19 Oct Why We Never Stop Visiting: The Quiet Work Behind a Great Alpine Trip

Autumn is one of my favourite times of year. The summer hikers have gone home, the first snow is dusting the peaks, and the valleys go quiet before winter arrives. It is also when we do some of our most important work: going back to every hotel, restaurant and ski area we work with, to see how things are looking for the season ahead.
We do this in winter too, and in spring, and in every gap in between. It is how we make sure every ski and hiking safari we plan reflects the Alps between Switzerland, Italy and France as they are this year, not as they were when someone last wrote a review.

The joy of finding a hotel at its very best

One of the real pleasures of this job is watching a hotel come alive.
There is a hotel I love in our region. The setting is spectacular and the building is beautiful, but for a while it became something more. The owners brought in a talented new team, both in the kitchen and in management, and the result was stunning. The food was memorable, the welcome was warm, and every guest I sent there came home glowing. It was the kind of place you are proud to share.
That is what we are always looking for: not just a beautiful address, but a team that genuinely cares about the people staying with them.

Great hotels have seasons too

Hospitality is a people business, and people move on. Talented chefs and managers are in demand, and teams change, sometimes for the better and sometimes not.
I have just seen this first-hand while checking the hotel ahead of a summer booking for next season. The team had changed, and the focus on the guest was not what it had been. The setting was still breathtaking and the rooms were still lovely. But at the level of the best luxury hotels in the Alps, summer or winter, guests rightly expect the service to be as extraordinary as the scenery, and on this visit it wasn’t.
The good news is that this is exactly why we keep going back. Because we visited months ahead, we noticed it long before our guests arrive, with plenty of time to make sure their stay is everything it should be. Where we have a long relationship with a property, we can also share honest feedback, because we want our partners to shine. Hotels can and do bounce back, and we will be watching closely and cheering them on.
Every property we recommend earns its place on our list each season. That is not a criticism of anyone. It is simply how we keep the standard where our guests deserve it to be.

The mountains change too

It is not only hotels and restaurants. Lifts close for repairs, resorts reinvent themselves, new links open and facilities open late or close early. The fire that put Chamonix’s iconic Grands Montets cable car out of action a few years ago is a good example: it changed how we planned skiing in that valley for several seasons.
Changes like these rarely make the headlines abroad, but knowing about them, and knowing exactly what is running this season, is the kind of detail that turns a good trip into a great one. Multiply that by every resort, lift company, mountain restaurant and hotel across three countries, and you can see why we never stop paying attention.
And it is not all about spotting problems. Some of our favourite discoveries come from these visits: a chef who has just opened a little place in the next village, or a mountain hut that has had a brilliant revival. It is a lot of work, and we love it. Every visit is a chance to fall for this region all over again.

What it means for your trip

When you plan a ski or hiking holiday in Switzerland, Italy and France with a team that is on the ground all year, you stay where the experience is outstanding this season, not where it was outstanding three years ago. Your days are planned around the lifts, trails and mountain huts that are actually open. And when something changes in the mountains, as it always does, someone who knows the region well is already working on the alternative.
The Alps reward attention. We are happy to give it, one visit, one conversation and one season at a time.
Whether you are dreaming of this winter’s ski safari or next summer’s hiking journey, get in touch and let us start planning it together.

Warm regards from the mountains,

Danielle