A good day in the snow asks for very little. A clear sky, a piste in no hurry to reach the bottom, a table in the sun at about one o'clock. The rest more or less arranges itself: a spa to loosen the legs, a dinner nobody is timing, a log fire, and someone to share it all with.
That last item is the one that matters. Skiing with an escort means finding, up in the mountains, a companion who likes winter as much as you do, who laughs when she falls over, and who knows that a day on skis seldom ends on the slopes. The Alps might have been drawn up for the purpose, with their century-old palace hotels, their mountain huts and their outdoor pools steaming under the snowfall.
We have chosen eight resorts in Switzerland, Austria and Italy where the season is best spent in company. For each you will find where to stay, where to lunch on the mountain, where to dine and where to end the evening. We have kept only the addresses we would pass on to a friend.
St. Moritz, Winter on the Grand Scale
St. Moritz is credited with inventing the winter holiday and has never tired of the idea. Its frozen lake becomes a polo ground from 22 to 24 January 2027, then a racecourse on the first three Sundays of February, when the horses of White Turf gallop across the ice. The Corviglia lifts climb to Piz Nair, at 3,057 metres, and the run back down to a sunny lunch table takes no effort at all. Those in a hurry land by private jet at Samedan, six kilometres away, one of the highest airports in Europe.
- Where to stay. Badrutt's Palace, open since 1896, remains the legendary address. The Kulm, Suvretta House and the Carlton make up the quartet of grand hotels.
- Lunch on the mountain. White Marmot, at the top of the Corviglia funicular, serves careful cooking on its terrace. At Paradiso, a DJ sees you through dessert.
- Dinner. Da Vittorio, at the Carlton, and Ecco, in Champfèr, hold two Michelin stars apiece.
- The last drink. The Renaissance Bar at Badrutt's Palace for a quiet digestif, then King's Social House should the urge to dance come over you.
Zermatt, with the Matterhorn Looking On
Zermatt is car-free. You arrive by train and get about on foot or by electric taxi, and the Matterhorn stands at the end of the street as though posing for you. The ski area rises to 3,883 metres and then tips over into Italy, which allows a small luxury: set off from Switzerland in the morning, order pasta in Cervinia, be home before dark. On rest days the Gornergrat rack railway hauls you up to face the glaciers, and a helicopter will take you round the summit in twenty minutes.
- Where to stay. The Mont Cervin Palace, in the middle of the village, for its 1,700 m² spa. The Grand Hotel Zermatterhof, open since 1879. The Riffelalp Resort, perched at 2,222 metres.
- Lunch on the mountain. Chez Vrony, in the hamlet of Findeln, serves its own air-dried meat on the terrace. Zum See occupies chalets some 350 years old.
- Dinner. Zermatt has several starred restaurants, among them After Seven and Brasserie Uno, which serves a six-course surprise menu.
- The last drink. Hennu Stall has people dancing on the way home, to a DJ or a band. The terraces at Cervo play a gentler tune, facing the mountain.
Gstaad, Chic at Low Volume
Gstaad is a village of chalets that has made a speciality of discretion. People come to ski a few runs in the morning, lunch at length and stroll the Promenade in the late afternoon. The Eggli gondola leaves from the edge of the village. The Wasserngrat keeps a black run named Tiger Run for the keener skier. Glacier 3000 guarantees snow from November to the end of April. From 29 January to 6 February 2027, the Sommets Musicaux festival takes its concerts as far as the church at Saanen, which is a very good excuse to put the skis away early.
- Where to stay. The Gstaad Palace and The Alpina Gstaad are the two great addresses. The Palace has looked down on the chalets since 1913 and has been in the Scherz family for three generations. The Alpina houses a Six Senses spa.
- Lunch on the mountain. The Eggli restaurant for its wide panoramic terrace. Botta, at Glacier 3000, for a table at close to 3,000 metres.
- Dinner. Monti, for sharing plates at the Alpina, or Gildo's, the Italian restaurant at the Palace.
- The last drink. GreenGo, the Palace's nightclub, has kept its 1971 decor.
Verbier, for Those Who Need Little Sleep
Verbier draws those who go fast by day and stay out late at night. The 4 Vallées offer 410 kilometres of pistes and itinerary runs, right up to Mont-Fort, at 3,330 metres. If deep powder is not your idea of fun, the resort offers other ways of taking the air together, such as a dog-sled outing or a tandem paraglider flight. On 27 and 28 March 2027, weather permitting, the best freeriders in the world launch themselves down the Bec des Rosses in the Xtreme, the final of the Freeride World Tour.
- Where to stay. W Verbier, beside the gondola station, with a 1,300 m² spa. Le Chalet d'Adrien, a 29-room Relais & Châteaux, is the more intimate choice.
- Lunch on the mountain. Le Dahu, at La Chaux, for its smoked meats and fresh pasta. La Marmotte for the cheese dishes of the Val de Bagnes.
- Dinner. La Table d'Adrien, the resort's only starred restaurant, or Chez Dany, in the hamlet of Clambin, reached by taxi after dark.
- The last drink. The Farinet, on the Place Centrale, where bands play from six in the evening under a retractable roof. The night there tends to end with everyone standing on the bar.
Andermatt, the One for the Table
Andermatt is the surprise of this selection. A village beneath the Gotthard, about two hours from Zurich by train, it brings together one grand hotel and some of the best tables in the country. The Japanese Restaurant has just been awarded its third Michelin star. Two more starred kitchens await up on the Gütsch, at 2,344 metres. The ski area links Andermatt with Sedrun and Disentis and totals 180 kilometres of pistes. The Glacier Express calls here on its way to St. Moritz, for those who prefer to watch the peaks go by from an armchair.
- Where to stay. The Chedi Andermatt, a five-star hotel opened in 2013. You swim under the snowflakes in a heated outdoor pool.
- Lunch on the mountain. Gütsch by Markus Neff and The Japanese at Gütsch, one star each, at the top station of the gondola.
- Dinner. The Japanese Restaurant for an omakase menu. IGNIV by Andreas Caminada, two stars, for dishes made to share.
- The last drink. The Bar & Living Room at The Chedi, by the fire.
Kitzbühel, Home of the Streif
Kitzbühel is a small Tyrolean town of painted façades, 127 kilometres from Munich. Every January the downhillers throw themselves down the Streif, 3,312 metres long, with a gradient of 85 per cent at its steepest. The Hahnenkamm races fall on 22, 23 and 24 January 2027, three days of celebration for the whole town. For the rest of the season the 233 kilometres of the ski area are covered at a more civilised pace. The Streif itself can be skied at your own speed, with a stop halfway down.
- Where to stay. The Tennerhof, a Relais & Châteaux in the same family since 1929, or the Weisses Rössl, in the centre of town. In Going, the Stanglwirt breeds its own Lipizzaner horses.
- Lunch on the mountain. The Seidlalm, beside the Streif, where the idea of the skiing World Cup was born in 1966. Sonnbühel brings the mountains and the sea to the same plate.
- Dinner. Les Deux, the town's one star, or Mocking das Wirtshaus, an inn with a Bib Gourmand to its name.
- The last drink. The Londoner, the pub in the centre, turned fifty in 2026 and has lost none of its spirits.
Lech, the Arlberg's Secret
Lech has remained a village and intends to stay one. Its grand hotels have belonged to the same families for generations, and several can be reached without taking your skis off. The Arlberg is the largest linked ski area in Austria, with 300 kilometres of pistes, and the White Ring shows it off in a 22-kilometre circuit between Lech, Zürs and Zug. In the evening a floodlit toboggan run drops from Oberlech to the village centre. There is a good deal more laughing than anyone had planned.
- Where to stay. The Almhof Schneider, ski-in, ski-out, run by the Schneiders since 1929. The Post Lech, a Relais & Châteaux hotel owned by the Moosbrugger family since 1937. The Burg Vital Resort in Oberlech, a hamlet closed to cars in winter.
- Lunch on the mountain. The Rud-Alpe for its open fire, the Balmalp for its 360-degree view and its outdoor bar.
- Dinner. Rote Wand Chef's Table, in Zug, and Griggeler Stuba, in Oberlech, have two stars each. La Fenice won its first in 2026.
- The last drink. The Schneggarei, at the foot of the Schlegelkopf, then the bar of the Hotel Krone for a cocktail.
Cortina d'Ampezzo, la Dolce Vita in the Dolomites
Cortina hosted the Winter Games of 2026 and has some superb pistes to show for it, among them the Olympia delle Tofane, where the best women downhillers on the circuit return from 15 to 17 January 2027. The resort lies two hours by road from Venice. The day is spent the Italian way, which is to say with a proper pause at midday and a return to town in time for the passeggiata on the Corso Italia, when all of Cortina takes a stroll before drinks. The walls of the Dolomites turn pink at sunset, which settles the question of the view.
- Where to stay. The Grand Hotel Savoia, with its 132 renovated rooms. The Ancora, founded in 1826 and reopened in 2025 on the Corso Italia. The Hotel de Len, for its rooftop spa.
- Lunch on the mountain. Rifugio Averau, at 2,413 metres, or Rifugio Scoiattoli, facing the Cinque Torri.
- Dinner. Three restaurants with a star in the 2027 Michelin Guide: SanBrite, Tivoli and 1224, the newcomer.
- The last drink. It comes early in Cortina. Enoteca Cortina, at the foot of the bell tower, opens its bottles from aperitivo hour.
Ski Escorts: The Felines Take to the Slopes
Several Felines count skiing among their sports. Their standard varies, as yours very probably does.
The other Felines can join you in the mountains too. Not all of them ski, but a winter stay gets along perfectly well without a race bib: there are snowshoes, toboggans, the spa and the terraces. Tell us how you ski and what you have in mind. We shall tell you who will follow you down a black run and who will be waiting in the sun with two glasses.
A Stay in the Snow, in Practice
Every Feline can travel to a resort. The journey is often a long one, so a date in the mountains runs to a long overnight or twenty-four hours at the least, and forty-eight hours or more for preference: time enough to ski, to do nothing whatever, and to start again. The date takes place at your hotel. A private chalet can also be considered, once the address has been agreed with the agency and with your companion.
Once there, your escort is your guest: the room, the meals, the lift pass and the ski hire are yours to look after. Her fee and the cost of her journey are settled separately. Our article What Is a Travel Escort? sets out the whole arrangement, and the rates page gives the fees by duration.
Christmas week, New Year and February fill early, hotels and diaries alike. It is wise to write to us as soon as your dates are fixed.
All that remains is to choose a resort and a companion. The gallery presents all the Felines. A few lines through the contact form are enough to give us your dates, your standard on skis and what would please you. We shall see to the rest.
