Collection No. 09
Alpine Retreats
A mountain house is a promise about weather: that you will be glad of it, either way.
The Chapter
The Alps reward the traveller who books the wrong season on purpose.
This chapter is still being written, and deliberately so. The mountains are the most over-hotelled landscape in Europe, and very little of it survives a second visit.
What we are looking for is the older idea: aged larch, deep eaves, a hall that smells of woodsmoke, and a kitchen that still cooks the valley's food. Ski access matters less to us than what happens at four in the afternoon.
Below are the regions we are working through. We will publish houses only once we have stayed in both summer and winter.
In Curation
Three mountain regions under review
Maison Voyage · Engadin · Valais · Bernese Oberland
Swiss Houses in Curation
Family houses in the Engadin and the Valais, where the guest book is older than the lift system.
In curation
Maison Voyage · Tyrol · Salzburgerland · Vorarlberg
Austrian Houses in Curation
Tyrolean craft, serious water, and the best value in the Alps for those willing to drive an extra hour.
In curationMaison Voyage · South Tyrol & the Dolomites
Dolomite Houses in Curation
Where Alpine and Italian sensibilities meet: larch, linen, and a wine list that has crossed the pass.
In curationThe Maison Voyage Perspective
Judge a mountain hotel in October, when there is nothing to do and nowhere to be seen.
The houses that survive the empty season are the ones built for living rather than for spectating. A fireplace that is actually used. A pool nobody photographs. A dining room that fills with locals on a Tuesday.
We would rather wait a year than send you somewhere fashionable.
From the Journal
Read alongside this chapter
The Alps in October
Empty valleys, closed lifts, and the strongest argument for travelling out of season.
9 minutes
Larch, Loden, Linen
The material culture of the Alps, and why it has changed so little in two hundred years.
6 minutes
The Modern Mountain House
On deep eaves, small windows and the buildings that still understand snow.
8 minutes
Continue Reading
You may also enjoy
- Collection No. 06Wellness SanctuariesWhere the spa is not an amenity but the reason the building exists.
- Collection No. 04Wine EstatesHouses where the view, the cellar and the kitchen belong to the same hillside.
- Collection No. 08Desert EscapesStone, heat and a horizon that refuses to be photographed properly.
- Collection No. 07Safari & WildernessCamps and lodges where the wild sets the timetable.
Eine persönliche Anfrage
Let us plan a journey from this chapter
Tell us which of these places has stayed with you, and we will shape the rest of the journey around it — the season, the room, the table, the drive between.
Every enquiry is answered personally.
Warum über Maison Voyage buchen?
- Persönliche Luxusreiseberatung
- Sorgfältig kuratierte Hotelempfehlungen
- Maßgeschneiderte Reisepläne
- Exklusive Partnervorteile, wo immer verfügbar
- Persönlicher Ansprechpartner von Anfang bis Ende
Eine Einladung
Die Reise fortsetzen
Ein Brief jeden Monat: ein Ort, den Umweg wert, ein Objekt, das Bewahren wert, eine Seite, langsam zu lesen wert. Nicht mehr.