For laid-back privacy and luxurious well-being, this catered Val d’Isère chalet hosts the entire clan.
Some crave quiet seclusion, others rather like the sound of penetralia. Either way, we’ve come to appreciate our own company more than ever. A possible by-product of those few recent hazy years, there are indisputable pleasures in being left – ever so slightly, of course – to one’s own devices. Enter, relaxed catering.
It’s a new concept for anyone accustomed to the traditional white-glove, high-touch luxury of a catered chalet holiday. Long the operator of choice for such cossetting weeks in the French Alps, Consensio Chalets has responded to market demand with their new and innovative Relaxed Catered chalets. Here, service is less formal by design. Yet when it comes to blending elegant amenities with permission to kick back over a Scrabble game in your cashmere socks, they’ve got the unpretentious tone just right.
Located in the private Domain de Cacholet neighbourhood, this is a chic boutique retreat with a difference. Three floors lined with warm reclaimed pine and spruce house five stylish ensuite bedrooms awash in calming neutral tones and fine wools, linens, and throws. Well-being is the name of the game on an entire floor dedicated to a gorgeous oxygenated fresh-water indoor pool and relaxation area. Repair to the outdoor hot tub under snowflake-speckled skies with fulsome splashes of P-J cheerfully delivered by your hosts. There’s an embarrassment of living space for stretching piste-addled limbs: a large openplan lounge with crackling fireplace, dining space for a small army, and sun-catching balcony and cozy bar area. A kitchen snug with fireplace is ideal to observe the chefs in action. Of special interest to families, the clever floor-to-ceiling glass wall provides soundproofing between the two zones and there’s a full cache of games, books, sledges, and toys.
Included in a week’s stay are daily breakfast, lavish afternoon champagne tea and – five nights a week – delicious two-course dinners plus cheese, wines and spirits, all prepared and served by professional chef-hosts. (At Chalet Blackcomb, there’s a particular emphasis on, when desired, plant-based, healthy dishes.) This less-than-full board makes the Relaxed Catering plan ideal for families and independently minded groups looking to sample some of Val d’Isère’s many superb on-mountain and in-town restaurants. On our short list: the afternoon floor-show fantasies of mountain-top La Folie Douce and sumptuous Savoyarde feasts at La Grande Ourse, now under the auspices of glamorous Hotel Les Airelles next door. For reservations, a personal concierge Consensio is reachable 24/7.
