The best ski chalets to rent for the winter season

With the new ski season in sight, many of us are already making plans to escape to the mountains. And for some, it might be more than just a holiday. If you love the slopes and can work from anywhere you please, the allure of a few runs on a blue-sky day – and a view of snowy peaks from your desk – makes an extended stay highly tempting. “Most people booking for longer periods are working from home,” says Juliette Villemagne, rentals negotiator at Savills Verbier. 

In Courchevel 1850 – often top of the list for skiers thanks to its upscale French restaurants and shopping, as well as access to 600km of pistes in the Trois Vallées ski area – it’s typical for clients from further afield, including Australia, the USA and South America, to book for a month or more, says Jérôme Lagoutte, head of Savills French Alps. Privacy is a key reason for choosing a rented chalet over a luxury hotel, he explains. “But people want the same five-star service. No one wants to listen to other people in the swimming pool.”

This means chalets with at least five bedrooms. “Many people request two suites, or a principal plus a VIP suite for guests, while some will also want rooms for their PA, nanny and maybe a chef and driver,” Lagoutte says. Other must-haves include a professional kitchen, a fitness suite with a heated pool, and full entertainment – bar, disco room, games room, private cinema and often a dedicated playroom. 

The ideal chalet should also be ski-in, ski-out, with uninterrupted views. In Courchevel 1850, this usually means the areas of Bellecôte, Jardin Alpin and Chenus, says Lagoutte. 

A five-bedroom chalet typically costs €45,000-€50,000 per week, but one that is fully staffed will start at €100,000 – and some are much more expensive.

Chalet Manasa in Chenus comes with a chalet manager and chef. It has six main bedrooms in its 800 square metres of living space, plus a two-bedroom staff apartment, and the master suite (with office) covers a whole floor (from €55,000 per week). Chalet Hillary is a brand-new 1,000 square metre home in Chenus that extends over six floors and has seven bedrooms (from €80,000 per week). And the eight-bedroom Chalet Art in Bellecôte has a swimming pool with waterfall, a hairdressing room and a playroom (from €150,000 per week). 

In Switzerland, there are best-in-class chalets available in Verbier, although the market is busy for season-long rentals thanks to the increasing demand for Verbier International School (which recently announced a merger with Copperfield International School Verbier). The winter term runs from January to April, so many families will rent a property from 1 December and spend Christmas there, says Villemagne. “Ideally, it would be a place from which the children can walk to school. It might be a four-bedroom apartment or a chalet – with an office, of course.” The prime areas are Les Esserts and Sonalon.

While rates for seasonal rentals are strictly price on application (POA), Villemagne says the weekly rentals market is booming, with prices starting at CHF3,500 per week for a four-bedroom property. 

For seasonal lettings, the most impressive example spans two chalets with 1,500 square metres of living space. Located in the Golden Triangle, it comprises seven bedrooms – including multiple master suites – an indoor/outdoor pool, spa, games room, cinema and golf room.

There’s also the six-bedroom Chalet Petit Ours, which has two sitting rooms, a karaoke system, and games and steam rooms (POA). For a weekly rental, four-bedroom Chalet Coucou is still available. It has glorious mountain views and was renovated in 2020 in Alpine-chic style (from CHF12,000 per week). 

In the exclusive Swiss resort of Gstaad, the seasonal rental market is driven by the opening of the Institut Le Rosey’s winter campus from January each year – as well as the timetable of students at the John F Kennedy International School. Families will book a three- to five-bedroom chalet or apartment (from CHF80,000 for the season), says Lucinda Brousse, director of Savills Gstaad.

“The demand for bookings for a whole year has stayed up since Covid,” Brousse adds – proof, if proof were needed, that the mountains still exert a year-round pull for rental clients.

JULIETTE VILLEMAGNE, RENTALS NEGOTIATOR, SAVILLS VERBIER
juliette.villemagne@savills.com

JÉRÔME LAGOUTTE, HEAD, SAVILLS FRENCH ALPS
jlagoutte@savills.com

LUCINDA BROUSSE, DIRECTOR, SAVILLS GSTAAD
lucinda.brousse@savills.com