Glasshouse, Niseko, Japan
You can still party hard on Japan’s ski scene, it’s all just very, well, civilized. Case in point is the Glasshouse. All clean lines and calming minimalism, this extremely zen chalet is in Niseko, Japan’s largest ski resort and the home of miles of knee-deep off-piste.
The most James Bond-worthy chalet in town boasts a cliff-side location on the outskirts of Hirafu Lower Village, and all that glass means there’s nothing between you and views off the cliff edge of tumbling forests and across to the towering peak of Mount Yotei. Inside this architecture lover’s dream is a Japanese-style hot tub, a floating fireplace, a kitchen slick enough to please any gourmet and a whole lot of pleasingly empty white space. Swish.
Price: From £159 per person per night. Sleeps 12.
Chalet Rock N Love, Tignes, France
Finally, a massive chalet for your group of snow-obsessed mates that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Lovers of both kitsch and the golden age of rock and roll will go nuts for Rock N Love, a bright, bold and brilliant chalet stuffed with guitars and Route 66 memorabilia and with classic song lyrics painted on its floors.
There’s a vintage baby blue Mini fashioned into a pool table smack bang in the middle of the sitting room, a massive indoor swimming pool full of inflatables and even a jukebox loaded with tunes. And when you tear yourself away from your rocking new pad, Tignes’ snow-dependable pistes and lively après are on your doorstep.
Price: From £136 per person per night including all food. Sleeps 14.
Rider’s Palace Hotel, Laax, Switzerland
Pack your earplugs for this lively, smart designer hostel, which proves that there’s no need to splash loads of cash in order to ski like a rock star in Switzerland. The Rider’s Palace is where all the cool kids come and stay in the snowboarder’s mecca of LAAX, home to great off-piste, a weird and wonderful après scene and a fantastic indoor freestyle academy ideal for perfecting your jumps on pesky whiteout days.
You can play as well as stay at the Palace, so you can just pop in to sample the vibe if you want to sleep somewhere more peaceful. Downstairs is an oh-so-hip bar and below that, a pumping nightclub. Rooms are either modern, simple doubles, twins or ‘friends’ rooms sleeping four, and there’s a also gym, a waxing room, yoga sessions and a great coffee shop.
Price: Doubles from £71 per person per night.
Rock Star Tour Bus, London to Val d’Isère, France
Short on annual leave and want to pack as much snow and splurge into your long weekend as possible? Ski Weekends’ delightfully luxe ski tour bus has your name on it. Leave London on Friday night on a slick sleeper coach used by the likes of Coldplay and Elbow (complete with champagne, party lounge and your own private comfy berth) and head straight for the slopes of Val d’Isere for two days of skiing and a stay in the five star Avenue Lodge. On Sunday ride home in style, back in time for bragging rights on Monday morning.
Price: £785 per person for double occupancy.
Hard Rock Hotel, Davos, Switzerland
If Hard Rock Hotels did winter wonderland destinations… oh wait, now they do. Since 2017 HRH have descended on the pretty resort of Davos to bring their own brand of cool to ski holidays – think personalised playlists for each guest, live gigs on weekends, chic, modern rooms and a panoramic rooftop bar for a well-earned cocktail after a day on Davos’ 186 kilometres of slopes.
You don’t have to party that hard, either – there’s a terrace with a blazing fire pit to warm up by, the Rock Spa (where treatments are all music themed) and free yoga sessions, pleasingly titled Rock Om, for aching limbs. Stuffy, traditional ski hotel this most definitely is not.
Price: £828 per person per week including meals.
Folie Douce Hotel, Chamonix, France
The famed Folie après bars are an on-piste buzzword in the mountains for DJs, go-go dancers and lots of stomping on tables in ski boots. Now fans of the folly can take the fun one step further and stay the night, as their brand new hotel (a self-titled ‘trendy palace’) launches in 2018.
Head back from the slopes of Chamonix (literally a minute away) for a dose of the Douce at the raucous After Mountain Party Bar. There’s also a spa, an outdoor pool looking up at Mont Blanc, three restaurants and even a hipster street food stall. Rooms range from posh doubles to cheap and cheerful four-bed dorms.
Price: From £129 per night, including breakfast.
Heather Mountain Lodge, Golden, British Columbia, Canada
If the words ‘on-site helipad’ don’t scream rock and roll, we don’t know what does. Even rock stars have to escape the madding crowds now and again, and when they do we’d suggest Heather Mountain, a gorgeous wooden lodge hotel hidden in the heart of British Columbia’s backcountry.
The main lodge boasts a homely restaurant and a huge wine cellar as well as its own helipad, but the star of the show are Heather Mountain’s two private log cabins. Think massive bed, crackling fireplace, freestanding tub and french windows opening up onto your own slice of winter wilderness.
Wake up to a view of the Selkirk Mountains and then head out to explore the town of Golden, ski tour in Glacier National Park or board in local favourite Kicking Horse Resort. Get booking if you want a log cabin for this winter - they fill up very fast.
Price: From £86 per weekday night
Artemis, St Anton, Austria
Is this the most brag-worthy chalet ever? If you want to push the boat out, Ultimate Luxury Chalets’ (the clue’s in the name) Artemis will spoil you rotten. A modernist cube of a chalet far removed from St Anton’s more traditional lodges, Artemis is as sharp and modern as they come. Inside is stuffed with every celebrity-on-holiday-worthy extra you could ever dream up, from a private cinema complete with a popcorn machine to an indoor pool and a wine wall groaning with select vintages.
Oh, and you get your own beauty therapist, a gourmet chef and a driver to take you to the lift station each morning, from where St Anton’s much-loved ski area, a favourite with the Snow Magazine team, is your oyster.
Price: From £2,483 per person per week, sleeps 12.
