SOME OF THE MOST CHARMING AND LUXURIOUS HOTELS IN THE ALPS

Situated on the Mont d’Arbois plateau a couple of hundred metres higher than Megeve itself, the Chalet du Mont d’Arbois is a Relais & Chateaux property, with 24 rooms and an indoor/outdoor swimming pool and is owned by the Rothschild family. Although it is a genuinely attractive chalet-style property, its small size means that getting a reservation here is usually very tricky.

The Sibuet family, who just a generation or so ago were small-time local bakers, have lately become the other key dynasty in Megeve besides the Rothschilds.

Their flagship property is Les Fermes de Marie, which feels more like an intimate old mountain hamlet than a conventional hotel — indeed it a more of a hotel-resort in the American sense. Comprising 69 rooms, of which 11 are suites, its buildings are newly built chalets constructed with wood taken from disused old barns in the region. It also has a magnificent health spa and swimming pool complex. L’Alpage is a mountain chalet-restaurant reserved exclusively for the clients of this and its associated hotels.

In the centre of town, Jean-Louis and Jocelyne Sibuet have rescued the Mont Blanc, once upon a time the smartest hotel in town, but which but had fallen into disrepair. After a painstaking restoration of its art nouveau glory it is once again at the centre of the action.

The latest Sibuet project has been the renovation of the centrally located Lodge Park. Decorated in a North American log cabin style, the bar has a huge fireplace and stools with antlers as their legs. The walls are hung with hunting and shooting trophies. Many bedrooms here have their own fireplace.

The Chalet St Georges is a centrally positioned chalet-style hotel run by the former manager of the Duc de Savoie in Courchevel. The Fer a Cheval, run by Marc and Isabelle Sibuet, is yet another cosy, chalet-style place with 48 rooms, many of which are suites. La Prairie and La Grange d'Arly are both rather more modest modern chalet-style properties.