Le Portetta

The Portetta is actually that rather rare thing: an extraordinarily well-run hotel. Full disclosure here. We are regular guests and have been returning, as many, many others do, at least once, often twice, a season for the last seven or eight years, including, quite miraculously, during the pandemic. The reasons we keep going back are manifold but obvious. Superb location, metres away from the Ariondaz bubble in Courchevel 1650 Moriond. Friendly and very well-run ski room, with a wide range of the latest equipment for skiers of all levels. Super comfy and practical bedrooms, with plenty of often overlooked storage space. Top of the range linen, including high thread count bed sheets and luxurious towels. Plentiful hot water at key junctures of the day with excellent water pressure – not always a given in ski hotels! Faultless, and always friendly, housekeeping. These may be the basics but they are fundamental to the success of any such establishment and, in all our years of visiting, we have never known the Portetta to get them wrong. Unsurprisingly, the Portetta is a very popular Three Valleys location, with its buzzy outdoor terrace and justly renowned rustic Italian restaurant, ‘Cucina Angelina’ by Angela Hartnett. Even residents must ensure they reserve a table. The cosy, traditionally decorated, salon is, however, for hotel guests only and serves a huge range of drinks including well-executed cocktails and delicious hot chocolates all day. As with any great hotel, the backbone of its success is the staff. The Portetta runs on the infectious energy of a mainly very young team of bilingual 20-somethings, for whom nothing is too much trouble. The reception/front of house team are warm, welcoming, professional and somehow able to magically resolve any challenge, be it a complex room combination, a simple ski pass or a coveted terrace table at any number of Courchevel’s lauded mountain restaurants. This seamless hospitality is quietly and adroitly orchestrated by the always affable and accessible Portetta manager, Nicolas, who is frequently to be found making his rounds of the terrace and the salon in a rotating selection of very singular sweaters. The festive season at the Portetta is particularly special with the staff and the kitchen team pulling out all the stops to help the guests, and particularly the many young families, celebrate Xmas and New Year in style. Be warned: you need to book early! Very highly recommended!

I went to the portetta with my girlfriend and we had such a wonderful experience ! Just next to the slopes before or after skiing it’s just perfect ! The food is really tasty and flavourful and the service is perfect ! Special mention for the pizza of the day 🤤 and I can’t wait to taste the madeleines again ! Thank you for this amazing experience 🙏

We returned for a trip down memory lane pizza after having not been to courchevel for 10 yrs, we previously stayed here at the portetta in 2014 and 2015 . This time we were not guests but just had food after an awful transfer from Geneva that took 6 hrs. On leaving I could not find my hat .. looked for it all over the bar area with very little help from the staff and asked at reception etc to no avail . My only conclusion was that someone has stolen it .. to which I was told by the bar staff ‘ we do not have that kind of clientele ‘ .. I was totally unimpressed by the unhelpful attitude . I think in this day and age we should not make those assumptions .. totally spoilt my very happy previous memories of le portetta ..