My stay in a five star hotel in the ski resort rated the ‘best in the world’. Here’s how it is – and my score

With its panoramic window with resort and mountain views, mezzanine double bed and standalone bath, there is something almost cinematic about our accommodations at the five-star Scandi-chic Altapura Hotel in Val Thorens.

There is certainly enough surface area in the lounge area for a film crew.

So this is a big tick for the bedroom.

And big ticks for just about everything else at the hotel.

The property occupies a prime section of ski-in, ski-out property at the 2,300 m (7,545 ft) high resort – Europe’s tallest and declared the world’s best ski resort nine timesincluding for 2024/2025 – and is something of a mini-wonderland, a feeling aided by the actual tree trunks rising from the ground to the ceiling via the ground floor lifts.

Then there’s the beautiful lounge, lavishly decorated with comfortable 70s-style chairs and sofas – and featuring an inviting circular bar – for post-piste limb recovery and swapping mountain-themed tales of derring-do.

The spa is also magnetic, drawing guests in with its beautiful indoor-outdoor pool and ice-filled igloo room.

For my daughter, this part of the hotel is possibly the highlight of the property, trumping even the kids’ club.

Meanwhile, the dining options are great.

There’s delicious Italian Casa Alta and a brilliant Alpine-themed eatery, La Laiterie – the hotel’s nerve center for raclette and fondues.

The cheese here is top notch, cockle warming stuff. And the wine is also commendable.

Breakfast is served in a more comfortable space, with windows galore offering wonderful mountain views.

Altapura puts on a good spread for the first meal of the day, although the eggs for ‘eggs and soldiers’ (l’oeuf à la coque) are a big fail – clearly undercooked. (The chef forgets the four-minute-20-second rule for the perfect runny yolk.) And trying to get a pot of coffee involves a game of Pac-Man with the staff, wandering between tables until you find one of them run into to place an order.

But here’s the thing – the staff here are consistently eager, joyful and charming, and walk with a spring in their step, so the slips don’t rankle.

And there are a few more – at Casa Alta the staff lose track of our progress and offer dessert menus before we receive our main course. Oops.

And we have to request that our room be cleaned and that our little one’s sofa bed be made up.

Potential annoyances, but these little kinks in proceedings are ironed out quickly and with a smile, and that’s often all it takes to establish a return habit.

And I suspect we and our fellow guests all feel the same way – desperate to return.

We spend our last hour at the hotel sunbathing on the expansive lounge terrace, eating delicious croque monsieurs, looking up at Val Thorens’ epic peak-scape.

Filmy from start to finish.