CHALET GIRL -- THE MOVIE

Went to a preview screening of Chalet Girl this week. Am very happy to report that it is delightful. It could  so easily have been cheesier than a tartiflette, but it is in fact quite lovely -- a genuinely feelgood, Friday night flick, with everyone falling in love in the end. It's on general release to the public next February, but it should boost interest in ski holidays in general (who doesn't want to find love on the slopes?) and chalet holidays in particular. St Anton is the setting -- the St Anton Museum acts as the exterior of the chalet in question, with the interior of the chalet being a set build in Garmisch -- but it is not overtly St Anton; no signs of the Krazy Kanguruh or the Mooserwirt. All good stuff though, so don't miss it! It has The Chic Chalet Guide seal of approval.

TALES OF CHALET LIFE 1

The first in a series of tales chronicling the more unusual, entertaining side of life working in a luxury ski chalet.....

A particularly demanding client had rather demanding children who were fussy eaters. So fussy, in fact, that one would only eat food of a certain colour at each meal time -- everything had to be green, say, or red. The other would only eat food of a certain shape, so everything on her plate had to be cut up into little stars or crafted into teddy bears. Needless to say, the highly experienced chalet chef in question rose to the challenge admirably.

"Vegetarian? Pah. Gluten-free? Easy peasy. Fussy kids? Bring 'em on," he said, pleased to have added yet further to his culinary skill-set.

Condé Nast Traveller's '10 best ski chalets in the Alps'

The latest (October) issue of ultra luxury travel magazine Condé Nast Traveller features a major piece on 'The 10 best ski chalets in the Alps', selected and written by our very own Belinda Archer, editor of The Chic Chalet Guide. They all, also, appear in The Chic Chalet Guide of course. Go and buy a copy now, or wait until we can provide you with a link.

In the meantime, check us out for more of the 'best' chalets in the Alps.
www.chicchaletguide.co.uk

Verbier chalet wars

Went to a great reception on Friday with Verbier Exclusive, a new chalet operator in Verbier which is opening a brand new chalet hotel in December called No. 14. It is setting its sights on CK Verbier and Richard Branson's The Lodge as its main competitors, aiming to be cheaper than both but offer the same gold standard level of service. It is even using the same interior designer as put together Sir Richard's pad. We are looking forward to visiting it early in January and providing you with a full review. Should be interesting to see if it manages to deliver on its promise! In the meantime, you can check it out here: http://www.verbierexclusive.com/no14.htm

Getting in the mood

Check out this delicious gluhwein recipe, courtesy of ck verbier......

GLUHWEIN

Serves 4–6

1 orange, 2 x 750ml bottles of red wine such as a Merlot or
Zinfandel, 250g sugar, 10 cloves, 1 lemon, 3 cardamon pods3 cinnamon sticks, 3 bay leaves, 2 star anise, Slivovitz,kirsch or rum to taste

Like Pimms, Glühwein is a ritual drink denoting a particularly
British progress through the seasons. As that warm spicy citrusy scent curls beguilingly from the first hot glass, you know you are in the right place doing the correct thing. Skiing.

Pierce the orange with the cloves like an old fashioned
pomander. Sliver off the zest from the lemon, and squeeze the juice. Tie up the rest of the spices and herbs in a piece of clean muslin. Use a heat diffuser over a gas flame or a very low heat. Pour the wine into a large pan, add the pierced
orange, the muslin bag, the lemon juice and zest and the sugar, stirring to dissolve. Heat gently until the flavours infuse the wine. Never boil Glühwein, it defeats the object. At CK Verbier, we like to add a shot of rum, Slivovitz or kirsch to each glass before serving.

Countdown to winter

Less than 100 days to go to the winter season officially starting, and we can't wait. Already have various gorgeous trips lined up to check out some new chalets -- our first being next month, to Chamonix, to see the fab Amazon Creek properties. There won't be any real snow, so we'll just have to imagine that bit.