Savoyard super-developer Vallat’s next-gen aparthotel, Antarès Méribel, has ushered in a new frontier for ski-in/ski-out serviced luxury in the heart of the world’s biggest ski area.
Honestly, we’d really meant it, as our ski party drew straws in the airport-transfer limo for who’d sleep in which room in our Antarès Méribel apartment, when we said we didn’t care which we got. But we’ll admit to feeling pretty lit as we swanned into our master-bedroom prize. Vast, dual-aspect windows beamed panoramic views of the Allues Valley’s ravishing slopes, cloaked in ancient, snow-dusted forest, to the colossal, cloud-soft bed. Golden afternoon sunshine flooded the cute private terrace, warming the champagne-crisp Alpine air as we toasted our luck with a glass of something nice. But, for us, the pièce de resistance was the supersized bathroom, panelled with huge marble slabs juxtaposed to make subtly kaleidoscopic patterns from their striking striations, trimmed with accents of rugged reclaimed timber and blessed with yet more cinematic mountain vistas.
Not that any of our crew were exactly slumming it in their respective quarters, as they assured us when we reconvened around the sexy, suspended fireplace in our huge, high-gabled living space, some of our noses already in one of the groovy Assouline design tomes artfully scattered around the apartment’s coffee tables.
Offering 55 luxurious apartments with between one and seven bedrooms, both for hire and purchase, Antarès Méribel is a next-gen aparthotel at the heart of the French 3 Vallées, with 600 km of pistes, the world’s largest ski area. Named, astronomy fans, for the red supergiant star at the centre of the Scorpius constellation, it’s a group of seven smart new buildings, all charmingly chiming with Méribel’s strict, trad-chalet-style building codes, sitting in the upscale, newish Le Belvédère neighbourhood above the resort centre, a location which affords something pretty rare in this town – ski-in, ski-out slope access.
It was created by the Savoyard luxury resort developer Vallat, which, from local roots, has built a portfolio that today comprises beautiful properties in Monaco, Sardinia and St. Barths, and the quality of the accommodations here is global-jetset-ready. Cannily stopping short of the pimped-chalet bling that’s the default of so many try-hard Alpine five-stars, interior design here amps up the beautiful basics of chalet architecture – handsome natural timber and stone in abundance, gabled ceilings and sun-trap terraces – and dresses them in a fresh, pared-back Scandi-minimalist(ish) style that lets the buildings’ generous dimensions and stunning setting do their share of the wowing.
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| While you’re Out There |
| Historically eclipsed in the fine-dining stakes by its oligarch-magnetising next-valley neighbour Courchevel 1850, Méribel boasts one Michelin-starred restaurant of its own in Hôtel le Kaïla’s l’Ekrin in the centre of the resort. Laurent Azoulay, author of Antarès Méribel’s room-service menu, rules the kitchen here, and combines influences from his native Provence and adopted Savoie home to elevate a menu that’s strong on fish and vegetarian dishes – the perfect counterpart to the delicious, default carb-loading typical of a ski resort, when it’s time for a dressed-up treat. |
And nowhere wows more than the palatial wellness area Pure Antarès, 800 sqm (8,600 sqft) across two floors comprising lavish leisure spaces and therapy rooms delivering a vast range of treatments, ranging from traditional-holistic and woo-woo-adjacent – floating sound bath, anyone? – to medspa-grade high-tech, non-invasive aesthetic procedures such as EMSculpt®, LED light therapy and cryotherapy. Its centrepiece is the largest hotel pool in the Alps, a 25-metre beauty that overlooks the valley through a glass wall, and which is flanked by a hammam, jacuzzi, sauna, ice bath and salt cave. There’s also a well-equipped gym.
The serviced-luxury concept here includes a cosy but formidably kitted-out on-site ski hire shop where you can order rental equipment and lift passes before you arrive, shop the curated designer skiwear collection while sipping a perfect cappuccino from the adjacent Ski Lounge, then step straight onto the Doron slope for the short schuss down to the centre of Méribel’s lift system. Other services include a clued-up conciergerie, and complimentary private shuttles around the resort until 9 pm daily (dedicated butlers are among other additional services available on request).
Full-service, on-site dining is not on the Antarès menu, although gourmet canapés are available in the smart lobby lounge 1707 Bar from après ski hour. Breakfast takes the form of a basket of simple local delicacies, including just-baked pastries, locally made preserves, cheese, eggs and fresh juices, and the concierge service will have fridges in the apartments’ fully equipped kitchens stocked to guests’ specs on request. There’s also a room service menu of elevated comfort-food classics overseen by Michelin-starred chef Laurent Azoulay, and the more rarefied option of ordering ahead from an extensive catering menu – all apartments have well-appointed dining spaces for home banqueting.
It tickled us that all food orders, Michelin-credentialed or otherwise, must be collected from reception, a reminder that, for all Antarès Méribel’s world-traveller trimmings, it’s still a fundamentally French product, and as such won’t be kowtowing to every pampered-rotten luxury-travel whim, something we can imagine baffling many high-spending guests hailing from beyond Europe. “Vive la résistance”, we chuckled to ourselves as we peeled ourselves from the sofa to pull on boots and go fetch our room-service French onion soup, “…la résistance to full-beam, five-star forelock-tugging”.
Photography by David André and courtesy of Antarès Méribel
