 – Edelweiss is the ultimate address for those with money to spend. Despite its hefty price tag – a two-week stay over the Christmas and New Year period will set you back £620,000 – the house is often booked up years in advance due to its size and status. Set over 3,000 square metres, it's beyond palatial. Guests can invite more than 100 people to party in its private nightclub and each of the eight bedrooms is 'apartment-sized'. Among the sprawl is a cinema, a spa with an indoor swimming pool and even a private car wash, while rooms come dotted with art from the likes of Marc Quinn and Damien Hirst. Staff are numerous too, with Edelweiss shunning the traditional chalet girl in favour of a whole team in the kitchen. 'As the calibre of chalet gets higher, so does the calibre of chef,' explains Latimer. 'At this price point, they'll have worked at top restaurants and hotels.' Food is tailored specially for each party and can be anything from a seven-course tasting menu to platters of sushi – all at extra cost. A huge ski room opens directly onto the piste and, for those who want to join the Beckhams and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the slopes or tackle some of the world's best black runs, there's no un){kind=link}
Edelweiss, with its own cinema and nightclub, is the ultimate address in the French resort where ‘billionaires go to see and be seen’
When one of the guests at Chalet Edelweiss in Courchevel 1850 wanted a birthday celebration on the slopes, staff closed a piste so he could enjoy his own private cocktail party and firework display – then they escorted guests back to the chalet on toboggans. It was just the beginning of festivities that also involved a custom-made ice sculpture and ice bar.
“If someone wants it, we’ll find a way if they’re willing to pay,” says The Firefly Collection’s director Tim Latimer, who has the chalet on his books. At this place, guests have the funds to secure almost anything: Courchevel 1850 is where “billionaires go to see and be seen” according to the Latimer and – with its prime position on the side of Bellecote piste (the town’s most expensive slice of real estate) – Edelweiss is the ultimate address for those with money to spend.
Despite its hefty price tag – a two-week stay over the Christmas and New Year period will set you back £620,000 – the house is often booked up years in advance due to its size and status. Set over 3,000 square metres, it’s beyond palatial.
Guests can invite more than 100 people to party in its private nightclub and each of the eight bedrooms is “apartment-sized”. Among the sprawl is a cinema, a spa with an indoor swimming pool and even a private car wash, while rooms come dotted with art from the likes of Marc Quinn and Damien Hirst.