Les Airelles, Palace hotel in Courchevel 1850, France

Les Airelles is a hotel in Courchevel 1850's Jardin Alpin area, built in a 19th-century Austro-Hungarian style. Its cream stucco facade has painted animal figures, including a fox and birds, between the windows, dark timber balconies with carved railings, and two pentagonal and two rectangular bay windows. The building has 48 rooms, including 15 suites, plus a 550-square-metre private apartment.

Raymonde Fenestraz, a businesswoman from Moutiers, built a "snow castle" in 1988 on the site of a 1960s hotel by architect Richard Ferbach, just before the Albertville Olympics. The hotel became the seat of the Olympic committee and hosted Princess Anne and Prince Albert of Monaco. Stéphane Courbit bought it in 2007 for 80 million euros and invested about 50 million in renovation under Christophe Tollemer, and in May 2011 it was among the first eight hotels to receive the palace label.

The hotel's name refers to the airelles (lingonberries) of the Alpine undergrowth, and its decoration follows the 19th-century Austro-Hungarian style, recast after 2007 as an imperial residence in reference to Empress Sisi. The four restaurants serve French cuisine with organic local produce, Italian-inspired gastronomy, Savoyard regional specialities and a collection of grands crus wines.

The palace opens only four months a year, so plan around the winter season. It stands in the Jardin Alpin district of Courchevel 1850, next to Cheval Blanc. On-site facilities include an indoor pool, indoor and outdoor jacuzzis, a hammam, a sauna, sensory showers, water cascades, a snow grotto, a fitness area and a private ice rink.

The hotel opens only four months a year, and its private ice rink is part of the wellness area alongside an indoor pool, a snow grotto and sensory showers. The three-chalet complex, Les Chalets des Airelles, covers 1,200 square metres with 19 rooms and sleeps up to 30 guests.