Raffles Courchevel to Bring New Ultra Luxury Hospitality Experience to One of Europe’s Leading Ski Destinations

(NEWS) PARIS, 2026-May-13 — /Travel PR News/ — In the French Alps, competition among luxury hospitality brands is increasingly shifting toward highly exclusive, experience-driven mountain resorts, and Raffles Hotels and Resorts is preparing to make its debut in the alpine market with a new property planned for Courchevel 1850, one of Europe’s most established high-end ski destinations.

In a press update highlighted by Accor, Raffles Hotels and Resorts will open Raffles Courchevel for the 2028 winter season in partnership with luxury hospitality investment and development firm Art de Vivre.

The project represents the brand’s first dedicated alpine resort and its second property in France following Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris. It also reflects continued investment in ultra-luxury mountain travel, a segment that has remained resilient as demand grows for exclusive winter destinations combining hospitality, wellness, dining, and ski access.

Located within Courchevel 1850’s Jardin Alpin district, the resort will occupy one of the area’s highest and most exclusive positions, overlooking the Tarentaise Valley and offering direct proximity to the wider Les Trois Vallées ski region, considered the world’s largest interconnected ski area.

Courchevel 1850 has long been associated with high-end alpine tourism, attracting international travellers through a combination of luxury hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants, designer retail, and extensive ski infrastructure. The destination has increasingly evolved beyond seasonal sports tourism into a year-round lifestyle and hospitality market focused on wellness, gastronomy, and experiential travel.

The new Raffles property is being designed by JMV, with interiors by Humbert & Poyet, and will include 50 guestrooms and suites. Many accommodations are expected to feature private balconies oriented toward the surrounding mountain landscape.

The resort’s public spaces will focus heavily on food, wellness, and private guest experiences. Plans include two restaurants, winter gardens, terraces, a signature bar, tea lounge, spa facilities, thermal recovery zones, fitness spaces, and a panoramic swimming pool. The wellness programme is expected to combine traditional alpine recovery concepts with longevity-focused therapies and modern health treatments.

The hotel will also include dedicated experiences for younger guests, with programming centered around outdoor activities, mountain exploration, and wellness-oriented recreation.

The development highlights how luxury hospitality brands are increasingly using mountain destinations as extensions of broader lifestyle portfolios. Alpine resorts are no longer marketed solely around skiing, but around curated experiences spanning design, gastronomy, wellness, culture, and privacy.

For Raffles, the Courchevel opening continues a period of international expansion across Europe and resort destinations. In addition to its existing hotels in Paris, London, Warsaw, and Istanbul, the brand is also preparing to open Raffles Lake Como in 2027.

At the same time, the project reflects the growing competition among global luxury hotel groups for premium resort markets where supply remains limited and demand for branded residences and high-end hospitality continues to rise.

Once completed, Raffles Courchevel is expected to become part of a broader transformation taking place across luxury alpine tourism, where destination identity increasingly depends not only on ski access, but on the overall lifestyle ecosystem surrounding the mountain experience.