You are sat, feet up in a swinging chair, glass of Krug champagne in hand, as you gaze from your private balcony at the snow-capped peaks of Mont Blanc.  The night ahead includes a fabulous 7-star Japanese dinner and the next morning an early rise to face the challenging slopes of one of Europe’s most storied ski resorts.  This is what awaits the well-heeled sophisticates in the French Alps’ most tony ski resort and the  5-star luxury ski holiday at the Six Senses Residences and Spa in Courchevel.

The Six Senses Residences have become a centre of luxury travelling in Courchevel offering a sublime set of 53 superior apartments and duplex penthouses, with up to 5 bedrooms. Designed by Morpheus London, a world-class leading designer, the residences fall on the high-end sophistication and chic, even by Courchevel standards.

The hotel’s crème de la crème is the restaurant Sumosan, which not only provides a fantastic continental breakfast for guests to wake up to, but also provides 7-star Japanese cuisine, making the hotel experience truly memorable. Add to this 5-star skiing with 24/7 concierge and a ski-in and ski-out shuffle service is all that even the most demanding luxury ski connoisseur could envision.

Six Senses began in the early 1990s and has since become widely recognised for establishing the benchmarks for the hospitality industry. It has since risen to fame by winning the World’s No. 1 Hotel Brand for the third year running in the Travel and Leisure 2019 World’s Best Awards, making it stand out as the top of luxury travel. The Six Senses Residences has property in Con Dao in Vietnam, New York in the US, Crans-Montana in Switzerland, Ibiza in Spain, Zil Pasyon in the Seychelles, Kaplankaya in Turkey, La Sagesse in Grenada, Courchevel in France, Fiji, and the Kitzbuehel Alps in Austria.

The logo itself holds great importance and meaning, for it originates from the blessing marks made by the fingers of Buddhist monks in Thailand. The marks form the 6-dot pyramid, where the bottom three are the primary senses of sight, sound and touch, and the second row represents the harmony of taste and smell and the final dot at the top shows the sixth sense of intuition.

Therefore, just as the logo incorporates all the senses, the Six Senses provides a holistic experience for all guests, where their every need is attended to in a 5-star level manner, creating a wonderful holiday experience.

The rooms and suites in the Six Senses Residences are the epitome of luxury. The apartments combine alpine designs with contemporary influences of more modern styles, making them a wonderful blend of cosiness and comfort with sophistication.

There is a number of variations in rooms, starting with the two-bedroom apartments, which are situated on the first to the fourth floor of the hotel. They have views of the mountains that make morning wake-ups a wonderful experience. These rooms are wooden with modern design, made to look contemporary but also comfortable and warm after a day’s skiing.

There is a lovely balcony with swinging egg chair seats in these two-bedroom apartments, which are perfect for wrapping up in and reading a book with the view of the mountains and a hot chocolate or glass of wine.

An alternate option would be the three-bedroom apartments, which follow the same style, but as they are situated on the fourth floor, they have stunning views of the hotel’s beautiful courtyard and the breath-taking mountains behind. These apartments are designed in a slightly more modern fashion, with an abstract living room that allows for a more contemporary flourish in design, which makes meals in the apartment feel even more sophisticated. These apartments provide the experience of a 5-star hotel but in the comfort and warmth of a typical French ski chalet.

There are also four-bedroom apartments for the bigger parties of travellers, and these apartments take up the entire 7th floor, and the largest apartment takes up 218 square metres, offering its guests private space as well as cosy rooms for the whole party to socialise in. The added height of these rooms allows for an even greater view of the mountains, as the view is undisturbed by the neighbouring chalets and houses. The light colours used in the decoration of the apartment make it feel cosy but bright, drawing the natural light into every room.

There is also a sofa on the outdoor terrace, with hanging lanterns and swinging chairs that makes the perfect spot for peaceful outdoor seating for the party to relax after a tiring day while enjoying a few drinks in front of the view of the amazing French Alps.

The key features of the hotel, include the amazing Japanese restaurant, Sumosan. This is a well-known restaurant, that earns its exalted reputation from its fantastic dishes, like the signature tuna and truffle rolls, or the salmon rice pizza.

Other delightfully aromatic dishes include the grilled seabass with citrus ginger sauce and the Furikake crusted rack of lamb and mustard sauce, and even traditional delicacies like black caviar rice pizza and torched sushi – the squid with calamari ink powder and unagi with cotton candy sauce, which is torched by your table is a true favourite. The restaurant also has a bar that shakes up cocktails until late at night, making it a great spot for a more sophisticated apres-ski experience as well.

The Six Senses Residences also has sublime spa facilities, full of treatments that exceed the ordinary levels of relaxation. By mixing science and human awareness, the spa has developed a high-tech service crafted to help individuals find the ultimate point of relaxation and peace.

There is a menu full of the wide variety of available treatments but among these is the Kneipp Therapy foot bath, a traditional alpine treatment, where guests walk through patches of hot and cold water to boost immunity and metabolism, but also to release any tension left in the feet after a day in ski boots. Some signature massage treatments include the 90-minute Arnica and Ginger hot oil massage, which is designed to relieve aching muscles with hot oil pouches, perfect for sports injuries or targeted aches.

The signature rose crystal ritual, a 120-minute treatment, is an organic facial that cleanses and renews the skin, which is ideal for dry skin from the winter cold. The antioxidant-rich carrot butter, the rose quartz crystals and the diving massage all combine to make this a blissfully relaxing experience, that will make your skin glow, your muscles feel renewed and your mind feels cleansed.

There is a wide range of activities the Six Senses Residences provides as well, to make your stay in the hotel as fun-packed and enjoyable as possible. This includes the chance to test out a snow scooter and drive to a Savoyard dinner: starting off the evening on the scooter, going through forest paths and on the pistes for an hour, and then being led by your guide to a woodcutter’s hut, where you will enjoy the perfect Savoyard evening with music, wine and the traditional cuisine.

The whole experience is a great balance of fun, delicious food and wine, and also a cultural journey through Savoyard traditions.

There is also the opportunity to try a hand at Husky Sledding – if you didn’t want to have a go on the snow scooter, why not have fun with a pack of beautifully snuggly husky dogs? Driven by a professional, in a comfortable seat covered in a fur blanket, sit back and see the mountains from behind the gorgeous husky dogs. You may even be able to have a go at steering yourself, or even have a cuddle with the huskies at the end – who could resist that?

Perhaps, travelling on the ground is not something that really makes you think this hotel experience is where you will have a memorable and exciting holiday you are looking for. If that is the case, the Six Senses Residences still have you covered; they offer the chance for a hot air balloon ride as well. Take off at sunrise, and enjoy a glass of champagne high above the mountains, watching as you see the skiers dotted down below in the beautiful landscape all around you.

From the height of the balloon, the view of Mont Blanc is breath-taking, as your view is completely clear. Guests can enjoy this amazing experience will a party or even as a private basket making for either a great family experience or a romantic get-away.

With so many beautiful resorts in the French Alps, the choice of where to stay is always tough. Yet, finding the 5-star luxury gems among these resorts is possible, and the Six Senses Residences in Courchevel is one of the best. From the first step into the glamourous residences, to enjoying the delicious cuisine, or the blissful spa, or the breathtaking views of Mont Blanc, every guest is guaranteed a luxurious and memorable stay here, and it’ll make every guest want to follow the Six Senses chain all over the world to stay in their properties across the globe.