My stay at a five-star hotel in the ski resort was rated “the best in the world.” This is how it is and my score

With its panoramic window overlooking the resort and mountains, mezzanine double bed and freestanding bathtub, there’s something almost cinematic about our rooms at the five-star Scandi-chic Altapura hotel in Val Thorens.

Surely there is enough space in the living room for a film crew.

That’s why it’s a great tic for the bedroom.

And big ticks for almost everything else in the hotel.

The property occupies a prime slice of real estate with direct access to the ski slopes at the 2,300 m (7,545 ft) high resort, the highest in Europe and declared the best ski resort in the world nine times, including by 2024/ 2025, and it is something of a mini wonderland, a feeling that is helped by the tree trunks that rise from floor to ceiling thanks to the elevators on the ground floor.

Then there’s the beautiful lounge, generously adorned with comfy ’70s-style chairs and sofas, and enhanced by an inviting circular bar, for post-piste refreshment and sharing stories of mountain-themed exploits.

The spa is also magnetic, drawing guests in with its stunning indoor and outdoor pool and ice-filled igloo room.

For my daughter, this part of the hotel is possibly the highlight of the property, even surpassing the kids club.

The dining options, meanwhile, are stellar.

There’s an elegant Italian Casa Alta and a brilliant Alpine-themed restaurant, La Laiterie, the hotel’s hub for raclettes and fondues.

The cheese here is top-notch and warms cockles. And the wine is also worthy of applause.

Breakfast is served in a more informal space, with plenty of windows offering great views of the mountains.

Altapura offers a good variety for the first meal of the day, although the eggs for ‘eggs and soldiers’ (l’oeuf à la coque) are a total failure: they are clearly undercooked. (The chef forgets the rule of four minutes and 20 seconds to obtain the perfect, runny yolk.) And trying to get a cup of coffee involves a game of Pac-Man with the staff, wandering between tables until you bump into one of them to place an order.

But here’s the thing: the staff here are constantly enthusiastic, cheerful and charming, and walk briskly, so that mistakes don’t bother you.

And there are a few more: At Casa Alta, the staff loses track of our progress and offers dessert menus before we receive our main course. Oops.

And we have to ask them to clean our room and make our little one’s sofa bed.

Possible irritations, but these small problems in the process are solved quickly and with a smile, and that is often all that is needed to complete the personalized return.

And I suspect we and our fellow guests feel the same: desperate to return.

We spent our last hour at the hotel sunbathing on the lounge’s spacious terrace, eating delicious croque monsieurs and taking in the epic scenery of Val Thorens.

Cinematic from start to finish.