Le Coucou Meribel

Le Coucou reinvents the classic ski chalet as a chic slope-side retreat. Geometric shapes echo the Alpine landscapes with pale wooden tones and wall-length windows letting the wraparound views shine. After all, there are snow-topped mountains and dramatic valleys in every direction. You’ll even find contemporary cuckoo clocks on the walls – a wry nod to an Alpine tradition and this hotel’s mischievous namesake.

Designed to be a part of the landscape, Le Coucou spans ten floors built into the mountainside. And this ski-in, ski-out lodge continually brings the outside in. Watch skiers on the Belvédère piste from your suite, hot chocolate in hand or breathe in the crisp air from your balcony that’s a feature of every Deluxe Room. Pierre Yovanovitch’s chic interiors run from the rooms to the restaurants. In Bianca Neve that serves Riccardo Giraudi’s Italian menus, and Beefbar that puts the finest cuts of meat centre stage – and has a terrace you can ski straight onto for lunch on the mountains.

Skiing is the raison d’être for most Le Coucou visitors. After all, you’ll have 330 pistes at your feet – including the Roc de Fer. And personalised equipment set up each day for you in the elegant Ski Room, with its own take-off terrace. But there’s also snowshoe trekking, paragliding, snowmobiling and pony sledging (down the twists and turns of the Mission Black Forest piste) to discover. Combine this with downtime in the up-in-the-mountains Le Coucou spa with treatments made for ski-weary legs.