Black Diamond Lodge

A stone and timber lodge above the Tarentaise valley

Black Diamond Lodge sits on the slope above Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise, built in the local vocabulary of grey stone, weathered larch and heavy roofs, with balconies that look straight down the valley towards the lights of the villages opposite. Inside, the same materials continue: rough stone chimney breasts, exposed beams, log burners and deep warm lighting. It is a four-star address of small scale, closer to a private mountain house than to a hotel, and the building has been arranged so that guests meet in the spa rather than in a lobby.

Independent chalets, from a studio to a penthouse for ten

The lodge is divided into separate self-catered units rather than bedrooms along a corridor. They range from a studio for two to apartments and chalets sleeping six to ten, including a penthouse, and one recently built apartment designed for guests with reduced mobility. Each has its own kitchen, its own open-plan living room and its own fireplace, which is what makes the address work for a family gathering or a group of friends who want to eat and rise on their own schedule. Timber bunk rooms handle children, and some bathrooms are built around free-standing tubs facing the mountain.

A spa kept for the guests of the house

The wellness area is indoors and reserved for residents: a swimming pool, a sauna, a steam room and a treatment room where massages can be booked, with an outdoor hot tub on the terrace for the end of a cold day. Underground parking takes up to two vehicles per chalet with lift access to every floor, which removes the usual mountain problem of carrying gear up an icy path.

Sainte-Foy, the quiet resort between the famous ones

Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise stays deliberately small in a valley where the neighbours are anything but. The resort presents itself as an unspoilt destination built around heritage and local life rather than infrastructure, which is why it has kept a following among skiers who prefer empty pistes and untracked snow to queues. In summer the same slopes turn to mountain biking, hiking and glacier outings, and the village keeps its year-round population.

What the lodge handles for you

Management and concierge are on site, so arrivals are flexible rather than tied to fixed changeover days, and transfers from the airport can be arranged in advance. Children are catered for, with babysitting available on request, and dogs are welcome in the chalets.

Why it earns a place on Stay in Alps

This is the alternative to a room in a large resort hotel: a self-contained mountain house with fire, kitchen and view, and a spa waiting downstairs. It fits groups and families travelling together, skiers drawn to the quieter end of the Tarentaise, and anyone who would rather come back to a private living room than to a corridor.