Araucaria Hotel & Spa

Boutique-hotel style may have taken a little while to make its way to the slopes of the world’s ski resorts, but there’s no question it’s officially arrived. And thanks to the redesign of the Araucaria Hotel & Spa, in the French Alpine town of La Plagne, we can add another example of the trend. Here, at the very foot of the vast Paradiski ski area, is an 84-room hotel whose redesign, by the architect Leslie Gauthier, leaves it head and shoulders above the tradition-bound, visually conservative ski-hotel norm.

It’s also proof that you can have contemporary boutique-hotel good looks without sacrificing family-friendliness. In classic European style, Araucaria's got single rooms, but it’s also got connecting rooms and family-sized rooms that sleep up to five. And at any size, they’re stylishly outfitted in crisp navy blue and gray, with soft textures that provide the requisite Alpine warmth even as they studiously avoid any form of ski-hotel kitsch.

The Spa Nuxe is an impressive one, with a variety of temperature treatments and pools as well as classic massage and beauty treatments. There’s a buffet breakfast in the morning and a rather more elaborate dinner service in the evening, as well as a chic bar that often features DJs or live music. And of course just outside are the slopes of La Plagne and the larger Paradiski combined resort, which means everything you’d need for a day on the trails is immediately to hand.