Planning a ski vacation can be more stressful than simply choosing the best mountain resort hotel to book—though, that is by no means easy. There are so many factors involved and anything could go wrong. Flying into Aspen on a cloudy day? Expect to be rerouted to Grand Junction and forced to drive two hours in a rented pickup truck. No powder in the Alps this year? Enjoy the black-and-blue bruises up your back from falling all day on icy snow-cannoned slopes. Nothing hurts winter sports enthusiasts more than having plans fall apart. Just ask Gwyneth Paltrow who was bereft of so much after a retired optometrist collided with her at Deer Valley Resort. It wasn’t just the injuries she sustained or the trauma of being very publicly sued—no, it was something far worse. “I lost half a day of skiing,” she told the jury. The international skiing community collectively gasped.

But whether it’s inclement weather, deadly road conditions, or altitude sickness, if you’re in the right luxury hotels near (or within) the best ski resorts, things will fall into place. “A great ski hotel is all about location,” says Misty Belles, an executive at luxury travel consortium Virtuoso. “Ski-in/ski-out, a dedicated lift for hotel guests, or immediate access to a high-speed chair or gondola is always first prize in my book.” These expectations extend past the well-trodden tony resorts in the United States and Europe to lesser-known ones in Asia and South America. “There is rising interest in destinations like Chile and Japan,” Belles says. “Especially as traditional European favorites see a drop-off in snow like they did last season.” 

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