Hôtel de Charme Les Airelles

Hôtel de Charme Les Airelles Photo #1 of 12 Set like a jewel in the wooded Jardin Alpin on the edge of the slopes, the luxury mountain Hôtel de Charme Les Airelles gives you exclusive access to Les Trois Vallées, the largest ski area in the world. Ski in, ski out! Photo copyright Hôtel de Charme Les Airelles.

Hôtel de Charme Les Airelles

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Overview

Stop time, or at least put it on hold, amongst the pine trees which form a natural crown up around the Les Airelles chalet, snuggled between the sky and the mountains in the heart of the Tarentaise region. An enchanting sojourn in the centre of the Jardin Alpin and the most glamorous of French ski resorts: Courchevel. A network of pistes crossing the famous Three Vallées, (Courchevel, Meribel and Val Thorens) winds like 600 km of white ribbon at an altitude of 3,000 metres around this cosy refuge, where the term luxury is simply redundant.

The Hôtel de Charme Les Airelles is imposing in its architecture, location and palatial appearance, where every detail has been carefully thought through, considered and executed. This is a charming hotel, where every whim is catered for in a fun, family-friendly environment. It is both rare and special. With its 37 rooms, 14 suites and 550 m2 private apartment opening out onto the terrace overlooking the valley, the Les Airelles chalet, recently awarded the title of "Luxury Hotel", has a comforting essence of the past, but simultaneously projects itself into the future.

In the grand dining room which opens out onto the terrace, a fire crackles in the hearth of a Renaissance fireplace. The walls are a joyful riot of silver plate and Giens faience. The ceiling is covered in huge frescoes. In a joyful ballet, 40 dedicated servers dressed in traditional Tyrolean costume, whirl between three regal establishments, La Table du Jardin Alpin, Le Coin Savoyard and the Bar des Airelles.

Here, traditional cuisine bourgeoise is served in generous amounts. The magic begins in the morning: two breakfast buffets, straight out of a Perrault fairytale, are a delight to behold: pastries, including the famous Saint Genix praline brioche, freshly-made pancakes and waffles, eggs cooked to order, tarts, giant baskets of fruit, hot chocolate made in the old-fashioned way...Even Les Airelles honey! The master pastry chef will take you on a wonderful journey through sweetness.

At lunchtime, you can dine indoors or on the terrace which you can ski straight to via la Gloriette ski run and the ski chalet, and where another gourmet buffet awaits: tempting rotisseries, seafood platters, local and Italian charcuterie, colorful salads and of course, the phenomenal medley of desserts.

At lunch and dinner, inventive, refined gastronomy and local cuisine is served in "Le Coin Savoyard", overlooking the Jardin Alpin forest. There, thirty or so lovers of fondues, raclettes, gratin dishes made with Beaufort cheese, tartiflettes and cuts of meat cooked over a wood fire, will discover genuine mountain cuisine.

In the Bar des Airelles, consisting of a refined smoking room and a whole series of cosy little salons, time has no hold. The Bar invites you to enjoy a gourmet supper or intimate conversation to the pure notes of a grand piano brought to life each evening by a talented musician. The opulent bar, with its ornate coat of arms and champagne buckets built into the wood, is surrounded by tall green stools, mirrors and old paintings.

Elegance and chic abound here, a place famous for serving rare spirits, its unique ambiance and regular end-of-week concerts. "Les Airelles has the style of today, but has kept that same spirit injected by Madame and continued by Mademoiselle. It's a place where you just love to be" insists maître d'hôtel Roger Boccia, proud to have spent twenty seasons working here, "There's a lot of happiness here. Everyone really works together. You find goodness at every turn. We are not here to serve, but to be pleasant to others" he continues.

Behind the tiny colored panes of its many windows, the story unfolds of the incredible character Raymonde Fenestraz, who, as a teenager, would sit in the farm where she was born in the Moutiers valley, dreaming of another way of looking at the world. She would watch a procession of cars with roofs covered in "planks" climbing up to the village of Courchevel, soon realizing that it was above all the British who were seduced by the appeal of climbing the peaks. Two cows were the only dowry she had from her father. She sold one in order to travel to Paris to buy clothes and then go on to the United Kingdom, where she spent two years learning the language and the perfect manners of a "Lady".

On her return, she settled in Courchevel 1650 and worked in an estate agency. Two years later, she bought the agency... "Madame", as everyone called her here, then met her husband and together they created a construction company. They produced their first sloping-roofed buildings in the 1970s, followed by the sumptuous and renowned chalets in the hamlet of Bellecôte and the Hôtel de la Loze.

In 1988, when the whole world was looking towards the coming Olympic Games in Albertville, "Madame" decided to build a castle in the snow in a plain 1960s hotel. She called in the designer Richard Ferbach to turn her dreams into Technicolor reality. He gave shape to her desires, interpreted her lyrical flights of fancy and turned the chalet into a veritable mountain castle, complete with turrets, in the Austro-Hungarian style of the 19th century.

"Les Airelles" became host to the Olympic Committee in 1992 and holiday haunt of Princess Anne of England and Prince Albert of Monaco. For some, the décor might bring to mind the Empress Sissi or Sleeping Beauty. Having become the greatest ambassador for the resort, "Madame" traveled the world with her Louis Vuitton luggage, never forgetting to slip a piece of Beaufort cheese inside... With her long blonde tresses and magnificent jeweler, she was awarded the French Legion of Honour in 2004, who saluted her talent for exporting idealized images of the resort. And so a legend was born. Introduced to the intrinsic charm of the place by "Madame" in 2002, it is now "Mademoiselle" Séverine Pétilaire-Bellet who rules over the snow kingdom.