B is for Blow the bonus

Got a spare £2,000 burning a hole in your bank account? You could do the sensible thing and pay off a chunk of your mortgage, or you could blow the lot on a week of five-star pampering in what is probably one of the most luxurious ski chalets in the world.

Eagle's Nest is Scott Dunn's new, flagship property in Val d'Is?re. Finished just in time for the start of the current season, it perches high above the resort on a rocky outcrop like something straight out of a James Bond film.

Scott Dunn is a company which prides itself on offering a standard of accommodation and service second to none, and boy, does it deliver. It starts a few days before you even get there, with a call from the chalet chef to discuss your requirements.

At the airport we are met by Christophe who ushers us out to the minibus, and opens the door to reveal a bottle of champagne on ice and a platter of canap?s.

As we arrive in front of the stone and wood fa?ade of Eagle's Nest, we are welcomed by Emma and James, the chalet hosts, and Will, the chef. Inside, the chalet, which sleeps 12, is entirely finished in old timber and furnished with antiques and fabrics in subtle colours. We are shown to our rooms, which are warm and comfortable with crisp white bed linen, fluffy towels and bathrobes.

After champagne and canap?s in the sitting room, in front of a roaring fire, we are ushered into the adjoining dining room. Dinner is always a three-course affair accompanied by specially selected wines, and on our first evening, there is carrot and cardamom soup, duck, and a delicious homemade ice-cream with caramelised clementines. Being a consummate professional, Will is unfazed when I say I don't eat red meat and rustles up a filo pastry and feta cheese dish without batting an eyelid.

After dinner, we stagger back to the sitting room for coffee and chocolates, and have fun playing with the remote control console, watching in amazement as the plasma TV screen rises majestically out of what looks like an antique pine cabinet, before retiring.

The next morning I am gently woken by Emma with a cup of tea. Breakfast is a vast array of cereals, yoghurt, fresh fruit, fresh bread and croissants, juice and a cooked breakfast if you want, to set you up for a hard day on the slopes - that's if you can bear to leave the chalet.

Every day Sara, the assistant resort manager and our driver, comes to take us and our skis down to the main lift area. She instructs us to call her when we are ready to be collected. Not only does she appear promptly at the appointed time, she also brings our shoes, so we don't have to traipse about in town in our ski boots. Back at the chalet, there is tea with homemade cakes and biscuits. But for the ultimate in apr?s-ski, downstairs there is a pool, sauna and steam room, so you can relax those aching limbs, all to the sound of the chalet's state-of-the-art integrated music system - even in the steam room.

By the end of the week we are all wondering how we will cope with having to do things for ourselves again. My brother says he hopes that if he rings Sara from the airport when we fly back to London, maybe she will magically appear in her minibus and drive him home - to Newcastle. Knowing Sara, she probably would.

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A-Z travel guide for 2002