This was published 8 years ago
World's best hot tubs: The 15 best apres-ski hot tubs in the world
By Rachael Oakes-Ash
What's a ski trip without a hot tub? Deep wooden tubs of steaming water filled with near-to-naked bodies are as synonymous with skiing and snowboarding as shot skis at the bar.
Whether you prefer the rustic feel of thermal springs in natural rock pools deep in a snow-laden forest or manmade super-charged jets designed to pound the day's lactic acid out of your burning thighs, or the soothing feel of an private infinity tub with a jaw-dropping view, there is a hot tub for you.
Above and below, Aspen
The Residences at The Little Nell in Aspen, Colorado took hot-tub soaking to a roof top level with their Pool and Water Garden. The private garden for guests only offers a series of warm pools and hot tubs with 360-degree views of Aspen town and the ski mountain above.
The St Regis, also in Aspen, takes their water experience underground with a tranquil plunge pool with waterfall and circular stone hot tubs in the Remede Spa. Spend minutes, hours or days simply soaking it up.
Two shades of private, Telluride
If you prefer your bubbles private then jump into your personal tub on the balcony of the five-bedroom penthouse at Conde-Nast-favoured Lumiere Hotel in Telluride. With an expansive mountain view of the San Juan Range, you may not ever want to leave, unless it's a powder day.
Alta Lakes Observatory, also in Telluride, is accessed by snow mobile down an 11-kilometre road during the winter. The remote lodge was built by locals in the 1970s and comes complete with a strict "what goes on at the Observatory stays at the Observatory" philosophy. If only the stone hot tub with circular window could speak.
Onsen equals hot tub in Japan
Onsens are the Japanese version of a hot tub, natural mineral springs found in most mountain towns. The Greenleaf Hotel at Niseko Village on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido offers both an indoor and outdoor onsen for both genders with waters cooled to 40 degrees. Word is the mineral content of the thermal waters have natural healing powers.
Hot tubs for everyone in Jackson Hole
The pool at Amangani in Jackson Hole, Wyoming has won many accolades for the view of the Teton mountain peaks alone. Add the hot tub on the side and you are just asking for apres-ski trouble in a good way. It is possible to squeeze 20 guests into the tub at one time, which could lead to more trouble in a good way.
You'll also find the Four Seasons slopeside in Jackson Hole, with an expansive pool area and numerous hot tubs. There's a poolside bar should you desire some libations and a famous 'smores bar for chocolate, marshmallow gooey goodness.
European hot-tub style: from old school to new school
Luxe Houses offer rental properties for the severely cashed-up skier and boarder around the globe. The rest of us can salivate at their collection including Chalet Zermatt Peak in Switzerland with a hot tub more suited to a Mayfair nightclub with Krug champagne than a bunch of ski bums with a bottle of Jagermeister.
Old-school types will love the cedar hot tub at Verbier's most exclusive chalet, Number 14. Bed down in one of 13 ensuite bedrooms safe in the knowledge a team of 15 trained staff are at your beck and call. There's an indoor swimming pool, a cinema and, of course, that cedar hot tub on the terrace.
You'll find Chalet N in Lech in the Arlberg region of Austria offers guests a water-soaking experience within the chalet's day spa worthy of European royalty with an indoor soaking pool and outdoor whirlpool. Day beds jut out into the waters for dozing as though you were floating.
Soaking on both sides of the ditch
Closer to home, Luxe Houses also have Feathertop Chalet an hour from the Victorian ski fields with expansive views of the Victorian alps from the infinity pool and hot tub or head across the ditch to Jagged Edge for more infinity hot-tub goodness, this time jutting out over Lake Wakatipu.
QT Hotel at Falls Creek offers a hot tub on the balcony with every room. Glare down upon the not-so-lucky few below on the slopes or gaze out to the mountain silhouette at dusk.
Hot tubs in the Whistler wilds
Four Seasons in Whistler go even further with the hot tub fantasy with their Wilderness Wellness experience. Guests take a private helicopter flight to the remote Meager Creek hot Springs, where weary muscles are soothed with a thermal soak in mineral waters. There's a Four Seasons Whistler Spa therapist to give you a spa treatment of your choosing and a chef to create sustenance for you "poolside".
Fire and water in Vermont
The Aviary at Twin Farms is one of 20 individual luxury accommodations set on 121 hectares close to the ski fields of Vermont in the USA. The glass, stone and cedar structure was designed by Peter Bohlin and houses a natural stone hot tub with a giant fireplace that just begs for marshmallows to be roasted while you're soaking.
World's 15 best apres-ski hot tubs
- Feathertop Chalet, Victoria, Australia
- QT Hotel, Falls Creek, Victoria, Australia
- Jagged Edge, Queenstown, New Zealand
- Residences at The Little Nell, Aspen, Colorado, USA
- Remede Spa, The St Regis, Aspen, Colorado, USA
- The penthouse at Lumiere Hotel, Telluride, USA
- Alta Lakes Observatory, Telluride, USA
- The Aviary at Twin Farms, Vermont, USA
- Amangani, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA
- Four Seasons, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA
- The Greenleaf Hotel, Niseko Village, Hokkaido
- Chalet Zermatt Peak, Switzerland
- Number 14 Verbier, Verbier, Switzerland
- Chalet N, Lech, Austria
- Wilderness Wellness experience, Four Seasons, Whistler, Canada
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See also: Cheap snow holidays that beat the falling Aussie dollar
See also: The best ski and snowboard memes
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