GLORIOUS AVORIAZ: A VIP SKI WEEKEND TO REMEMBER

I’VE embarked on a fair few snowboarding holidays in winters past, and they’ve been either tight-budget affairs or entailed trying to arrange every part of it myself and cutting corners where I could – neither ideal for when you just want to let your hair down and enjoy the slopes of a long weekend. 

On this four-day trip to Avoriaz, France, however, my every whim and worry were taken care of from start to finish, and in some style, meaning the bar is now raised forever.

The company behind my stay was VIP SKI (www.vip-chalets.com) – a boutique chalet operator which specialises in high-end ski holidays and owns over 50 hosted chalets and ski hotels across five resorts in the northern Alps, including the illustrious snow-sure resorts of Val d'Isere, Arc 1950 and right here in Avoriaz in the east of France, close to the border with Switzerland.
 

VIP Ski’s bespoke holidays combine luxury accommodation, gourmet dining and adventures in supreme locations, and they don’t get more supreme than this visually striking purpose-built resort, occupying a dramatic clifftop location overlooking the neighbouring resort of Morzine in the centre of the Portes du Soleil: one of the world's largest interlinked ski areas, offering an impressive 650km of piste in 14 resorts and two countries.

Avoriaz is the highest, snow-surest resort in the Portes du Soleil area. It is also completely pedestrianised and car-free: everyone makes their way around either on foot, ski or snowboard, or on horse-drawn sleighs which operate as ‘taxis’. It’s truly like a never-ending Christmas throughout the season here with those sleigh-bells jingling wherever you turn.

After my group is picked up from Geneva airport in a VIP Ski minibus, the horse-pulled sleigh is the first thing I experience, atmospherically transporting us through the snow from the edge of the resort straight to our chalet right in the middle of it.
 

While Avoriaz is a purpose-built resort, unlike so many others that sprang up in the 60s and 70s it contains no unsightly concrete monoliths for accommodation - just wooden-clad apartments and chalets that sympathetically blend into the surrounding mountains.

The locations of our VIP Ski’s chalets are unrivalled in Avoriaz: three sit in the centre of town whilst four are perched on the edge of the piste with epic views over the Portes du Soleil. The one that I and the men in our group were staying in was called Chalet Kipnuk, which accommodates 6-8 guests in three double ensuite bedrooms (one with added bunk-bed room for kids), while the ladies were next door in Chalet Ipaka. Both are luxurious and spacious, set over three levels, with an open-plan living and dining area, complete with log fire and squashy sofas for post-slopes relaxation. Huge windows and balconies afford snowy mountain-filled panoramas from every room.

My chalet, which was a shortlisted finalist for France’s Best Ski Chalet at last year’s World Ski Awards, also has on its lowest level a fantastic jacuzzi area, while Ipaka next door has an indoor swimming pool and sauna – it’s certainly rewarding to have private use of these of an evening after a day on the piste, before the nighttime festivities begin.
 

How these VIP chalets truly come into their own, however, is their dedicated mini-team of personable hosts who take care of everything: serving up breakfast, afternoon tea and a delicious three-course dinner for every day of your stay. In-house evening ents can also be arranged: my party enjoyed a cocktail-making masterclass with a local expert, or you can simply stick your phone or mp3 into the chalet’s multimedia sockets (or Bluetooth it) and dance the night away – or do both! We certainly did, and it was a highlight of the trip, even if heads were a little fuzzy the morning after.

For those with substantial skiing and snowboarding experience, there is the aforementioned 650km of piste across two countries (France and Switzerland) to play with here, and it’s all within 50 metres of the chalet – you can literally ski straight there from the chalet front door. (A convenient boot room lobby means you can depart and return instantly to base without having to pick up or drop your equipment elsewhere).
 

All levels of ability are catered for, with a wide variety of runs, 35 lifts in total, and some well-designed jump parks for those inclined with a bit more derring-do (not me!). You can cross over the border into Switzerland for lunch and be back in France for teatime.

If you fancied mixing it up with eating out or après-ski outside of the chalet, there is a diversity of options on offer, with our higher-end choice being La Cabane on Place Centrale for superlative local cuisine on a sunny terrace to soak up any afternoon rays.  

Or if you fancied something a bit more lively, La Folie Douce is the place to head for live electronic music and a party atmosphere. Remember – if it all gets a bit too much, you are only a few stones’ throws from your sumptuous chalet haven, away from the crowds and back to serene sanctuary.

By the end of your VIP Ski stay here, the experience does trigger a bit of a mind-shift – it’s going to be very hard to go back to the standard self-catered chalet option where there are no freshly-made canapés to welcome you home, and no in-house chef telling you what’s on the menu that evening while you just chill, soak and unwind in front of the fire with a glass of local wine, reflecting on another invigorating day on the slopes.
 

And it’s right down to the little things, from an acoustic guitar and plectrum provided for an impromptu sing-song, to a basket of fruit supplied for the coach for your journey home, that really does raise this smooth chalet operator above its competition in the resort and beyond. 

They only thing out of anyone’s control is propitious conditions from the winter weather gods, because literally everything else is taken care of, and that’s exactly how it should be for a truly VIP ski experience.
 

Each of the above chalets - Kipnuk and Ipaka - costs from £1,376 per person based on 2 sharing, as of January 2025. Price includes scheduled coach transfer from Geneva Airport & catered accommodation. Flights from London Heathrow to Geneva from £61pp each way with British Airways

For more information about VIP SKI please visit  www.vip-chalets.com 

For more information about Avoriaz please visit www.avoriaz.com/en/