of Aspen Mountain, known by locals as Ajax and one of four ski mountains at the resort. Celebrities love it because its prices tend to keep star-spotters at bay. You also should consider the private Caribou Club, where a week’s membership in high season costs $2,000 for two.

Whether or not there is somebody famous sitting at the next table, you’ll enjoy getting stuck into the town’s restaurant scene.

Bosq has a Michelin star, while Stranahan’s Whiskey Lodge, opened only recently, supplies a ten-gallon hatful of Western atmosphere with its food and drinks.

Just remember, though, your closest celebrity encounters may be the ones you don’t even notice, because here’s the other big reason that A-listers love Aspen. Up on the slopes, swathed in goggles, helmet, snood and ski clothing, nobody can tell who you are.

Where to stay:The Little Nell is the pick of Aspen’s hotels, its central place in Aspen’s social life assured by its slopeside setting, next to Ajax’s key lift. The style is cosseting and conservative, with the ever-attentive staff being the real stars of the show. If you want a little more elbow room, its 26 self-catering residences were renovated in 2023 and offer two-four bedrooms and a dedicated concierge service.

However, if you’re going to do Aspen properly, you need to make like Kylie Jenner or Mariah Carey and book a whole house rather than a hotel room. The most coveted are on Red Mountain. Set on south-facing slopes, across the Roaring Fork River, they offer a sense of detachment, stellar views towards the ski slopes and the lion’s share of the sunshine. And if that’s not secluded enough, book the whole of Kevin Costner’s Dunbar Ranch, six miles further up the valley. Available to rent since 2023, its prices peak at $50,000 a day over Christmas and New Year, which gets you three separate houses, as well as the run of the 160-acre surroundings, complete with a private snow-tubing track, cross-country ski trails and the chance to try dog-sledding.

Val d’Isère, France

The scene:Its plunging runs rank amongst the most nerve-shredding pistes in the Alps and intermediate skiers who attempt the steepest - the famous Face de Bellevarde - risk a meltdown, if not actual physical harm. But that’s just one of the reasons why big-money Brits so dearly love Val d’Isère.

Many of them have been holidaying here since they were kids, so skiing is second nature to them. And if anyone wants to join their gang, one of their greatest pleasures is to test the newbie on the Face’s fearsome pitch. At the start, it’s not too scary, but then suddenly the piste narrows and makes a sudden left turn, down what looks like a sheer drop. Understated courage and a stiff upper lip are highly prized in this company, so even if you finish the descent on a stretcher, you mustn’t bat an eyelid.

Mind you, some things about this feisty French resort are changing. Everyone’s drinking less and Val’s once-legendary après-ski scene has shrunk to a couple of essential bars. La Folie Douce sits high on the slopes above La Daille and Cocorico buzzes at the bottom of the Face; and if you’re new to Val and to skiing with diehard fans, use both to save yourself from a Face de Bellevarde nightmare. Start by suggesting lunch in the former.

Where to stay: It’s not only Britons who want to ski in Val d’Isère. Thanks to its high, snow-sure altitude, its star is rising with all kinds of moneyed sets, from Australian film star Margot Robbie to Middle-Eastern royalty, and its accommodation is growing ever-more high-falutin’ as a result. New this winter on the central Avenue Olympique, Le Parc No.1 Beaumont is a five-bedroom apartment in one of the resort’s most talked-about recent developments. Inside, it’s so smooth, chic and comfortable that you’ll feel like a hand in a kid-leather glove. Down in reception you may bump into a security guard: they’ll be watching over one of the building’s other groups.

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay that’s almost as luxurious but has a more rough-hewn, Alpine texture, try the five-bedroom Kilco Penthouse. Panelled with ancient timbers and equipped with an open fireplace big enough to warm a castle, it’s only three minutes’ walk from Val’s Front de Neige, its main hub of lifts and pistes. Both of the above chalets are available through Hip Hideouts and come with dedicated hosts. Kilko Penthouse has its own private chef, too.

St Moritz, Switzerland

The scene: No Alpine resort has a longer pedigree than St Moritz. Winter sports holidays were invented here in the 1860s by enterprising Swiss hotelier Johannes Badrutt, who bet a handful of English visitors that they would hugely enjoy themselves in the winter snow and that if they didn’t, he’d pick up the tab. They did and a new kind of holiday was born.

In the years that followed, St Moritz built a loyal clientele of aristocrats, royals and celebrities that includedCoco Chanel and Audrey Hepburn. And still they come.Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, skied here with their son James less than 12 months agoandPrince Albert of Monacoand the Spanish royals are regulars. Pop into the influentialHauser & Wirth art galleryor the local branches of Gucci, Dior and Louis Vuitton, all of them on theVia Serlas,and you never know who you might bump into, perhapsClaudia Schifferor the model, socialite and entrepreneurPrincess Talita von Fürstenberg.

Two things have kept the scene here unique. First is that this is still the Alpine capital of winter sports other than skiing. Sure, the downhill pistes here are excellent, they hosted the Alpine world ski championships in 2017, but the broad, high Engandin Valley in which St Moritz is set is both reliably cold and sunny, perfect for every kind of activity suited to snow and ice — as well as several that aren’t. You can try snow golf here, as well as ice-skating, cross-country skiing, curling and the famous Cresta Run, an ice-sledding chute with a fearsome reputation for injuring its riders. There’s even a separate mountain set aside for tobogganing.

The other thing you’ll notice as soon as you arrive is the old-school values of its five-star hotels. Bring your glad rags for dinner (gentlemen in jackets, please) – and if you can’t make it over Christmas and the turn of the year, aim for mid-February. That’s when the White Turf horse races are held on the town’s frozen lake. Either way, an invitation to the private member’s Dracula Club is the golden ticket for aspiring socialites.

Where to stay:Johannes Badrutt’s pioneering Kulm Hotel has matured into one the grandest five-star hotels in town, complete with its own ice rinks and country club (renovated ten years ago to designs by Foster + Partners, Lord Foster of Thames Bank’s renowned architecture practice). Book into one of its pale, chic and expansive suites and you’ll be perfectly placed to begin your curling career, on the same ice once used by Princess Beatrice. For dinner afterwards, you’ll have six restaurants to choose from, including an innovative take on Peruvian street food devised by chef Claudia Canessa at Amaru.

Those seeking to sample one of the valley’s most design-savvy hotels should target the just-relaunched Chesa Marchetta in the village of Sils Maria. This new addition to Hauser & Wirth’s growing hotel and gallery empire is five miles down the valley from St Moritz and has hosted famous artists including Gerhard Richter and Jean-Michel Basquiat. It has been given a rustic but high-quality makeover, with works by leading artists on the walls. It’s also close to some of St Moritz’s best skiing, up on the mountain of Piz Corvatsch.

Courchevel, France

The scene:You might have thought that the breakneck pace of "glamification" in Courchevel would have slowed in recent years, what with the disappearance of many of its free-spending Russian guests, but five-star hotels continue to open, serving a clientele that grows ever-more global. And no wonder: Courchevel’s appeal lies in its broad, gentle and ego-boosting pistes, which hold their snow well and are the perfect place for newly-minted billionaires to perfect their turns without being undone by precipitous gradients.

As part of the world’s largest lift-linked ski area,Les Trois Vallées,it offers plenty of steeper and more athletic challenges, too, and so attracts a legion of more established fans, includingSir Jim Ratcliffe, ofINEOS and Manchester United fame.He was closely involved in the building of the private members’INEOS Club Houseat the foot of the resort’s slalom course. It also hosts theClub des Sports Courchevel, which trains the best local racers. Among its former pupils isAlexis Pinturault, France’s most successful World Cup skier.

Despite the resort’s stratospheric reputation, mixing with the moneyed set is easy, provided that you’ve got a healthy budget for food and drink. Just wait for the first sign of sunny weather in the forecast and book a table on the sundeck of Le Cap Horn, close to the resort’s Altiport (handy for private jets and heli-transfers). In peak season it becomes the resort’s unofficial catwalk and by 3pm it’s an open-air disco, too.

Later, Le Bar in the discreet, chic and indulgent Hotel Cheval Blanc is the place to catch your breath with live jazz, canapés and champagne cocktails, before you head into the heart of what is still widely known as Courchevel 1850 — despite its official name of Courchevel. Here, on Rue Park City, Le Mangeoire starts the evening as a restaurant and piano bar, before a DJ steadily builds the party atmosphere.

Where to stay:Maya Hotel Courchevel 1850 is one of the new kids on the block this winter. Night owls should take note: it’s only a minute’s walk from Le Mangeoire, so you won’t have far to wobble when you emerge from one of the restaurant’s ecstatic evenings. A collaboration between cut-glass and crystal maestros Lalique and the Maya Collection of hotels and restaurants, it has brought a fresh, Asian-flavoured vibe to the resort, with soothing colours and a Thai-Japanese restaurant.

Guests who fancy being further away from the hubbub might prefer the resort’s other new luxury hotel this season, Rosewood Courchevel Le Jardin Alpin. It’s set in the exclusive, wooded Jardin Alpin sector, with an easy piste running alongside for quick access to the key lifts and with a 17-metre indoor pool in its spa — the perfect place to stretch your muscles after a day on the slopes. The style is soft, earth-toned and deeply luxurious, with a restaurant inspired by the flavours of northern Italy and a big, circular fireplace in the lounge. Who knows who you’ll lock eyes with while you sip your digestifs after dinner.

Verbier, Switzerland

The scene: There’s a good reason why Prince Harry gravitated to Verbier in his twenties. If you fall in love with the tough, adrenaline-soaked discipline of off-piste skiing and you still have strength in your legs to dance till 2am, then this is your natural winter sports hub. Perched on a balcony of snow, just off the Rhone Valley, it’s home to some of the best lift-serviced powder skiing in the Alps and to some of its liveliest après-ski.

Not surprisingly, it's the young bloods and natural athletes who love it most, singer and former soldierJames Blunt, adventurerBear Gryllsand former rugby starLawrence Dallaglioamong them. Plus, of course, young adventurers from the worlds of technology and finance who’ve jetted in from London for the weekend.

You don’t have to be an expert skier to join them. Once the live band has struck its first chords at 4pm in the Hotel Farinet’s après-ski bar, anyone can join in. Other must-sample venues include the rooftop La Luge Bar whenever the sun’s out and the W Living Room and Cigar Lounge at the W Hotel. Those determined to crack Verbier’s social scene also should consider joining 67 Pall Mall’s private Verbier Club, with its top-floor clubroom.

Nevertheless, to really enjoy this spirited town you need to be able to tackle its slopes. Snowboarding is the easiest route in, for the simple reason that it's much easier to surf deep, fresh-fallen snow on one plank rather than two. For skiers, years of practice are required and you should start the ball rolling with some lessons with the Warren Smith Ski Academy, which specialises in helping skiers to make the difficult transition from piste to powder. Try to get time with Warren himself if possible. He used to teach Prince Harry.

Where to stay:Verbier is the ultimate chalet town, packed with second homes as well as rental properties that set the bar very high when it comes to luxury and service, “super-yachts in the snow” in the words of one chalet company, Haute Montagne. They include the vast Chalet Marmottière. Hung with chandeliers, it comes with a private spa, a sizable indoor pool, a wine cellar, a games room and a 3D cinema. It can accommodate up to 18 guests, with a price-tag for a week’s rental that could buy you a small house if you didn’t fancy a ski holiday.

More modestly, the town is also home to another branch of the Experimental Chalet family of bars and restaurants. This one sits in the middle of town, a short walk from the key Médran lift and offers four-star accommodation, as well as Old Cuban cocktails that mix rum, champagne, fresh mint, ginger cordial, lime juice, sugar and bitters to warm effect. Meanwhile, in the basement, the long-established Farm Club awaits. It is, in other words, the perfect Verbier hotel.

Fiss, Austria

The scene:If you’re after a luxury Alpine escape but prefer subtle opulence over ostentatious dazzle, Fiss is a hidden gem. Tucked into Austria’s Tyrol and forming part of the expansive Serfaus–Fiss–Ladis ski area, it offers family-friendly elegance without the ritzy flamboyance often associated with upscale resorts. It even has Hollywood’s seal of approval (Will Ferrell and Julia Louis Dreyfus’ movie Downhill was filmed at one of Fiss’ fanciest five-star hotels; see Schlosshotel below). You’ll feel fully A-list after a break on the slopes here.

Fiss has earned its reputation as one of the most welcoming ski resorts in the Alps for families with children. With an 80,000m² Children’s Mountain reserved only for younger skiers, first experiences on the slopes are both comfortable and exciting. In Fiss, Berta’s Kinderland boasts enclosed magic carpet lifts, a children’s restaurant, a carousel and even heated sitting rooms to ensure learning to ski is fun.

But while Fiss is great for families, it’s certainly not a resort just for the kids. With over 200km of immaculately groomed pistes, the skiing is excellent for parents and child-free visitors too. Around the kids’ zone you’ll find plenty of wide open blues for a gentle, skiing together vibe, but daredevils can head to higher elevations for plentiful red and black challenges.

Off the slopes, Fiss delivers on its promise of understated luxury. Toboggan runs, winter hiking and night skiing kick off the après-ski, which is refined rather than raucous. Think champagne terraces, roaring fires and impeccably dressed families swapping ski boots for knitwear and shearling. The mood is quietly glamorous - no noise or bravado here.

Where to stay:Everything about Schlosshotel Fiss says luxury, from its slope-side location affording breathtaking views from spacious family suites, to fine dining and a 5,000m² on-site spa.

Calling it an all-inclusive family ski hotel does it an injustice; Schlosshotel has managed to find the perfect balance between keeping kids happy while also maintaining an elegance and exclusivity that appeals to the grown-ups. Yes, your meals are included, but this is ‘Luxury Board’ and there is a difference. Chaotic buffets are replaced by thoughtful a la carte dinners, where well-behaved children can help themselves to kid-friendly food, but leather-bound wine lists, high-end table service and an exquisite five-course menu maintains the refined atmosphere.

Everything is easy, from the in-house sports shop where you store your skis to the lift that delivers you onto the slopes. The spectacular spa has water slides for children and an adult-only zone featuring infrared saunas and aromatherapy steam rooms. The newly-renovated kids’ club and family cinema keep children happy round the clock, and there’s even a Michelin-starred restaurant to complete the luxe experience (book ahead for a spot at Chef Mathais Seidel’s renowned Beef Club). Double rooms start at €774 a night per room.

If you prefer a chalet experience, Gebhard Boutique B&B may be your style. Just 19 suites and a wellness centre including an organic herbal sauna, it's perfect for post-slope relaxation and renewal.