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Unusual-Ski-Accommodation
Luxury camping
Montana is well-known for its quiet slopes and powder, but this is
extreme… Stay in a traditional Mongolian-style yurt deep in the
backcountry in Western Montana’s Swan Mountains. You can fly to nearby
Glacier Airport via Seattle from around £550 return. You have to be
willing and able to hike or skin for your lines. The yurts are canvas
tents built on a wooden skeleton. They sleep up to eight per yurt, and
have a wood-burning stove to cook on and to keep you warm. You can book
trips where your guides cater for you (from £150 for accommodation,
catering and guiding per person per day). See www.yurtski.com. Hotel de Glace, Quebec City
Sculptural suites
Take time out at the magical Hotel de Glace near Quebec City. It is made from 15,000 tons of snow and 500 tons of ice. Rooms are adorned with ice sculptures and carvings, and there is a bar (drinks are served in cups chipped from ice) and even chapel for marriages. There are hot tubs and a sauna, and dinner and breakfast are provided in the nearby auberge. Crystal (www.crystalski.co.uk, 0871 971 0579) offer the Ice Hotel as an add-on to holidays in Tremblant or Quebec City – but be sure to book well in advance as it gets booked up quickly. The price per person per night is £195.Whitepod Village, Les Cerniers
Take refuge
If there’s a large group of you, stay in a mountain refuge. The one
attached to the eco igloo Whitepod village (www.whitepod.com, +41 24
471 38 38) caters for up to 60 people in dorms and doubles. The refuge
is located at 1,800m in the Dents du Midi mountain range, near the
Swiss village of Les Cerniers. The nearest airport is Geneva. You can
ski on Whitepod’s private ski slope, snowshoe, and enjoy the retreat.
The refuge costs from £40 a night, but packages such as ‘Detox’ and
‘Fitness’ are extra. The different packages can involve yoga, massages,
healthy eating and even specially-organised ski races and drumming
session.Iglu-Dorf, Switzerland, Germany and Andorra
Alp innuits
There are now six igloo villages created by the Iglu-Dorf company (www.iglu-dorf.com, +41 (0)41 612 27 28), spanning Switzerland, Germany and new for this winter in Grandvalira in Andorra. Have a laugh with your mates in a standard igloo in rooms for six; or indulge your partner in a ‘Romantic’ igloo, with the luxury of your own toilet; or ‘Romantic Plus’ igloo, with both a toilet and a hot tub. Prices start from £91 for a bed in a standard room. There’s a bar and you can also eat fondue, go snowshoeing, and learn how to build igloos for an extra cost.L’Ecurie, Morzine
Beautiful barn
Barns conversions are all the rage, and L’Ecurie in Morzine was used as a stables and barn up until 2001 after being in a farming family since 1861. Bought by the Chapples, it was painstakingly transformed into a chalet sleeping 12 to 16 people. “Striping the cheap tongue and groove in the old living accommodation was very exciting. We discovered a beautiful old pine ceiling and beautiful stone walls.” Says Antonia Chapple. Morzine is in the Portes du Soleil region – one hour from Geneva. Stay with The Barn (www.morzinebarn.com, 0033 450 741298) from £495 per person per week including chalet board and a ski companion, Jacuzzi, sauna, wireless broadband.Hameau de Flaine, France
Scandinavian style
There’s an inspired alternative to ugly apartment blocks in the family-friendly resort of Flaine in France – the four-star Hameau de Flaine – a mock hamlet with cabins and apartments done in Scandinavian style two kilometres from resort centre. And they’ve gone one step further than the usual Ikea style, going full hog with brightly-painted Nordic cuteysness. Flaine is on the doorstep of the Grand Massive ski area, which is great for families, and only one hour from Geneva. Through Inghams (www.inghams.co.uk, 020 8780 4447) prices are from £379 per person based on four sharing a studio, including flights and transfers.Cube Hotel, Savognin
Modern cubed
It looks like a cross between a disco glitter ball and a giant sugar cube. It’s the Cube Hotel (www.cube-hotels.com, +43 (0) 1-33 44 050) in Savognin, Switzerland. Inside, there are funky lounge areas, a spa, a grill restaurant and even a club in the basement. The bedrooms have an outer room to store your equipment in. The price per person for one night with half board and a day skipass is £108, but for longer you get discounts. Savognin has 80km of runs on gentle, wide slopes and a fun park. The nearest airport is Fridrichschafen – Ryanair flies there. There are two Cube Hotels: one in Nassfeld, in Austria’s Carinthia, and Biberwier-Lermoos in the Austrian Tirol.The Stroblhof, San Michele di Appiano
Vineyard digs
One to include in a skiing tour of the gastronomic paradise of Italy’s South Tyrol is the wine-quaffer’s dream stay on a vineyard. You can stay at The Stroblhof (www.stroblhof.it, +39 0471 662250) in San Michele di Appiano, a 16th Century manor house that is sleekly modern inside. In the restaurant you can eat local specialities in the restaurant complimented by the vineyard’s own boutique wines. You can even enjoy a wine bath in the spa! Rooms cost from £80 per night per person. The nearest ski area is Alpe di Siusi, which has 60km of well-groomed slopes (www.seiseralm.it/en), 50kms an hour's drive away.Christine Ottery