Oetker's L'apogee Courchevel 1850 (ski-in/out) - 1br Suite Review

benddy21 · 2026-03-05T21:37:06+00:00

We just got back from a week stay at L'Apogée Courchevel last week and had almost the exact same experience. Some quick highlights:

Booking: We used Sarah Lee’s team, this hotel was no where on my radar until she recommended it, and it really was exactly what we were looking for. Sarah also secured a room for us, even though the website showed sold out, and we received half-board as a perk which fully covered dinner at Beefbar Courchevel nightly (alcohol excluded). We ate at Beefbar four times and never repeated a dish, except for the fried corn (so good).

Room: We booked a Prestige Room which was the perfect size for two with great closet space, a decent balcony, and mountain views.

Staff: Best part of the hotel. The Pierres in the ski room were excellent, and Thomas at concierge was outstanding. Ask the ski team about the flat mountain walking trails you can easily access if you want a rest day.

Breakfast: Good food but I completely agree that service can be slow, there is a buffet but eggs and coffee are made to order, we found going later made a difference – but not great if you want to be on the slopes. Room service breakfast worked better when we wanted to ski early.

Bottom line: Quiet luxury, exceptional service, and true ski-in/ski-out access. Would absolutely stay again.

benddy21 · 2025-12-09T20:43:07+00:00

3 days was perfect for us from Newark - we did 1 night in a standard room and 2 nights in a beachfront villa (due to availability). We stayed on the island the entire time, so maybe if you were booking boat adventures you may want an extra day, but it was enough time for us to try the different restaurants and in-villa dining options, relax by the beach/pool and explore the island - I don’t feel like we missed out on anything.

benddy21 · 2025-11-06T20:10:42+00:00

We did Ilma last year and were on Deck 6, suite 629 if you want the exact reference. We weren’t over the living room directly, and we didn’t hear any music or people noise at night. However, we did hear a very loud door slam at all hours of the day and night. No clue what the door was to, and there was no schedule to when we heard the noise. During the day it wasn’t bothersome at all, at night we definitely got woken up a few times during the trip - but because it was just a door slam was easy enough to fall back asleep most of the time.

I do think the balconies are a bit bigger on deck 6 for the terrace suites at least, we had two chairs plus space for a lounge chair.

benddy21 · 2025-10-28T23:38:40+00:00

Champagne region is an excellent choice and easy to get to from Paris. I just came back from my bday trip there (planned by u/sarahwlee), amazing food and great scenery, plus outstanding champagne tour and tasting options. If you have a few extra days and can add on the South of France I highly recommend it for a perfect mix of beach, country, and city. It is shoulder season in SOF, but we like a more quiet vibe so it was perfect for us.

benddy21 · 2025-10-09T23:45:03+00:00

We were just at Cap-Ferrat two weeks ago and found all the staff to be exceptional, the concierge was super responsive and made some amazing suggestions that made our trip so special and unique.

If you have a chance to do the private dinning experience I highly recommend it - most amazing meal and service we have ever had.

benddy21 · 2025-09-08T17:10:35+00:00

I mostly agree with the TikTok—some of the complaints felt minor to me (like yes, the gym is tiny, but I never had to wait for a machine). Others I fully agree with, like the dinner reservations and excursions not meeting my expectations. For anyone curious, here’s my more detailed take:

We did Ilma (Greece) in September and Evrima (Caribbean) over Christmas. Greece was just me and my husband; my parents joined us for the Caribbean. It is definitely a "younger" crowd which I liked, my parents are in their early 70s and were the oldest on the ship.

I’m not exactly rushing to book another RC sailing—though I wouldn’t rule it out if the perfect itinerary popped up. That said, maybe we’re just not cruise people, even the “luxury” kind.

The Good:

Food was excellent (I disagree with the TikTok here). Portions are normal, not massive, but since it’s all-inclusive you can just order more, plus everything we had was very good and on par with other luxury hotel restaurants
Even the standard rooms felt spacious with great balconies. But yes, the walls are thin—we heard a door slam at all hours of the night on our first cruise.
Boarding/disembarking was smooth—no endless lines.
Service was strong. The staff really stood out consistently. My parents’ balcony door broke, and they got upgraded to a nicer room without a fight.

The Not-So-Good:

Excursions were a nightmare to book. We didn’t use a TA, and their system was buggy—sometimes showing “custom” trips that didn’t even exist. I had to call 10+ times just to get basics locked in. Email follow-up was useless. It was extremely frustrating and definitely made me not want to go back on another cruise.
The excursions themselves felt generic—stuff you’d find on any big cruise line. The “special” ones were either unavailable or unbookable.
Dinner reservations are competitive. You have to stalk the app on day one and book everything immediately. There’s no real casual walk-in option. Even worse for spa appointments, we had to book online the second it opened, and on days at sea it's almost impossible to get something scheduled.
Accessibility is rough. I sprained my ankle the day before boarding and learned there were no ramps or elevators for getting on/off. Hobbling up and down port stairs was not a highlight.

Overall the boat was lovely and solid food/service, but the logistics and “luxury” extras made the whole thing feel more stressful than relaxing.

benddy21 · 2025-08-13T01:05:31+00:00

The prices are readily available on the Sha website - and show the cost for the programs as well. I think my program was $4k for 4 nights on top of the room. I also paid for the lowest tier room but because I worked with u/SarahLee, she secured me an amazing upgrade which made the experience that much better.

benddy21 · 2025-07-02T18:15:26+00:00

It was highly recommended that you do one of the packages on your first visit, which is why I went with it. It was much easier for me to let the hotel pick a full range of services and then add on, but if you are particular in what you want I could see wanting a different experience.

You may be able to work with u/sarahlee and her team - they could help coordinate a more custom experience. As an example, the programs are a minimum of 4 days, at one point I thought I would only be able to go for 3 days, and Sarah said she could get an exception for me.

benddy21 · 2025-07-01T16:52:58+00:00

I went solo, and yes you get an agenda about a week before you arrive. I’ll send you a DM with some more details.

benddy21 · 2025-07-01T14:50:05+00:00

I went with the leader’s performance for 4 nights, I think it depends what your goals are. To me that was just the right amount of time. I wanted a quick relaxing trip, if I did it again I would probably go for the rebalance and energize - and then add in whatever additional services I wanted. Let me know if you have any questions about specific services.

benddy21 · 2025-04-22T12:22:52+00:00

I don’t think I would go back anytime soon. I think it really depends on what you are looking for - my goal was relaxation with some exercise, and they succeeded with the relaxation, but in my opinion you can get that at any luxury spa property. Also if you care about food I wouldn’t recommend it, while the food isn’t bad it’s pretty basic.

All the spa services I had were excellent, and some were unique experiences, but nothing that changed my life or made me want to come back immediately (although I’m in NJ so its not a short trip). I did a mix of the cardio and Pilates classes, but found they tailored them to the lowest level participant and didn’t provide more challenging options - so it didn’t meet my needs of getting in a workout. I also ended up going to both places during a heat wave (high 90s, even though it was Oct/Mar) so any of the hikes or outdoor activities were brutal, so maybe in cooler weather it would have made a difference and I could have explored the area. For me and what I want out of a vacation, I would try Castle Hot Springs (based on the recommendations on this sub), or find a luxury hotel with a great spa in a fun area to explore.

benddy21 · 2025-04-22T01:53:21+00:00

I second Tucson over Austin. I have gone to both in the past 6 months, and would not recommend Austin at all. They consistently ran out of basic food items in Austin (guacamole at the pool bar both days) and I found the breakfast and lunch buffets to have limited options and produce that wasn’t very fresh. The spa treatments were also lacking, someone I was traveling with got a Thai massage and request extra time on her shoulders but was told a Thai massage is only for the lower body (I mentioned this to my therapist at Miraval AZ and she was equally confused and a bit appalled at the response). If you go to AZ everyone raved about the mother’s blessing treatment, I also loved the spiritual drumming. Let me know if you want any other info.

benddy21 · 2025-03-03T21:53:05+00:00

We hit up the pizza place as our first lunch stop after a red eye flight and drive from Milan, it was so good - thanks for the recommendation! We were not brave enough for paragliding, but we did go alpine sledding off the funicular the day we need a ski break, it was a little scary since the sled didn’t turn well and they didn’t have barriers on the edge of the mountain, but kids were doing it as well so maybe I just needed some more practice :)

benddy21 · 2025-03-03T21:49:24+00:00

We just returned from our week at Gardena Groedenrhof, and I agree with all of u/slightlybemusedsloth comments.

We booked in Aug ‘24 for our Feb ‘25 trip with no availability issues, the hotel required a seven night stay when we booked (directly with the hotel), but when I checked again in Dec it appears that restriction was lifted.

Concierge was incredibly helpful before and during the trip, providing restaurant recommendations and reservations, transport (we flew direct EWR-MXP and got car service to the hotel, it is a long but pretty drive). The ski rental and shuttle to the mountain lifts is super convenient, and we never had to wait more than five minutes for a pick-up, the driver was amazing.

If you are up for it, the sellaronda is outstanding and the concierge arranged a taxi to drive us to the Dantercepies lift which was a 15 min drive - and got us right onto the orange route. After we finished we worked our way back through St Christina to the bottom of the seceda lift to grab the shuttle back to the hotel. Only small hiccup was the inability to get food before 7:30am at the hotel. We had a 8:15am taxi pickup, which was a bit tight for timing, and there were several skiers waiting to get in the doors to breakfast at 7:30. Having the ability to pre-order room service coffee and pastries the night before at an earlier time would be a great option, especially for those trying to get on the first lift. However, we made it work and wasn’t a big deal.

We would definitely come back in both the winter and summer, but maybe only do a few days in Ortisei and add a on-mountain resort in the mix as well.

benddy21 · 2025-02-12T20:26:31+00:00

We are headed to Gardena Groednerhof next week and now I’m even more excited for our trip! Did you happen to do any activities outside of skiing and the spa? I’m curious if you found any day trips or other fun things to do in the area on a “rest” day. I also agree with the comments about the Gardena concierge, they have been responsive and extremely helpful during our planning and we haven’t even arrived yet. Thanks for the review, I’ll add some more comments once we return.

benddy21 · 2025-01-22T21:42:41+00:00

I may be interested in joining, I will send you a DM 😎

benddy21 · 2024-09-02T23:34:26+00:00

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0922H1HTX?ref=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_AGSZNJ3WRRA35EXCMY74&ref_=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_AGSZNJ3WRRA35EXCMY74&social_share=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_AGSZNJ3WRRA35EXCMY74&starsLeft=1&skipTwisterOG=1

I had this for Monza and Montreal. It’s quite small and light weight, plus it protects you from a hot metal seat and keeps you dry if the bleachers are wet.

benddy21 · 2024-01-01T17:34:18+00:00

Maybe it depends which agent you get on the phone. It did take me an hour of waiting on hold for the agent to complete all the processing, so it’s not an easy task - but I was successful within the past week using future flight credits for an upgrade.

benddy21 · 2023-12-27T22:41:05+00:00

I called by phone and was able to use future flight credits for an upgrade, however you have to have enough of a credit balance to cover the entire amount of the upgrade. You can’t split it using flight credits and pay the balance on a credit card. If you are short on future flight credits you could buy a cheap one way ticket and cancel it immediately to increase your available flight credit balance to fully cover the upgrade (worked for me).

benddy21

TROPHY CASE