They say Courchevel is like St Tropez on snow, but with pistes instead of plages. There's a lot in that, and it's not just that you can shorten the names if you want to be irritatingly familar. For a start, there's fabulous eye candy everywhere, whatever the weather: big hair, big boots, big tans, as well as big bills of course. And as in St Trop, if you want you can indulge in enough retail therapy to make sure you never afford a holiday again. Courch, like St Trop, is chic, exuberant, stylish and high-gloss. But just as St Trop is at heart a fishing village, so at Courch you can spend as little as you want (just). So, never forget, you can be as rich and famous as you like, but everyone's the same in trunks or on a pair of skis.
Many hotel and restaurant owners decamp from the Côte d'Azur to Courchevel as soon as the summer's over. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Byblos. On the Riviera it's a byword for an easy, unstuffy chic, luxurious but utterly unpompous. Come November the entire senior management team move, lock, stock, towel and sunlounger, up to the Alps to Le Byblos des Neiges. And I must say I love it.
It's fun and flamboyant, and a fabulous place to stay, and just like its sister in St Trop, absolutely fulfils the Five Days to Live test (as in, 'What would you do if you had five days to live?' 'Head straight for the Byblos, of course.') The service is discreet but impeccable - right down to the guys in the ski room knowing your name. But it's also understated, relaxed and unpretentious. And I like the slight flashiness as well... men of a certain age in leather trousers that are a bit too tight, politicians with their mistresses, flirting and playing backgammon in dimly lit alcoves, Catherine Deneuve lookalikes with young men who are probably not their sons. And that Eastern European family over there... I wonder where they made their money. And that looks like that chap who's the King of Spain. The whole theatre of the place is priceless.
But children will love it too. Indeed when I was there, a big family with a bunch of very boisterous kids were having a bit too much of a good time, so the impeccably courteous maitre'd politely and barely visibly ushered them off to the lavishly equipped games room.
The hotel is in Courchevel's Jardin Alpin, so you can ski in and out, of course. Inside, the hotel is a mixture of traditional wooden interior decor, with modern details, and, as on the Riviera, mixing bold primary colours with richly layered and traditional fabrics. The rooms are cosy but spacious enough, and the bathrooms huge, which is nice but what you would expect at the price. What makes the Byblos so unique is the service and the charm, and, dammit, the Frenchness. The effortlessly urbane Jerome Foucaud runs this with the same discreet panache that he brings to St Tropez.
There's an atmospheric pool, and a mod erate gym (which needs updating a bit), plus some good shopping, saunas, Jacuzzis and so on. Courchevel has two Michelin-starred restaurants, as well as a greater density of five-star hotels than anywhere in the Alps. So the Byblos hasn't got it all its own way. But its two restaurants are spendid... homely and unstuffy, with the main restaurant, La Clairiere, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the smaller L'Ecailler specialising in seafood, with lobster and other goodies flown in daily. But if you want to get out, the village itself is full of great places to eat, whether you want cheap pizza, trad French taverns with a bit of ambient discobabble or luxury quiet restaurants. You certainly won't starve.
But hey, you haven't come to the Byblos just to shove your sunglasses on the top of your head and hammer the Amex. You've come here to ski. Courchevel 1850, and its more down to earth but bustling cousin, Courchevel 1650, not to mention Courchevel 1300, known as Le Praz (the numbers refer to metres above sea level, and as a broad rule of thumb the higher the number, the higher the bill) are slap-bang in the heart of an awesome skiing area, the famous Trois Vallées. It's four valleys really, and the other resorts are the very British Méribel - or the Fulham Road on ice - Les Ménuires, and the always imposing Val Thorens, at 2300 metres the highest ski resort in the Alps.
This is a huge chunk of the Alps, and it is now equipped with one of the most efficient lift systems in the world. Now stats can be wearing, but try these. The Trois Vallées area has more than 200 lifts (by comparison, Mammoth, America's largest area, has 28) and they are improving every year. There are more than 600km of pisted runs, and quite literally countless acres of excellent off-piste and touring areas. There are 170 intermediate runs (it's probably the best intermediate area in the world and hugely popular for Britons as well as the French), and 35 difficult runs.
Among these are the famous Courchevel couloirs , the Grand, the Emile Allais, and the Téléphérique, whose steep lines down the mountain draw the eye inexorably as you take the cable car up to La Saulire. They're marked trails on the piste map, but don't underestimate them. The approach can be quite white-knuckle, but the experience is unmissable. These are intense beautiful ski runs that you will never forget. There is great off piste throughout the area too, but always, as it says on the can, take a guide. I love the easy itineraire off the back of Mont Vallon, or the stiffer challenge of the Col du Loup from the top of Cime de Caron.
This is a huge area, full of wonderful skiing. You'd need a season before you'd begin to do it justice; a week or two will give you just a taste and whet your appetite for more.
Factfile
Roger Alton's visit to Courchevel 1850 was arranged by luxury travel company Elegant Resorts (01244 897333) Seven nights in a superior double room at Le Byblos costs from £2,255, inclusive of breakfast and dinner daily and return flights to Geneva with British Airways.
