Ski hotels

Properties at or near the slopes. The distinction that decides your week is ski-in ski-out versus a shuttle: carrying boots and skis to a bus at 08:30 in the cold is a different holiday from stepping out of the door onto the snow, and both appear in this list.

Before you book, check

• The real distance to the nearest lift, and whether a free shuttle runs and how often.
• Whether there is a locked, heated ski room. Wet boots in a hotel room ruin a week.
• Whether the lift pass can be bought at the hotel, which saves an hour of queueing on the first morning.
• Snow reliability at that altitude in the month you are going, not the season average.

Worth it for: Anyone whose day starts and ends on the mountain and who would rather not drive in it.