HotelChatter

Ski Hotels / Switzerland Hotels / Virgin Limited Edition / Richard Branson / → All Tags

Now Is Your Only Chance To Stay At Richard Branson's Private Swiss Ski Lodge

You know that Virgin Group main man Richard Branson owns a British Virgin Island, right? That would be Necker Island, the diamond in the tiara of Branson's Virgin Limited Edition label, which includes several super private, super luxe properties. Now did you also know that Branson owns a ski lodge in Switzerland?

He does! It's called The Lodge and it's nestled in the snowy valleys of the Swiss Alps at Verbier. Usually you'd have to get your rich, ski-happy friends together to get in here, since The Lodge is only available for full rental—no individual rooms are sold hotel-style. That is, until now.

more ›

Hotel Openings / Ski Hotels / Ski Resorts / Switzerland Hotels / Swiss Alps Hotels / → All Tags

Money's No Object For CK Verbier's New Chalet

Where: Verbier, Switzerland

You may be feeling impoverished at the moment, but the ski season is about to start and the Alps don’t do poor, darlings. Neither do the people who ski there – which is why ulra-lux chalet company CK Verbier is opening a fourth chalet for the 2009 season.

We say “chalet” but Sagittaire is more like a private hotel – for a start, it sleeps 31, and it’s split into three apartments with a pool, spa and gym to share between them.

Each chalet comes equipped with a 24-hour chauffeur, host and personal chef, as well as access to the CK Verbier wine cellar, which, they reckon, is “one of the finest private wine collections in the Alps”. Seeing as the lowly house bubbly is Krug (you get a bottle on arrival to start you off), we’re thinking their booze standards are pretty high.

more ›

Ski Hotels / Ski-Hotels-2008-Map / Swiss Hotels / → All Tags

Ski Hotels 2008: A Swanky Swiss Hotel

Where: King's Verbier, Verbier, Switzerland, 1936

Some of our editors have sort-of stopped thinking about skiing and are praying for spring to start for realz. But there's plenty of snow to still be had, including in Europe. The Nevai, with its vaguely snow-referencing name, would be our pick as totally pretentious enough for swanky Verbier in the Swiss Alps.

From the owner's of the King's Parc Hotel, Nevai opened its 33 rooms and 2 suites in late December 2007. Obviously, a restaurant, bar and spa are all on-site. The most basic room starts at $265 a night during the week; there's a three-night minimum over weekends, when rates start at $409. Compared to Richard Branson's Lodge at Verbier this is a deal.

Just a reminder that if you're gonna do off-piste skiing in the spring: You better know what you're doing. Enjoying your chic digs is hard when you're the one who triggered an avalanche.