Chalet le Ti

I just adore Chalet Le Ti. It’s absolutely chocolate box – all crackling fires and gnarled wood, gingham curtains and a gorgeous scarlet red glass chandelier. It comes with top food, wine and a dedicated driver, and is located in central Verbier, within staggering distance of the shops and restaurants and kicking night-life.

This ski chalet is a very old woody, hugely charming chalet, almost traditionally knick-knacky, with gingham curtains and scarlet cushions everywhere, But there is the odd quirky touch such as a floor to ceiling carved Moroccan lamp and a red glass chandelier. It has tiny windows, and a lovely wooden ladder leading to a mezzanine area above the main living space as well as a cute, restaurant-style dining snug in the corner with bench seats.

There are two double ensuite bedrooms in this luxury ski chalet, one triple single bed bunkroom with ensuite bathroom and an open plan mezzanine twin room with separate bathroom. The style is mountain rustic throughout, with lots of aged wood and wooden sink tops. The toiletries are all Jo Malone.

The food perfectly matches the chalet at Le Ti: hearty and home-cooked in feel, rather than fancy. No intercourse sorbets or fiddly nouvelle cuisine, more the sort of stuff you crave after thrashing the slopes and being in the fresh air all day. It is top quality, nevertheless, at the same time as being totally homely. When I visited dishes ranged from a deliciously simple steak and ale pie to confit of duck, roast monkfish tail and pan fried fillet of black bream.

The wines are out of this world too, at this fully catered chalet. An excellent, complimentary selection of six house reds and six house whites can be upgraded to anything from the chalet company’s almost insane collection. Krug is offered to guests on arrival, while the house champagne is Villa de la Reine Grand Cru.

There are unfortunately no spa facilities at Le Ti.

This ski chalet lends itself perfectly to family groups and children. It has a bunk room and an open mezzanine area above the living space which doubles as a bedroom – perhaps more for kids. All the usual child-friendly facilities are on offer, from babysitting and childcare to toys, games consoles and more traditional board games such as Lego. For babies, essential supplies like bottles of Calpol are in stock and nappies, wipes, nannies, you name it can all be arranged. There is also a great TV snug area in the basement with a good range of kids’ DVDs and a pool table for older children. A small, safe garden area out the back of the chalet is also great for snowman making and snowball fights.

The impossibly cute, Swiss-chocolate-box feel of the chalet. And the excellent location, near to the main lift hub of Medran.

The lack of spa facilities, which might trouble some, but the chalet is so charming and cosy it more than makes up for lack of sauna and hot tub.