It’s time to put down the pint and pick up a peppermint tea. Or lay down that large glass of mulled wine and have a sip of some lemon-infused water. After a few consecutive afternoons at the bars, spending après ski at luxury spas should be at the top of everyone’s list. And it’s not just the partygoers that need a rest. It’s the early risers and the last lift skiers, and it’s the beginners, the intermediates, and the pros. It’s the mothers, the fathers, the romantic couples, and the friends. Ski resort spas should be an integral part of every ski holiday. Because a spa with a backdrop of the mountains is the height of luxury.

These seven sumptuous ski resort spas go beyond the standard. As well as swimming pools, saunas, hot tubs, and treatment lists, each has its own speciality. Each is deserving of its high reputation, and each is worthy of your all-consuming attention.

Le Grand Bellevue in Gstaad

Gstaad ski resort is one of the finest in Switzerland. So, it’s unsurprising that set at the heart of Le Grand Bellevue hotel lies one of the finest spas. With 17 different wellness zones, it’s worth staying at the hotel just so you can visit a new area of the spa every day. From steam baths to ice fountains and infrared saunas to herbal saunas, each zone revitalises the body using a different thermal technique. To understand, as well as enjoy, these magical zones, workshops and residential retreats are available. Professionals from around the world come to impart their wisdom in the day, whilst fine dining can be enjoyed at night.

ADLER Spa Resort DOLOMITI in Val Gardena

ADLER Spa Resort is an oasis of all things nature. Taking inspiration from the surrounding Dolomite mountains, this luxury spa resort uses natural materials like wood from the local forests. Large windows and expansive areas for the reception, buffet, shop, yoga, and meditation, as well as separate cabins for treatment rooms, make for an utterly opulent experience. A passageway from the indoor swimming pool to the outdoor heated whirlpool eases you into the fresh winter air. But if hot and steamy air is more your thing, then the spa’s new Lakeside Saunas are the one. Set on wide docks at the centre of the lake, the saunas are cabins of floor-to-ceiling windows to ensure that views of the Dolomites are never hidden.

After experimenting with ADLER’s other wonders, like its Salt Lake and its extensive treatment list, then settle down in one of the rest areas. Because snuggled up in a dressing gown on a heated lounger by the fire is how relaxation in the natural beauty of the mountains is best done.

Cheval Blanc in Courchevel

‘Rendezvous with wellbeing’ Cheval Blanc in Courchevel reminds us. They know that after a day of making tracks in Les Trois Vallées, an alpine spa is just what you need. With this in mind, treatments begin with hand and foot rituals that are perfect for post-skiing. Güerlain Beauty moisturisers focus on recovering the hand’s skin from the cold. And spa experts massage the sores of ski boot feet. At Cheval Blanc, you can attend exclusive wellness events, from perfume workshops to professional make-up lessons. But if you’re just looking for some peace and quiet, then step into the Hammam steam room, the mirrored infinity pool or the Russian banya baths.

Kulm Hotel in St. Moritz

Les Fermes de Marie in Megève

The success of Les Fermes de Marie spa is starkly obvious. Obvious, when you experience a treatment in one of their thirteen rooms. And obvious again when you learn that they have developed their own cosmetic treatment brand – Pure Altitude. These 100% Megève products use plant extracts that have antioxidants and remineralising properties. They give that gentle care that the body well and truly needs after a day on the slopes.

Tauern Spa in Kaprun

Spread across a vast 20,000 square metres, Tauern Spa compromises on nothing. The spa is a world of its own with 12 pools, 10 saunas, a restaurant, a bar and even a separate area for children. By overlooking the vast views of the Kitzsteinhorn glacier and the mountains of Hohe Tauern National Park, an air of peacefulness is always around. But if you want even more peace, then wander to one of the many ‘time-out’ areas and appreciate the alpine atmosphere from there.

Six Senses in Courchevel

‘Ski in, spa out’. That’s the motto at Six Senses in Courchevel. With a décor inspired by the organic shapes of snow waves, it’s almost as if you really are skiing into this spa chill-out zone. It provides the most innovative and intricate of treatments that makes the all-important decision-making process even harder. There are deep tissue massages and movement restoration massages, but also the more unusual anti-ageing hydrating body rituals and gene therapy facials. If that’s not enough to intrigue, then maybe the Courchevel Booster or the Mountain Recovery treatments will. And at Six Senses, you can swap out that jug of goodness-knows-what for a rejuvenating juice at their designated juice bar.

A ski holiday is about so much more than skiing. And it’s even about more than après ski celebrating. A ski holiday is an opportunity to experience luxurious wellness in an alpine setting. And these seven sumptuous spas are exactly that.