Chalet jacuzzi: luxury ski chalets with a hot tub

If you want a chalet jacuzzi for your ski week, most of the Alpine chalets in our published collection have one: a hot tub, a jacuzzi or a Nordic bath, in Courchevel, Verbier, Zermatt and St. Moritz. Every one is private to the house you rent. The real choice is which kind: a tub on the spa level next to the sauna, a tub out on the terrace facing the peaks, or a tub that belongs to a single suite.

Those three forms make for very different evenings. An indoor tub is warm to reach in a bathrobe and easy to watch over when children are around. An outdoor tub gives you falling snow and a view, at the price of a cold few steps. A tub attached to one bedroom is the most private of all, and usually the one couples ask for. Several chalets combine two or three of these, which is why we describe each tub individually below rather than ticking a single box marked hot tub.

Our team in Paris has visited every residence, and the details on this page come from the property descriptions we keep for each one. If a detail you care about is not written here, such as how many people the tub seats or whether it is covered, ask us before you book rather than after you arrive. You can also browse our full collection of luxury chalets if the hot tub is only one item on a longer list.

This is the map we use ourselves when a client says the tub matters. The first column tells you the kind of tub and where it is; the second tells you what surrounds it, because a hot tub feels very different beside a 17-metre pool than it does on its own on a terrace.

Chalet Calista, Chalet Sally and Chalet Morelle have pools but no hot tub in their descriptions.

Guests who get the most from a hot tub tend to follow roughly the same order. None of this is medical advice; it is simply what makes the hour between the last run and dinner feel like a treat rather than a scramble.

1. Boots off, water in

   Leave boots and gloves in the ski room (the chalets listed here have boot warmers or heated boot storage in most cases) and drink a large glass of water. Altitude and a day of exercise dehydrate more than people expect, and hot water adds to it.

2. Shower first

   A quick shower rinses off sun cream and sweat, which keeps the water clear for whoever follows you. Public health guidance recommends it for the same reason.

3. Soak for a short spell

   Fifteen minutes or so is enough to loosen tired legs. Get out sooner if you feel light-headed, and come back later rather than staying in longer.

4. Cool down

   Where there is a cold plunge, as at Chalet Zeyr in Zermatt, a brief dip is the classic contrast. Otherwise a cool shower and ten minutes in a robe do the job.

5. Book the massage for this moment

   Muscles are warm and relaxed straight after a soak. Chalet Azelia includes daily massages, Zeyr has a relaxation lounge for treatments, and in many other chalets in-house treatments can be arranged on request.

6. Then the aperitif

   Keep the champagne for after the tub rather than in it: alcohol and hot water are a poor pairing, and dinner is better for it.

In a chalet the tub is shared by your own household, so etiquette is less about strangers and more about keeping twelve friends or three generations happy for a week. The same few points come up again and again.

Temperature is the first. Official guidance puts the ceiling at 40°C, and French guidance for public spas stays below 39°C. If one group wants it hotter and another wants it cooler for the children, settle on a time for each rather than turning the dial back and forth. Glass is the second: use unbreakable cups or keep drinks well away from the edge, because broken glass means draining the tub. Third, keep the cover on between sessions so the water stays warm and clean, and let the house team know if the water looks cloudy. Finally, if a pool matters as much as the tub, our selection of ski chalets with an indoor swimming pool covers lengths, counter-current systems and heating.