Megève has long been the grande dame of French ski resorts. In the 1920s, the Rothschild family transformed this quiet mountain village, nestled between the Mont Blanc massif and the Aravis range, into France’s first purpose-built ski destination – the French answer to Switzerland’s St Moritz. Baroness Noémie de Rothschild envisioned a place where Savoie traditions would meet modern luxury – in other words, a resort that felt like a step back in time, yet could whisk you up the mountain, skis over your shoulder, in a flash.
Beaumier Hotels’ Megève outpost, L’Alpaga, channels that spirit effortlessly. This high-altitude offering from the French hotel group embraces the best of the Savoie region – both in spirit and on the plate – while also being refreshingly modern. Located on the outskirts of Megève village, the property’s 10 traditional chalets are dotted across a self-contained hamlet, delivering plenty of privacy but also easy proximity to the town’s lively après-ski scene and its excellent restaurants, and super-duper slope access.
Beaumier Hotels’ Megève outpost, L’Alpaga, channels that spirit effortlessly. This high-altitude offering from the French hotel group embraces the best of the Savoie region – both in spirit and on the plate – while also being refreshingly modern. Located on the outskirts of Megève village, the property’s 10 traditional chalets are dotted across a self-contained hamlet, delivering plenty of privacy but also easy proximity to the town’s lively après-ski scene and its excellent restaurants, and super-duper slope access.
The lobby | Credit: Charlotte Lindet
The design takes an inside-outside approach: interiors weave Megève’s mountain heritage into every detail, from larch-clad walls to mischievous nods to alpine folklore. You’ll walk through beautifully planted gardens (even in winter, the bare bones of Gwenaelle Grandjean’s natural designs create sculptural pathways between chalets) to reach the hotel’s restaurants, bar and spa. A convivial lobby space – wood-beamed and filled with patterned rugs, rustic furnishings and chess boards – hums with a soundtrack of clinking glasses and post-ski storytelling in the evenings, as guests in white flannel robes dash barefoot from a subterranean wellness space accessed via a nearby lift to the great outdoors, seeking the steamy wood-fired hot tub, outdoor sauna and heated pool, the crisp mountain air evoking child-like giggles.
Gastronomy is a highlight, with chef Alexandre Baule leading the charge at La Table – and there’s no playing around here. Having swiftly earned a Michelin star for his inventive plates showcasing local ingredients, Baule isn’t stopping at the peaks – you’ll want to follow him down to the south of France this summer, where he’s taking over the kitchen at the legendary Les Roches Rouges’ new restaurant, Récif. In the meantime, catch his La Table menu before it closes for the season (or make sure you have a table booked for next winter). Baule’s approach to fine dining is light-hearted, but traditional – multi-course menus dance through the Savoy’s seasonal larders, from refreshing celery water bubbles that burst on your lips to dessert quartets designed around the four elements.
You’ll come for the slopes, and stay for the details: this Megève hideaway bottles that giddy, sun-kissed, snow-dusted feeling of a perfect day in the mountains.
The design takes an inside-outside approach: interiors weave Megève’s mountain heritage into every detail, from larch-clad walls to mischievous nods to alpine folklore. You’ll walk through beautifully planted gardens (even in winter, the bare bones of Gwenaelle Grandjean’s natural designs create sculptural pathways between chalets) to reach the hotel’s restaurants, bar and spa. A convivial lobby space – wood-beamed and filled with patterned rugs, rustic furnishings and chess boards – hums with a soundtrack of clinking glasses and post-ski storytelling in the evenings, as guests in white flannel robes dash barefoot from a subterranean wellness space accessed via a nearby lift to the great outdoors, seeking the steamy wood-fired hot tub, outdoor sauna and heated pool, the crisp mountain air evoking child-like giggles.
Gastronomy is a highlight, with chef Alexandre Baule leading the charge at La Table – and there’s no playing around here. Having swiftly earned a Michelin star for his inventive plates showcasing local ingredients, Baule isn’t stopping at the peaks – you’ll want to follow him down to the south of France this summer, where he’s taking over the kitchen at the legendary Les Roches Rouges’ new restaurant, Récif. In the meantime, catch his La Table menu before it closes for the season (or make sure you have a table booked for next winter). Baule’s approach to fine dining is light-hearted, but traditional – multi-course menus dance through the Savoy’s seasonal larders, from refreshing celery water bubbles that burst on your lips to dessert quartets designed around the four elements.
You’ll come for the slopes, and stay for the details: this Megève hideaway bottles that giddy, sun-kissed, snow-dusted feeling of a perfect day in the mountains.
Room interiors, and the mountains outside | Credit: Charlotte Lindet
Stays are friction-free, thanks to the plethora of in-room equipment. OK, so there’s no ski hire counter, but each room does have a hairdryer, a Bluetooth speaker, and a well-stocked minibar complete with instructions on making your own “evergreen elixir” – a heady concoction of chartreuse verte, fir syrup and homemade gingerbread orange juice.
Located behind the hotel proper – a minute’s stroll from the lobby and restaurants – are L’Alpaga’s six private chalets, each individually styled, and all drawing from the same frolicsome, impish character as the suites’, with tactile furnishings, dedicated kids’ corners tucked into eaves (hello, toy sheep heads hanging on the walls), private gardens, fully equipped kitchens and luxuriously cosy living spaces promising Mont Blanc views in the peach-hued spring sunsets. Some have boot rooms for storing skis, too. If you’re splashing out on a whole chalet, we’d bagsie the bed in the former servant’s space, found in a few of the chalets. Sure, this tucked-away corner has no ensuite and a little less privacy than the bedrooms upstairs, but, oh, to be snuggled up in a raised wooden bed beneath a quilt embroidered with alpine motifs!
Rooms
What’s your poison: individual suite or whole chalet à toi? Our room, one of 33, enjoyed views of snow-capped peaks from a private balcony and was a phantasmagoria of mélèze (that’s French for larch). Whimsical interiors draw from the traditions of alpine life, with a crisp and playful – dare we say, Parisian? – edge. In our suite, that meant all-wood walls and ceilings, coal-black industrial sliding doors separating bathroom and bedroom, snuggly sheepskin chairs, touches of linen, velvet bedheads, accents of burnished leather, soft-beneath-your-feet rugs, cowbell-shaped glass lampshades, framed piste maps, pressed alpine flowers, joyful illustrations of marmots, edelweiss and alpine ibex printed on in-room literature, tiny watercolours of local mountain churches hidden away in corners, complimentary notepads that doubled as kineograph flipbooks – flick through to watch a daredevil skier speed through snow-white pages – and a slate-black bathroom stocked with Diptyque toiletries (bien sûr!), plus a plunge pool-sized bathtub and vast rainfall shower.Stays are friction-free, thanks to the plethora of in-room equipment. OK, so there’s no ski hire counter, but each room does have a hairdryer, a Bluetooth speaker, and a well-stocked minibar complete with instructions on making your own “evergreen elixir” – a heady concoction of chartreuse verte, fir syrup and homemade gingerbread orange juice.
Located behind the hotel proper – a minute’s stroll from the lobby and restaurants – are L’Alpaga’s six private chalets, each individually styled, and all drawing from the same frolicsome, impish character as the suites’, with tactile furnishings, dedicated kids’ corners tucked into eaves (hello, toy sheep heads hanging on the walls), private gardens, fully equipped kitchens and luxuriously cosy living spaces promising Mont Blanc views in the peach-hued spring sunsets. Some have boot rooms for storing skis, too. If you’re splashing out on a whole chalet, we’d bagsie the bed in the former servant’s space, found in a few of the chalets. Sure, this tucked-away corner has no ensuite and a little less privacy than the bedrooms upstairs, but, oh, to be snuggled up in a raised wooden bed beneath a quilt embroidered with alpine motifs!
Chef Alexandre Baule and a table at Le Bistrot
Isère native Baule joined La Table in 2023 and nabbed a star the same year for his multi-dish menus of traditional French gastronomy utilising local alpine ingredients. Only open during the winter season, Wednesday-to-Sunday, the Savoie’s earthly bounty takes centre stage on the restaurant’s six- and eight-dish menus, each course paired with a fresh bread sourced from a Chamonix baker. Highlights from our dinner included a lightly smoked Arctic char doused in a fishbone beurre blanc, a trio of blushing, milk-fed lamb presentations, and a piled-high cheese trolley of regional wheels… lactose-induced stupor, guaranteed.
The everyday bistro plates up a not-so-everyday offering, Think generously piled-high charcuterie boards to share, freshwater fish ceviche and a cheesy onion soup, Meunière-style trout, and classic veal blanquette.
What’s for breakfast?
Fuel up for your slopeside adventures with local yoghurts, granola, fresh fruits, marbled chocolate cakes, chocolate cookies, seasonal tarte tatins, regional cheese and charcuterie selections, fresh fruits, cereals, pastries and breads (plus homemade hazelnut spread and straight-off-the-hob warm fruit jams), alongside a selection of cooked-to-order breakfast favourites, from soft-boiled eggs with soldiers to crepes and more.Lunch and dinner
Slip into a velvet banquette to enjoy some (not so) humble alpine dining at Le Bistrot de L’Alpaga, or take your dinner up a notch with a table at La Table, chef Alexandre Baule’s Michelin-starred mountain magnus opus.Isère native Baule joined La Table in 2023 and nabbed a star the same year for his multi-dish menus of traditional French gastronomy utilising local alpine ingredients. Only open during the winter season, Wednesday-to-Sunday, the Savoie’s earthly bounty takes centre stage on the restaurant’s six- and eight-dish menus, each course paired with a fresh bread sourced from a Chamonix baker. Highlights from our dinner included a lightly smoked Arctic char doused in a fishbone beurre blanc, a trio of blushing, milk-fed lamb presentations, and a piled-high cheese trolley of regional wheels… lactose-induced stupor, guaranteed.
The everyday bistro plates up a not-so-everyday offering, Think generously piled-high charcuterie boards to share, freshwater fish ceviche and a cheesy onion soup, Meunière-style trout, and classic veal blanquette.
Tables at Le Bistrot
We were privileged to enjoy a sneak peek of Baule’s soon-to-launch summer menu, set to grace the pass at Beaumier’s legendary south of France address, Les Roches Rouges, too. The chef is heading down the mountains to the oh-so-blue waters of the Mediterranean over the summer to whip-up sunshine-filled, veg-packed dishes like blushing bluefin tuna with anchoiade sauce, and tender Med squid with fresh green peas at Récif. The restaurant is part of expansion plans that also involve 25 new rooms, a gym and two further dining offerings: seafood sharing-plates sensation Estelo and the relaxed, focaccia-focused La Chicoula bar.
We were privileged to enjoy a sneak peek of Baule’s soon-to-launch summer menu, set to grace the pass at Beaumier’s legendary south of France address, Les Roches Rouges, too. The chef is heading down the mountains to the oh-so-blue waters of the Mediterranean over the summer to whip-up sunshine-filled, veg-packed dishes like blushing bluefin tuna with anchoiade sauce, and tender Med squid with fresh green peas at Récif. The restaurant is part of expansion plans that also involve 25 new rooms, a gym and two further dining offerings: seafood sharing-plates sensation Estelo and the relaxed, focaccia-focused La Chicoula bar.
Is there a bar?
Few drinks taste better than a post-piste alpine aperitif. On your return from the slopes, head to L’Alpaga’s lobby bar, take a seat on one of the body-embracing sofas arranged between rustic wooden sideboards and chess sets, and sip a “neiges eternelle” (a traditional herbal liqueur paired with honey, lemon and Savoie cider), before switching to the vermouth selection. On Wednesdays, there’s live music.
The lobby, and an evening aperitif | Credit: Marie Bougault
Back from Mont Joly’s steep chutes and in need of some soothing spa time? Take the lift beside the bar, and you’ll be whisked down to a subterranean wellness space, complete with indoor pool, treatment rooms, a steam room, small gym and changing spaces. White robe on, hop back upstairs and outside to luxuriate in the outdoor heated pool, wood-fired hot tub and sauna (with Mont Blanc massif views). Open 10am ’til 8pm, it’s a must for slope-sore legs.
Amenities
This is Megève – the original ski town – so hitting the 400km of runs on the sky-splitting peaks above is, of course, on order. The local shuttle service stops at L’Alpaga, so you can hop on and hop off in search of fresh snow with ease. Otherwise, you’ll find equally exhilarating experiences on offer through the hotel, at additional cost: snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing and hot-air ballooning over the peaks can all be arranged.Back from Mont Joly’s steep chutes and in need of some soothing spa time? Take the lift beside the bar, and you’ll be whisked down to a subterranean wellness space, complete with indoor pool, treatment rooms, a steam room, small gym and changing spaces. White robe on, hop back upstairs and outside to luxuriate in the outdoor heated pool, wood-fired hot tub and sauna (with Mont Blanc massif views). Open 10am ’til 8pm, it’s a must for slope-sore legs.
The sauna, and suite interiors | Credit: Charlotte Lindet
What are the hotel’s eco-credentials like?
There’s not a lot to write home about. However, in Baule’s kitchen, there’s a strong focus on local, seasonal produce and a commitment to minimise food waste where possible.What about accessibility?
Two of the hotel’s 33 rooms and suites are adapted for people with reduced mobility.What’s the crowd like?
We spotted rosy-cheeked families huddled around the crepe station, and cashmere-draped Parisians lounging in the bar.Within a short walk I can find…
The property is located a short walk from Megève centre (but far enough that the soundtrack of the town’s evening entertainment doesn’t disturb sleepers). The dining scene is dizzyingly celestial, but if you’re looking for some quality Savoyard plates at a reasonable price, chef Baule recommends Le River – a low-key brunch spot serving eggs benedict over brioche, and rustic croque madames.Things I should know
Feeling peckish? You’ll find the hotel’s crepe station located to the right of the front door during the day, offering fresh-to-order French pancakes slathered in chocolate sauce, homemade hazelnut spread and whatever else takes your fancy.The Lowdown
Doubles cost from £210 a night; beaumier.com