Chalet Grand Torsaï

The Property

This is the top chalet in Val d’Isère. Not top in terms of luxury, perhaps, but in terms of altitude: if Val d’Isère is ‘halfway to Heaven’ (Daily Telegraph), Grand Torsaï is three quarters.

It looks out over so much beauty it makes your heart ache, from sunrise over the Galise on the Italian border to sunset over the Grande Motte above Tignes, from the stunning hamlet of Le Fornet below to the infinite slopes of Le Signal above.

The chalet doesn’t do badly in terms of luxury. It has five neat bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, and a split-level sitting-dining room with a wraparound balcony and wraparound windows. It has WiFi for Hubby, a hot tub and sauna for Wifey. There’s an LCD for DVDs and warmers for your boots.

If you look at the dimensions you’ll notice that the architect didn’t waste many of Val d’Isère’s precious square feet. Two of the bedrooms really are quite compact, but they are also the south-facing rooms with huge sliding windows giving views of thousands of acres of mountainside. If you are an aesthete you’ll book one of these. If not, you’ll choose Bedrooms 1 or 2, which are more spacious and have bigger bathrooms.

Grand Torsaï is just above our Chalet La Couchire, sharing its entry but with more steps and even better views. In the morning, you’ll walk down a few stairs, pick up your skis and warmed boots, cross the cavernous shared garage and emerge twenty seconds’ walk from the cable car. If you want to take other lifts, the bus waits just outside the chalet. The first stop is at the new Laisinant Express lift, the fourth is in the village centre, and the fifth is for the nursery slopes and main lifts, which you can be on as fast as people from most of the main village. The bus runs into the early hours, and works as well for shopping or bopping as for skiing.

There are two very good mountain restaurants just above La Couchire, l’Atelier d’Edmond is next door, and the fun Arolay is close by.

Based on exclusive occupancy of all beds, prices are per person and include return charter flights from Gatwick to Grenoble including ski carriage, return coach transfers between the airport and Val d’Isère; accommodation as described; catering; linen; towels (changed mid-week); and local taxes.