Gone are the times when skiing meant waiting in long lines at the lift, going down a slope of any color and warming your hands in the fireplace of a hotel. Today it has become an activity that seeks to live an experience, with the background of the snow and that you don't even need to practice the sport to enjoy it.
Aware of this, the sector has been celebrating the World Ski Awards for five years, an event that takes place once a year and where professionals choose the best resorts in the world where putting on skis is just an excuse. Welcome to the magic of snow.
Val Thorens, in France, the best resort in the world
It has prevailed over all the others because it brings together the best of each possibility: located in the Belleville Valley, Savoy, it is the highest resort in Europe and the highlight of the Three Valleys Region, it has the largest ski area with more 600 kilometers of track. But it also has some of the most luxurious spa hotels in the world, which turns a visit into little more than an extrasensory experience. The ideal is to stay in the Koh-I Nor, an exquisite 5-star hotel perfect for enjoying the best resort in the world with all the possible luxury and only from 250 euros.
The W Verbier, chosen the best hotel
It's not just its 127 rooms, 17 of them luxurious suites; nor the fact of being in the heart of the Swiss Alps at 1.500 meters above sea level; nor have the 412 kilometers of ski slopes at its doors. He In Verbier It has been chosen because its clients completely forget that they are on vacation to feel at home, with the warmth and comforts of a home, without forgetting any type of detail that gives excellence to this hotel starting at 499 euros.
The Vale Niseko, the best Boutique Hotel
This award has gone to Japan, curiously a country that in Spain we would not consider as a ski destination and that has nevertheless won the award for the best Boutique hotel in the world, that is, accommodation based on the concept of location, service and design, and whose perfect combination has fulfilled The Vale Niseko, a luxury within reach of 273 euros.
For Spain, three awards
Not all countries in the world have won any award, but our country has won three awards that, at the national level, are quite a privilege. The Cerler resort has been chosen the best in Spain, with its 77 kilometers and 67 slopes, it enjoys a privileged location in the Pyrenees, not in vain it picks up an average of 26-120 skiers per hour. And the Meliá hotel chain has won the awards in accommodation, with the Meliá Sol y Nieve de Sierra Nevada being considered the best national ski hotel, and the Meliá Royal Tanau Boutique the first in the increasingly in-demand boutique accommodation category.
In the wonderful Sierra Nevada is the Meliá Sol y Nieve, a display of comfort that fuses rustic and modern in a warm atmosphere. Surrounded by spectacular views of the mountains. Everything in the hotel is prepared to meet the needs of its most demanding clients, who will also find endless après-ski activities, and from 113 euros.
And right at the other end of our rich geography and for 145 euros, we find the other award-winning Meliá hotel, the Royal Tanau, the perfect mountain refuge in the middle of the Aran Valley. At the foot of the slopes of the Baqueira Beret station, it brings together that difficult mix of sport and calm, with cozy rooms and a delicate design.
Of course, anyone who doesn't enjoy the snow will be because they don't want to, because the luxurious options offered by the 2017 winners are extraordinary.
Gala Mora
DESALAS Lifestyle
