Five of the best ski resorts

Engelberg, Switzerland

Ignore Verbier with its crowds and overpriced Dom Prignon and head for "up-and-coming" Engelberg, sayTom Chesshyre and Ben Clatworthy in The Times. There you will find a "more refined (and less pricey) experience". Among the Swiss resort town's chic bars, the Ski Lodge is "a must", along with more lively venues, such as the Chalet. Party-goers can even venture into the mountains to the Igloo Village, which pours "mean shots".

Back in town, try the Hotel Bellevue-Terminus, says The Daily Telegraph's Peter Hardy. It has "a lively aprs bar" in Buena Vista, while the Yucatan restaurant serves up Mexican spare ribs and teriyaki beef.

From £1,095 for four nights half-board (020-8939 0862, Flexiski.com).

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria

No ski resort is ever too big for us Brits in the Alps we are known as "high-mileage skiers", says Stephen Wood in The Independent. All the more reason to celebrate, then, the opening of a new €20m gondola this winter connecting the ski resorts of Saalbach-Hinterglemm with the traditional picturesque villageof Fieberbrunn.

The result will be Austria's biggest linked ski area, with 270km of pistes. Intrepid skiers can base themselves at the four-star Sporthotel Fontana for the stunning vistas around Fieberbrunn.

A one-week stay on a half-board basis costs from £799 per person, including flights and transfers (01483-791114, Inghams.co.uk).

Courmayeur, Italy

Heston Blumenthal is joining fellow celebrity chefs Marcus Wareing and Sat Bains (above) for the Mountain Gourmet Ski Experience in Courmayeur, Italy, this January, say Tom Chesshyre and Ben Clatworthy in The Times. The four-day food festival in the Aosta Valley will feature a "few new culinary twists, including Blumenthal's Alpine surprise' dish and a gourmet-pizza-tasting lunch, alongside meals by each of the Michelin-starred chefs".

For those with an appetite for adventure, one meal "will be served in a lodge only accessible by snowmobile". Dessert and a nightcap are tobe had at the five-star Grand Hotel Royal e Golf, complete with Michelin-starred restaurant, Petit Royal.

From £3,850 for three nights and three gourmet dinners, two half days of instruction or guiding, and a three-day lift pass (MomentumSki.com).

Flaine, France

Hip, young skiers now have a reason to head to Flaine in the French Alps. Until now, the accommodation was mostly self-catering apartments. But this December sees the reopening of the revamped Terminal Neige Le Totem. The three-star hotel, which is aimed at a "younger crowd", is a departure for the Sibuet family, who are better known forluxury stays, say Tom Chesshyre andBen Clatworthy in The Times."Expect avant-garde art mixed with vintage furniture, woollen fabrics influenced by Native American culture, and a buzzy aprs-ski cocktail bar."

B&B doubles are from €150 (£110).The hotel opens on 18 December (Terminal-Neige.com).

Park City, Utah, America

Park City Mountain Resort in Utah has snatched the title of America's biggestski resort from Montana's Big Sky. A new eight-seater, $50m gondola linking Park City with Canyons via Pinecone Ridge has swelled the resort's skiing area to 7,300 acres, say Dave Watts andChris Gill in The Daily Telegraph.New slopes have been added, and a500-seat restaurant, Snow Hut Lodge, has been built on the Park City side to cater for the hordes of hungry skiers.

Ten nights at the four-star Silverado Lodge on half-board costs from£1,425 per person, based on foursharing a two-bedroom lodge, including flights and transfers (01273-224060, SkiSafari.com).