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This chic Alpine resort bills itself as more than a conventional spa hotel. Ski all day, then roll up for a languorous massage; walk for miles, then have a body wrap. The idea is not to get fit in the spa but from exploring the great outdoors. In addition, the spa has developed its own beauty products based on mountain plants such as horsetail and arnica, which means you can't get the treatments elsewhere. The products themselves are very good (try the Rhododendron Vegetable Serum and Edelweiss Cream, used in facials). While the treatments at Les Fermes de Marie are intriguing (they include six different facials, body scrubs and rigorous, detoxifying body wraps) it is the staff - poached from some of the best spas in the world - that make it special. The owner, Jocelyne Sibuet, is a formidable stylist and the decor combines rough-hewn logs stacked up to form walls with stone and hues of sage-greens and warm whites on cream. Facilities are excellent (though not quite adequate to meet demand in high season, so you may want to book treatments in advance). They include 16 treatment rooms, jet showers, hydrotherapy pools, spa baths, warm mud baths, a smallish indoor swimming pool and an outdoor Jacuzzi. Add this to the hotel's 71 beautiful, chalet-style rooms and suites (some with marble bathrooms) and you have all the luxury you need. If only there were lighter options on the menu: then again, with its heady concentration of Michelin-starred eateries, a significant part of Megève's attraction is the cuisine, which, if one of you is spa-obsessed and the other cares more for their belly, makes this destination unusually suitable for couples.
CONTACT
Les Fermes de Marie, Chemin de Riante Colline, 74120 Megève, France (00 33 4 50
93 03 10; fax: 93 09 84; www.c-h-m.com). Doubles from around £278. Massages from around £46; facials from around £32. Six-night packages from around £890 per person (based on two sharing). All prices correct at time of going to press.
GETTING THERE
easyJet (0870 600 0000; www.easyjet.com) flies to Geneva several times daily from Luton, Gatwick, Liverpool and East Midlands from £40 return. It's a 40-minute drive from the airport
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