After days of clear blue skies the clouds rolled in overnight, and Tignes prepared itself for the approaching storm. The resulting mammoth snow-falls provided the prefect curtain-raiser for the Press Inauguration of Les Suites du Névada, a 4-star luxury hotel created by MGM Constructeur. It couldn’t have been better if it had been planned; or had it? The Savoyard developer is nothing if not well-connected.

The X-Factor

Externally its latest creation takes the theme of the existing Le Névada apartments an intriguing stage further in the evolutionary design process. The scale of the first and subsequent storeys of the main façade resemble individual structures, the Savoyard theme established by chalet-style timber cladding and subtly-muted colour wash treatments. But there’s little doubt that from the moment they enter the Reception and Bar areas (an intriguing fusion of Savoyard and Contemporary styles, in which the latter holds the upper hand) arriving guests are in for more than one or two surprises. While the expected visual clues establish beyond doubt the geographical location, other, more intriguing messages come through.

Arriving guests are welcomed in a calm and spacious reception area, providing an intriguing foretaste of what is to come in the luxury, suite-style apartments.

The visual game-play enters a significant second level when emerging from the lift into the upper corridors, whose styling toys with the senses more assertively, combining subtle, timber-clad doors with areas of vibrant colour. It’s as nothing, however, to the effect of opening the door of the apartments, whose internal volumes are simply vast and whose use of colour is startling. Not brash, but startling nonetheless. The silence is also total, and the sense of scale and quality is sustained throughout each meticulously-selected element. The message is clear: you’re in a world-class 4-star hotel, so relax and make yourself at home.

Apartment suites feature unprecedented volume and equipment levels, while more convivial relaxation is available in the Whitney Bar adjoining the Reception area.

Lest there be any doubt, guests enjoy a range of services which includes valet underground parking, porters (ski equipment included), 24-hour room service, swimming-pool, saunas, hammam, fitness suite, etc. — to which can be added a comprehensive range of a la carte options. Naturally, the hotel also offers a relaxed, informal lounge bar and a suitably inspiring restaurant. Presiding over both ‘Le Whitney Bar’ and ‘La Table en Montagne’ is Michelin-starred chef Jean-Michel Bouvier, a native of Savoie with a longstanding passion for Tignes. Nothing, it seems, has been overlooked.

The Long View

Tignes has always been one of the most dynamic ski villages, and now it finally looks poised to reposition itself not simply as a committed skier’s alternative to Val d’Isère, but as an international destination of the highest order. It thus represents a coming of age for both the Commune and its partner in this visionary project, MGM Contructeur. Which left us pondering the obvious question: how on Earth will they top this one...?