Club Med Sensations
Val Thorens, Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, France, clubmed.ca; 384 rooms, seven-night vacations from $1,470.
In the heart of a ski town that’s moving away from its party-hardy roots one upscale hotel at a time sits the pride and joy of Club Med, a company that’s also repositioning itself as an exclusively luxe destination. Club Med Sensations in Val Thorens, France, is the latest ski resort in the chain (with 20 in the Alps, one each in Japan and China and a very good chance there’ll be one at Le Massif, Que., by the 2016-17 season).
The four-star resort (or four-trident in Club Med speak) has the same fun-loving staff and the same all-inclusive ease, but it’s a step up for the company in design and cuisine. Oh, and did I mention the four-storey rock-climbing wall in the lobby?
LOCATION, LOCATION
At 2,300 metres elevation, Val Thorens is the highest ski resort in Europe. It sits at the end of an hour-long drive up a two-lane, hairpin-turn road that’s scenic but heart-stopping. (Before this you’ll have flown direct to Geneva and taken a 2 1/2-hour shuttle, or flown into Paris and boarded a train to Moûtiers-Salins, just 50 minutes away by car.)
Once you’ve arrived, you’re surrounded by snowy mountain peaks and chairlifts criss-crossing in all directions. At this altitude, there’s almost always snow cover in the winter, and resort guests get access to the 600 kilometres of runs in Les Trois Vallées, the biggest ski area in the world.
DESIGN
Club Med ups its game here. Step into the lobby and you’re awash in sensuous tones of pink, purple and a little blond wood. And, what’s that? Two white furry rocking horses that are meant to be sat on? This really is the un-chalet.
In the 70-metre atrium, a crystal snowdrop chandelier hangs between a spiral staircase, floor-to-ceiling windows and an arboreal-like rock-climbing wall, which, says the resort’s interior designer Sophie Jacqmin, is intended to make guests feel like they are climbing in a forest of silver birch.
But really, it will remind you of a design-savvy urban boutique hotel (albeit one that’s not afraid to get a little wild).
EAT IN OR EAT OUT?
At an all-inclusive resort the choice is made for you. Two-Michelin-starred chef Édouard Loubet designed the menu with the resort’s top chef for the Epicurious gourmet lounge; expect it to be influenced by the surrounding Savoy region. Then there is the main “buffet” restaurant, but this is is no ordinary all-you-can-eat trough. Here you’ll wander among dozens of food stations simmering with true French cuisine, often plated for you personally: cod en papillote, foie gras with polenta frites, boeuf Bourguignon served in Le Creuset pots; a heavenly cheese selection, house-made gelato and a pastry and dessert area that could be mistaken for a patisserie in Paris. You’ll never burn off all the calories no matter how hard you ski.
BEST AMENITY
École du ski Français – one of the best in the world – runs the ski lessons and off-piste tours. And it’s included for guests age 12 and up. Not a skier? These trained alpine guides also take guests on snowshoe tours of the surrounding Alps.
IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING
In an alpine environment, hotels need to help guests lessen the effects of the altitude. Club Med Sensations gets high marks for encouraging guests to drink water (carafes at dinner are refilled regularly, rooms are supplied with 1.5-litre bottles of water), but fails at another rehydration necessity: hand lotion. Most rooms do not include this basic amenity (you’ve got to book a suite) though if you ask, and ask, and ask, housekeeping may smuggle one in for you.
ROOM WITH A VIEW
Another bonus if you book a suite is the view. While 80 per cent of the rooms look out at the mountains (even my smaller Club Room had a limited view), if you want a more eye-pleasing vista of the Alps, book a suite on the ninth or 10th floor.
The writer was a guest of the resort.