3 Best Hotels in Val Thorens, Lyon and the Alps

Besides the thrill of hurtling down the world-renowned Val Thorens slopes, there's really no reason to leave this idyllic, family-friendly hotel, where everything you need or desire is at your fingertips. Spacious rooms, with ample baths, sport a sleek contemporary decor and cozy touches, like woolen throws and colorful rugs, and some come with lovely furnished terraces. The hotel is set right on the slopes so getting in and out is superconvenient. There's a cozy bar and fireplace, a full-service spa with a pool (and view) and gym, and two restaurants: the acclaimed Michelin-starred Les Explorateurs and the sophisticated Le Base Camp.

You can wave to skiers on the lifts that whiz past your sharply angled window at the Altapura, a ski-in, ski-out property on the edge of Val Thorens. Even the standard rooms feel like suites, with sleekly furnished sitting areas and bathrooms with separate steam showers and deep soaking tubs. Amenities include flat-screen TVs and free movies in all languages. A spiral stone staircase takes you downstairs to three restaurants, including the intimate La Laiterie, which specializes in fondue (if you're with a group, try all five). Downstairs is a soothing spa, designed to look like a birch forest.

Located on the edge of Val Thorens, this five-story hotel uses fur and other eye-catching materials in its design, including wooden walls with horizontal planks for a rough-hewn look, cream-color stone lining the bathroom's separate showers and soaking tubs, and furnishings upholstered in rich leather and suede. For modern conveniences, every room has a flat-screen TV with satellite programming, a streamlined desk where you can access speedy Wi-Fi, and in-room electronic safes. You might overlook all of this and head straight for the step-out balcony, where you're treated to views of the surrounding mountains. The ski room, accessed directly from the slopes, is done up in gleaming white. After a day on the slopes, head to the state-of-the-art exercise room, the pair of indoor pools, the sauna, or the steam room.