Madam, your helicopter is on the way…”
Have seven words ever held so much promise? And there it was, dropping down from the skies, in a whirlwind of powder snow.
Our small group (five women fizzing with over-excitement) were then bustled into the belly of the chopper and taken on a fairground ride of a trip, swooping through the Aosta Valley in Italy, over snow-covered towns and ski resorts and past Mont Blanc, spotlit by the morning sun.
It was 12 minutes of total exhilaration that ended, Succession-style, with a landing at the Grand Hotel Courmayeur Mont Blanc right in front of the huge glass windows where guests were eating their breakfast.
While they may have been disappointed not to see Beyoncé stepping out, it still counts as the best entrance I have ever made, anywhere, ever.
The helicopter ride is part of the new “Fly the Alps” package offered by Italian hotel group R Collections, whisking guests between the five-star Montana Lodge & Spa in La Thuile to the five-star Grand Hotel Courmayeur Mont Blanc. The idea is that you spend four days of proper skiing across two different resorts, with a spa and delicious Italian food waiting for you at the end of each day.
The rate for the four-night break (bed, breakfast, spa access and helicopter ride included) works out at £1,972 for two people, which is an affordable way (in relative skiing terms) to max out an Alpine mini-break in style.
It also gives you a taste of two very different Italian ski areas and where to go and what to do in each one.
La Thuile
We took an early flight to Turin, and on the way to La Thuile stopped at the boutique Les Cretes Winery for a tasting and a lunch of local alpine cheeses and meats to get us into the mountain groove.
La Thuile is one of those resorts that not many Brits (putting my hand up) know about. The town is small and more functional than show-stopper, but the ski area is astounding – 152 km of mainly wide, tree-free slopes suitable for all levels. You can ski across to France and even tackle Italy’s steepest run, the Franco Berthod slope. At the end of the day, there is a beautiful 12km blue run down to the village where the hotel shuttle bus will transport you the five minutes back to the hotel.
La Thuile is a proper skiers’ resort – and the new Montana Lodge, which is the only five-star hotel in town with a proper spa centre, caters to the sort of people who carb-load on the vast buffet breakfast and head out the door early.
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The hotel really came alive after the lifts shut at 4.30pm and the hotel’s new spa centre turned into a buzzy social hub, complete with an indoor pool with massage jets, a Finnish sauna, a Turkish bath, a bio sauna and an ice station. But the highlight is the outdoor hot tub where you can lie back in the snow and watch plumes of steam rise into the night sky, preferably with a glass of local prosecco in your hand.
Where to eat
Bistro Alpino, the restaurant at Montana Lodge, is at the fine-dining end of the spectrum, offering a fusion of local and Ligurian dishes and good for a special night out. I’d also highly recommend a cocktail by the open fire in the hotel bar (my negroni was absolutely on point).
Lo Ratrak is a busy mountain restaurant, easily accessible from nursery and expert slopes, offering proper alpine Italian food. They (half) jokingly say here that if your dish isn’t 80 per cent carbs then it isn’t mountain food. Try the concia (or “dirty polenta”) which is basically polenta pimped with a truckload of cheese followed by crema di cogne – a chocolate, cream and rum gloop you scoop up with nutty biscuits. And if you have the energy to head out at night, this small but lovely Pepita Café serves up delicious Italian classics.
Courmayeur
This raving beauty is known as the “Megève of Italy”, and you can see why. Walk down the main, cobbled street and you will see Prada, Gucci, Celine (and the rest) side by side with charming food shops, wine bars and restaurants. The immediate ski area is smaller (50km) but absolutely stunning, with slopes winding through trees and valleys, all in the shadow of Mont Blanc.
Courmayeur is much more of a party and posing town, and the Grand Hotel Courmayeur Mont Blanc is a bigger, more glamorous 70-room resort hotel with lovely granite and wood rooms, a spa and two levels of restaurant with mountain views.
The bijou spa has an indoor pool, sauna, hammam and gym – and next year will see the arrival of a series of outdoor pools in the gardens for summer. Therapists are also on hand for post-ski massages. My 50-minute massage (€135/£113) using oils from the French brand Cinq Mondes was properly therapeutic.
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Where to eat
La Fourchette, the hotel restaurant, offers excellent fine-dining riffs on mountain classics and is great for a more romantic night in.
If it’s a sunny day, book a table on the terrace at Christiania Ice Bar and order pizza from the wood-fired oven, washed down with a spritz and a whole lot of excellent people-watching. Next door is the après ski bar Super G which starts revving up as the lifts close.
For non-skiers, or those on a rest day, it really is worth ascending the spectacular skyway cable car in a rotating glass bubble which takes you up 3,466 feet to view the top of Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe (€59 return). At the halfway mark, get off and grab lunch at Ristorante Alpino (two courses for €26) and eat your Italian classics on the observation deck followed by coffee or a spritz on one of the sun loungers perched in the snow.
And for a fun supper, book the set menu (be warned: it’s a lot of food) at mountain-side restaurant La Grolla. Getting there at night is the highlight – the restaurant has a squad of skiddoos to whizz you up snowy mountain paths.
Fiona McIntosh travelled as a guest of R Collections hotels
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