A chalet girl at one of the world’s most luxurious ski destination shares what the winter wonderland for the wealthy is like. Take a look around.

A few winters ago, India Hogg witnessed that luxury firsthand when she spent six months working there as a chalet host.

In December 2021, India Hoggs, 22, quit her corporate job in London, packed her bags, and hopped on a train headed to Courchevel. 

She told Business Insider she was en route to Courchevel 1850 for a six-month job as a chalet host, also known as a chalet girl. There, she said she worked in a five-star chalet that cost between $83,000 and $104,000 for a week’s stay.

As a host, Hogg catered to wealthy guests during their ski holidays. She’d tidy their rooms, serve meals, and make drinks. During her free time, she was often on the slopes, exploring the luxe ski resort, and sharing her life as a chalet girl on Instagram and TikTok.

Hogg said she remembers arriving in 1850 and being stunned by both its beauty and wealth.

“There are private jets flying into the ski resort. There’s Louis Vuitton and Fendi right off the slopes,” Hogg said. “You’d see families with four, five nannies.”

Hogg’s routine as a chalet girl involved more dirty toilets than shopping bags. While she wasn’t living the same luxurious life as her guests, she said that “Courchevel 1850 is the most ridiculous place on earth.”

To understand Courchevel 1850, Hogg said you have to take a step back and look at The Three Valleys.

Located in the French Alps, Les Trois Vallées, or The Three Valleys, is the world’s largest ski area.

The Three Valleys include three resorts: Courchevel, Méribel, and Val Thorens. Together, they have 375 miles of ski runs.

Hogg said it was massive, and even after spending six months skiing in the region, there were still parts of The Three Valleys she didn’t explore simply because of its size.

Courchevel is located on the eastern side of The Three Valleys.

Within The Three Valleys, Courchevel is a mountain resort tucked into the eastern side. Courchevel has 52 ski lifts and nearly 500 feet of ski runs.

Courchevel itself is split into six villages, including Courchevel 1850.

Courchevel is divided into six villages, including five main ski villages. The five are named after their altitude in meters and are all connected by chairlifts. The sixth, Saint-Bon, is the birthplace of Courchevel and isn’t connected by a chairlift, according to Courchevel’s tourism website. 

At the bottom of Courchevel are Courchevel La Tania and Courchevel 1300, or Le Praz, which Hogg said are the most affordable villages and where many seasonal workers live, including herself when she was working in Courchevel. 

Above Le Praz is Courchevel 1500, or Courchevel Village. Then it’s Courchevel 1650, or Moriond.

Finally, at the top is Courchevel 1850, which doesn’t have a nickname. 

Hogg said that based on her observations, Courchevel 1850 is the richest of the villages. 

Of the six villages, Courchevel 1850 is the highest in elevation and the most luxurious.

Between skiers in designer snowsuits and endless Champagne, every bit of Courchevel 1850 oozes wealth, Hogg said. 

“This picturesque hamlet is renowned for being the height of luxury during the winter ski season,” See Courchevel’s website states. “The resort is where the rich and famous choose to holiday, so don’t be surprised if you are sharing a ski lift or a bubble car with someone you recognize.”

Wealth is experienced across the village. For instance, the average prime real estate in Courchevel 1850 is valued at about $2,700 per square foot and was ranked one of the world’s top ski resorts in 2023, according to Savills.

Courchevel 1850’s reputation for wealth attracts celebrities, royalty, Russian oligarchs, and ultra-high-net-worth visitors.

Hogg compared Courchevel 1850 to the winter version of Saint-Tropez in the sense that it attracts celebrities and ultrawealthy visitors. 

CoastPrivate reported that celebrities like David and Victoria Beckham, Robbie Williams, and Elton John have vacationed in Courchevel 1850, along with Formula 1 representatives and Olympians. 

Prince William and Kate Middleton were also spotted in the village in 2016, the Daily Mail reported.

Outside royalty and celebrities, Russian oligarchs go to 1850 in the wintertime, The Telegraph reported in 2022.

For example, Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea Football Club, used a more-than $10,000 bottle of Bordeaux for mulled wine. Other rich Russians are said to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on chalets that sit empty for the vast majority of the season.

Guests arriving in private jets and helicopters can access Courchevel 1850’s private airstrip and helipad.

Courchevel 1850 is the only village in Courchevel to have its own airstrip and helipad for private jets and helicopters, Courchevel VIP states. 

The small airstrip has earned its reputation as the shortest runway in the world and the highest in Europe. Skiers and snowboarders from the nearby slopes often pause to watch helicopters and tiny jets fly in, Hogg said.  

When it comes to accommodations, Courchevel has one of the highest concentrations of five-star hotels in France.

Besides Paris, Condé Nast Traveler reported in 2022 that the greater Courchevel area has the highest concentration of five-star hotels across France. 

Travelers won’t find many hotels with fewer than five stars in Courchevel 1850. It’s filled with hotels like Les Airelles Courchevel, which, according to Forbes, is “one of the most exclusive hotels in the world,” where the average room costs around $3,000 a night.

These hotels have amenities galore. The Les Airelles, for example, offers guests everything from a Hermés horse-drawn sleigh to a children’s kingdom complete with a heated tree house.

Courchevel 1850 also has many luxe chalets. For example, Hogg said she worked in a five-star, five-bedroom chalet that cost guests between $83,000 and $104,000 for a week’s stay. 

If visitors aren’t having their chalet chefs cook for them, they’re likely dining at one of the resort’s Michelin-starred restaurants.

Hogg said many of the chalets, including the one she worked at, have personal chefs ready to cook wealthy visitors anything they crave.  

“Whatever the guests wanted, we would give them,” she said. “If they wanted lobster at midnight, they would get lobster at midnight.”

Outside personal chefs, Greater Courchevel has the most Michelin-starred restaurants across the Alps. There are seven starred restaurants in Courchevel, a handful of which are in Courchevel 1850.

Hogg said the ski town’s fine dining was impressive and, of course, pricey. 

“Everything is super expensive. The restaurants and stuff on the mountains, it’s like 48 euros for a burger, which is usually the cheapest thing on the menu,” she said.

Hogg said beyond fine dining, there were plenty of places for aprés or post-ski happy hour. One popular spot Hogg named was Bagatelle Courchevel, a lively French-Mediterranean restaurant offering 360-degree views of snow peaks. 

During the day, most people hit the slopes.

Hogg said that based on her experience, the ultra-rich travel to Courchevel 1850 to ski. The village has ski-in and ski-out access, as well as ski runs that suit every skier.

Access to these slopes can cost visitors a pretty penny. A six-day pass for the entire Courchevel area costs $430.

Hogg added that many visitors skipped the chairlifts and opted for heli-skiing instead, which is where helicopters drop skiers and snowboarders off in remote areas of mountains to ski down. 

“That was a big thing in Courchevel for sure,” she said. A private heli-skiing experience can cost thousands of dollars depending on how many “drops” or times the person wants to ski in a day.

And if you weren’t skiing, Hogg said she saw 1850 vacationers often paraglide or partake in other winter activities.

If vacationers aren’t into skiing, Hogg said there are plenty of other winter activities to try in Courchevel 1850. She said her guests were often adventuring out on paragliding trips or sledding with huskies. 

The village has an ice rink, cinema, and indoor climbing wall.

Most snowy days would end with some sort of spa treatment, Hogg said. And there are plenty to choose from, with five spas in Courchevel 1850 and nearly 20 across the resort.

When winter activities aren’t on the agenda, designer shopping is, Hoggs said.

Hogg said it felt like nearly every luxury designer had a storefront in Courchevel 1850. There are over 40 designer stores, from Fendi to Louis Vuitton to Gucci, the list goes on and on.

And all across 1850, Hogg said she saw people taking advantage of the shops. She remembers watching skiers go on shopping sprees, hop on chairlifts, and ski with their shopping bags in tow.

Nightlife is also big in Courchevel 1850.

Even after long days of skiing down slopes or lifting shopping bags, Hoggs said Courchevel 1850 would come alive at night. 

There are bars and clubs sprinkled across the village, including the trendy Les Caves de Courchevel and La Mangeoire Lounge and Nightclub. Inside these exclusive clubs, visitors find Champagne flowing, dress codes, and DJs playing until the early morning.

Hogg added that chalets often hosted parties and after-parties. There were nights when Hogg said she hopped from one chalet pool to another with friends. Meanwhile, there were plenty of nights where she was up til 3 a.m. serving guests drink after drink at her chalet.

Hogg said Courchevel 1850 is a glamorous winter wonderland, and her advice for visitors is to “throw yourself into everything”— if you can afford it. But as Hogg witnessed, if you’re visiting Courchevel 1850 to ski, dine, and shop, chances are, you can.

If you come to Courchevel 1850, Hogg encourages people to have the luxe experience the ski town is known for. 

Try fine dining, splurge on bottles of wine at après, window shop, and embark on new adventures, she said. 

“Throw yourself into everything,” she said. “If you want to go to Courchevel, have the Courchevel experience.”