Independent lists EU’s top six ski hotels

Leading the pack is the For Friends Hotel, at the edge of the Inn Valley.  Opening this year for its first season, the hotel's environmentally-sensitive design blends in to the landscape, with a combination of timber cladding and glass walls which emphasize the amazing Tyrolean views.

With 37 km of ski pistes and 30 cable cars and ski-lifts a short shuttle-ride away, the hotel is perfect for skiing aficionados – but the hotel is so beautiful you may prefer to never leave it.

Am Wiesenhang 1, Mösern, Tyrol, Austria (+43 5212 20300;for-friends-hotel.at). Doubles start at €170, including breakfast.

Also in Tyrol is Das Central, a five-star eyrie in the village of Sölden.  With 144 km of pistes, the hotel boasts a grand scale, and a cellar with 30,000 bottles of wine.  Apparently, the spa is impressive, containing three storeys with 10 saunas and 16 treatment rooms.

Auweg 3, Sölden, Austria (+43 5254 22600; central-soelden.at). Doubles start at €192, half board.

For the lowdown on the hotels, and the others which made the grade in Italy, France and Switzerland, check out the full article in The Independent.