10 of the best new Alpine hotels to book for 2026

As the first snows of the season start to fall, mountain towns across the Alps welcome winter visitors with a slew of smart new hotels and reimagined grand dames. The many joys of an Alpine trip, with its mind-calming mountains and chest-puffing pistes, don’t always compensate for the overpriced apartments or unmemorable tour operator chalets. So, it’s a shrewd idea to break with tradition this season and consider a stay in a paint-still-wet hotel in a resort you’ve never visited. Splash out on a new opening in a golden-ager like Gstaad, Courchevel or Cortina d’Ampezzo, or take your pick from a more affordable all-rounder like La Plagne or Madonna di Campiglio. Maybe this winter is the time to appreciate the great pleasures of the Alps in a wholly different way.

1. Hotel Ancora, Cortina d'Ampezzo

Best for: grande dame charm
It’s a youthful new era for this almost 200-year-old property in the heart of 2026 Winter Olympics host city, Cortina d’Ampezzo. The upscale Italian hotel stalwart has been reimagined by former Soho House designer Vicky Charles, with distinctive rock ’n’ roll flair from new owner, Diesel fashion empresario Renzo Rosso. A playful, clubby aesthetic defines the open-plan ground floor, where a cocktail bar, boutique, two restaurants and a huge terrace overlooking the main street, Corso Italia, are divided into intimate spaces by velvet drapes, open fires and banquets that bring come-to-bed vibes. The bedrooms themselves, many with balconies, are decadently dressed boudoirs in gold or peacock shades, with silks, antique mirrors and mini-bars stocked with beautifully designed liquor bottles. The spa, all cream marble, low-lit saunas and steam rooms, is similarly seductive. Rooms: From €500 (£436), B&B.

2. Maya Hotel, Courchevel 1850

Best for: Asian fusion dining
This season, Courchevel showcases several striking openings. This 14-bed boutique is a standout; a collision of Monaco flash and Japanese minimalism. The money-to-burn vibe is most apparent in the collaboration with French crystal atelier Lalique, with an intricate choreography of pieces in the lobby and suites (every chalet needs an anemone-shaped chandelier, right?). The Eastern influence, meanwhile, breathes in the cuisine of MayaBay restaurant, which fuses Thai and Japanese dishes with the likes of robata grills and Thai-spiced maki. In short, a French Alpine experience like no other. Rooms: From €1,568 (£1,362) B&B.

3. Casa Cook Madonna, Madonna di Campiglio

Best for: wellness-seekers
‘Slow travel’ and ‘adults-only’ aren’t terms usually associated with ski resorts. But this 50-room wellness retreat from a brand with similar tot-free properties in Rhodes and Samos arrives with refined wood-and-stone rooms that mirror the grandeur of Italy’s Brenta Dolomites outside — the idea being that you’re here to purify and cleanse yourself. The restaurant, Altitude 1.511m, is all about wine-paired seasonality, while, if you must, there’s plenty of skiing. Madonna di Campiglio force-feeds you more than 150km of pistes, with guaranteed cover from the resort’s 1,600 snow cannons. Rooms: From €255 (£223).

4. Aman Rosa Alpina, San Cassiano

Best for: super-luxe stays
A sign of the times amid the limestone pinnacles of the Italian Dolomites is the arrival of this ultra-luxury chain that first made its name in Phuket. Out are Alpine-standard flower box geraniums and fireplace antlers; in are glass walls, high ceilings, picture-window lounges and a destination all-service spa. Another clue as to the reimagining can be found at Akari, a Japanese hotpot restaurant that should open with the first snowfalls. And more evidence of the Dolomites’ new worldly direction: upscale international brand Mandarin Oriental will be debuting in Cortina d’Ampezzo this season. Rooms: From €1,200 (£1,047), B&B.

5. The Park Gstaad, A Four Seasons Hotel

Best for: glacier skiing
The Park Gstaad opened in 1910 as the first milestone hotel in this Swiss village that’s long been an A-lister’s go-to for year-round mountain excursions. Regional snowfall in recent years may have been scrappy, but with Glacier 3000 — the highest ski resort in the Lake Geneva region — within a 30-minute drive, you’re always covered. A high-end makeover from Four Seasons is slated to bring 75 rooms, suites and penthouses — with interiors by Paris-based designer Joseph Dirand — to a smart skiing crowd by December 2026. Competition in the area is already fierce thanks to the nearby Gstaad Palace and The Alpina, but this is an Alpine town that’s known for always going one better. Rooms: Rates to be announced.

6. Rosewood Courchevel Le Jardin Alpin, Courchevel 1850

Best for: suites & Parisian chic
Once the oligarchs abandoned this Champagne-popping French resort following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many wondered what its future might hold. The answer? Other minted guests simply came to lord it up. And now there’s a slew of additional swish new hotels, including this bar-raising, 51-room marquee property from the ultra-smart Hong Kong-based Rosewood. Apart from access to the Trois Vallées, the world’s largest ski area, the pitch from the brand’s first foray into the French Alps is money’s-no-object must-haves: a generous choice of suites, a slope-side spa and a cigar lounge. From the sister to Paris’s party piece Hôtel de Crillon, you wouldn’t expect anything less. Rooms: From €2,300 (£1,993) B&B.

7. Hotel Speluca, Splügen-Tambo

Best for: craft brews
A byword for isolation, Splügen isn’t a Swiss mountain village many could pin on the map. You’ll find it in the Rheinwald, beneath the 2,066-metre San Bernardino Pass in Graubünden, with a peaceful ski area of 30km taking in little-known pistes that best suit advanced and intermediate skiers. A lively new basecamp is Hotel Speluca, a craft brewery, pub and 34-room hotel all under one roof. Naturally, apres-ski is crucial (the five house beers on tap attest to that), but so too are the hearty portions of beerhouse classics like schnitzel and dumplings, which compensate for all those hard-earned turns. The trick here is to not overdo it. Rooms: From 146 CHF (£167).

8. Popalp, La Plagne

Best for: art-lovers
What unites many of France’s purpose-built resorts is brutalist architecture rarely found elsewhere in the Alps. But these days, when it comes to design, there’s a drive to make things more approachable. La Plagne’s latest attempt is PopAlp, a boutique hotel-meets-art-gallery with all the pop art signatures of Andy Warhol and the bones of its predecessor, Le Christina, the resort’s oldest hotel, which opened in 1961. It follows the success of the first PopAlp in Alpe d’Huez and brims with mid-century nostalgia. Inside, it’s a melange of murals and sculptures, with 50 individually decorated rooms. Outside, balconies decorated with retro skis add pops of colour. Rooms: From €156 (£136).

9. Hotel Kristberg, Lech am Arlberg

Best for: downhill racers
The Zimmermann family — stalwarts of Austria’s ski scene — had plenty of decisions on their hands when rebuilding their beloved historic chalet. The good news is the gemütlich (cosy) atmosphere remains, and the intensive construction has led to a flash new spa lair, outdoor pool and yoga studio, as well as warmly furnished suites facing the limestone-eyed Kriegerhorn. The Scotch Club, opened in 1966 by former Olympian ski racer Egon Zimmermann, is now revived in partnership with The Macallan, creating the Alps’ most exclusive whisky experience. Thrillingly, the winter sports are for connoisseurs, too. The hotel lurks below the Rüfikopf, the starting point for Lech’s 22km ski circuit, Der Weisse Ring, aka the finest full-spectrum example of Austria’s Alpine challenges. Rooms: From €670 (£585) B&B.

10. Cabane du Col de Cou, Morzine

Best for: getting away from it all
Bed down at 1,920 metres in this former French customs house that’s been transformed into a serviced mountain refuge. Scheduled to open in December 2025 in the Morzine-Champéry backcountry, the wood cabin will host up to 38 guests, offering a unique high-mountain experience right on the French-Swiss border. Accessible by touring ski and snowshoe from Morzine (7km, with a 500-metre elevation gain), or via the GR5, Via Alpina and Tour des Dents Blanches hiking routes, it will be one of Europe’s few mountain refuges open year-round, rewarding those who make the ascent with views of the craggy Dents du Midi peaks and the Portes du Soleil ski region. The cabin uses sustainable energy and responsible waste management practices, and guests can expect cosy beds and hearty food during their stay. Rooms: From 70 CHF (£65), half board.