European Ski & Spa Resorts – MY ARBOR Italy’s South Tyrol

After a day spent in ski boots, your limbs will thank you for selecting somewhere you can ski and spa, so pack your oversize luggage and head to wellness ski hotel My Arbor in Italy’s South Tyrol region.

Here, piste-wearied legs can be soothed with swims in various pools with a view and gus-master-led saunas.

You can take the name of this Dolomites ski and spa resort literally — the arboreal accommodation is mostly made of wood, with treehouse-style suites on stilts further aiding the serenity and facilitating some impromptu sort-of forest-bathing.

You can even sign up for a ‘tree ritual’, which uses larch, mountain pine, Swiss stone pine and spruce, and consists of a peel, sauna time and a massage.

Offering views of the Dolomites, this upscale hotel in a striking contemporary building with a forest backdrop is an 8-minute walk from the cable car to the Plose ski area and 9 km from Bressanone Brixen train station.

Lefay Resort & SPA Dolomiti

Ensuring the denizens of northern Italy and, soon, Switzerland have their wellbeing needs easily met is the destination-spa brand Lefay, which opened in Lake Garda in 2008.

In 2019, the Dolomites outpost followed and this medi-spa is as well furnished as its older sibling.

It’s the sort of place to come to when you’re in need of a full reboot, with programmes catering to every need, from solving sleep problems to getting fit.

Guests can also sign up for a ‘ski and wellness’ package, which includes a pass for the Madonna di Campiglio runs, a post-piste sports massage and a radio-frequency body treatment thought to speed up recovery.

Of course, you could always just visit for the Trentino slopes and use the spa solely for the purpose of warming up.

The indoor-outdoor pool awaits for swims with a soul-stirring view of the white and snowy or green and forested (delete according to season) peaks. 

Amid the slopes of the Dolomite Mountains, this luxe spa hotel off the SS 239 highway is 6 minutes’ stroll from a ski slope and a 10-minute walk from natural history exhibits at the Casa del Parco Geopark.

European Ski & Spa Resorts – Valsana Hotel & Apartments Arosa Switzerland

Trust the Swiss to be at the very forefront of the high-luxury, high-design ski-hotel world.

Valsana Hotel & Appartements, overlooking the Obersee in the Graubündner village of Arosa, is recognizable from a distance as an Alpine lodge of sorts.

As you look more closely, the innovative details become apparent — from the organic carved-wood forms of the balconies to the interiors, which trade the typical lodge style for an eclectic blend of wood, stone, glass, and richly varied furnishings and artworks.

It’s as green as a modern mountain hotel should be, as well, using geothermal heating and an “ice battery” for energy-efficient climate control.

All this without sacrificing comfort — the rooms go in for low-tech charms like parquet floors and down duvets, and while there’s a contemporary simplicity to the layouts, the rooms are anything but bare, thanks to the warm organic textures and the eclectic details.

Espresso machines are welcome, if expected, while in-room record players are both welcome and unexpected.

Skiing may be the most obvious activity, but you’ll also find a spa, an indoor tennis facility, and a gym with a thoughtfully programmed schedule of classes.

And come dinnertime you’ll have healthy options to suit today’s idea of a post-ski meal — sure, there’s melted cheese, if you want it, but there’s also vegan and gluten-free fare, as well as a bit of a Middle Eastern influence.

European Ski & Spa Resorts – The Cambrian Hotel & Spa 

The Cambrian is a showcase of svelte Swiss minimalism, using the colours of the native flag with some sultry blacks and greys.

This restraint shifts focus to Adelboden’s straight-from-an-Alpen-advert views, as is correct.

But decadence abounds here, too: the spa throws all the goodness of nature at you.

Take the Alpine honey body-scrub with mountain-salt crystals.

This burnishing treatment sees you drizzled in bee bling liked a bowl of muesli and saltily buffeted like a brisk seaside walk.

At the foot of the Tschentenalp, this upscale alpine-style hotel is a 6-minute walk from the Adelboden ski gondolas and 6 km from the Engstligen Falls.

Hôtel Lodge Park Megève France

In an imposing building, this rustic-chic hotel is a 4-minute walk from the Casino Barrière de Megève and 5 minutes from the Chamois chairlift.

Ski lodge trappings — furry throws, barn-wood finishes, tartan, antlers — are thrown together with stylish French insouciance in Megève’s Le Lodge Park.

Its spa, all rough stone and rustic wood, has a relaxation room with a trompe l’oeil forest on the walls and a Jacuzzi.

Its treatment menu is delectable: we’d choose the Le Gommage Cristaux de Neige scrub, which is sure to slough away tension.

On your second visit, up the après-piste ante with Le Secret du Skieur: a tip-to-toe treatment with a conditioning and sports massage, chased with hot-stone healing.