Le Melezin, Courchevel, France

I believe I have found the world's perfect job. It will mean living in the Savoyard Alps for most of the summer and will require only the barest minimum of caretaking duties. My French is adequate, my head for heights steady and dependable, while my tidiness and house-proud habits are renowned. And unlike Jack Nicholson, who took on much the same kind of job in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, there will be no risk of my being cut off by ferocious winter weather. Summer in the Alps, as anyone who has been there out of season will tell you, is a jolly pleasant billet. As for going mad like old Jack - well, who in their right mind would dream of going mad when home sweet home is nothing less than a tower suite at Le Mélézin? Certainly not me.

Le Mélézin is an hotel in the prestigious French ski resort of Courchevel. It stands near the foot of the Bellecote piste, on a meadow of levelish ground, surrounded by extravagant alpine peaks in the heart of Les Trois Vallés. One of the world's favourite ski destinations, Les Trois Vallés is probably the most extensive ski area in the world, with close to 600 kilometres of runs, in excess of 200 ski lifts, and Europe's largest ski school staffed with more than 400 instructors who can schuss in at least a half-dozen different languages.

Originally called Le Savoy, the hotel has been a favourite amongst winter sportifs ever since the Serane family opened it for business some 35 years ago. Amongst the ski crowd who gathered at Courchevel each winter and stayed with the Seranes was businessman Adrian Zecha, owner of the Hong Kong-based Amanresorts group which comprises some of the most sought-after hotel destinations in the world: most notably the Amandari, Amankila and Amanusa in Bali, and the Amanpuri on Phuket. So impressed was Zecha by Le Savoy that he persuaded the Serane family to give him first refusal if ever they considered selling the property. The family did just that and Zecha, a frequent guest at the hotel, became its new proprietor.

After a thorough refurbishment programme supervised by Zecha's American architect Ed Tuttle, the man who created the luxury hillside compound of Amankila on Bali's east coast, the old Savoy, now renamed Le Mélézin, soon reopened for business. It was Amanresorts' first ski resort property and Zecha's first hotel in Europe, which is good news for anyone familiar with Zecha's far-eastern flagships and a more than pleasant surprise for anyone who isn't.

In character, and in keeping with Zecha's far-eastern background perhaps Le Mélézin has a distinctly oriental feel, despite being perched some 1,800 meters above sea level in the French Alps. Its corner towers, though supposedly inspired by the Chateau des Ducs de Savoie in nearby Chambéry, are more pagoda-like than strictly Savoyard and there are white screen blinds and sliding shoji panels rather than the usual swag of curtain. The lean, minimalist design is refreshingly at odds with the usual run of touristy alpine decoration and furnishings featured at other ski resort hotels. If it wasn't for the stunning alpine views from every window, the apres-ski chatter of snow-tanned ski buffs, and the preponderance of heavy-duty footwear, one could easily be forgiven for thinking that Le Mélézin was on some tropical beach in Thailand or Indonesia, where Zecha has for so long confined his activities.

Like its far-eastern cousins, Le Mélézin is not a large resort hotel. There are only 34 guestrooms (including the suite I intend to occupy during my summer caretaker-ship) which makes reservations for any of the winter months essential. When you first see the building, however, it seems inconceivable there should be so few. Where other managements would somehow contrive to squeeze double the number of rooms within the same confines, Zecha always seems to go in the opposite direction, as though trying to see how few rooms he can incorporate. This is a contrariness, a flouting of sensible hotel-keeping economics that pays back in spades for his guests.

As well as being spacious, the private rooms at Le Mélézin are all individually designed and sumptuously furnished, with window walls and lattice-worked balconies overlooking the slopes, softly recessed lighting, warm wood paneling and opulently marbled bathrooms. Most important, perhaps, given the rigorous day-time activities of most of its guests, all rooms have been thoughtfully equipped with large walk-in wardrobe and changing rooms for cumbersome and bulky ski kit, an extravagance rarely encountered in other alpine establishments where space is considered a premium. And if you take the corner suite, as I intend to next summer, you can even warm aching muscles in front of a roaring log fire.

As for the public rooms - Le Mélézin's bar, reception, dining room and salons - these too are equally well-appointed, comfortably furnished and decorated with sculptures, engravings of mountain scenes and an intriguing collection of antique carpentry tools. This last is an appropriate addition for everything at Le Mélézin is richly wooded in oak and pine, with patterned parquet floors, paneled walls and ceilings (Mélézin, appropriately, is the French for 'larch'). It is an effect that conveys both warmth, welcome and conviviality in the traditional manner of a ski lodge, as well as providing the necessary comforts and levels of cosseting required by guests after a hard day on the piste.

Astonishingly, Le Mélézin closes for the summer months. It is a little like Steven Spielberg releasing his latest blockbuster with the stipulation that it can only be shown three times a week! Personally, of course, I have no argument with this. How else could I enjoy my proposed summer stewardship, living in the very lap of luxury, high in the Savoyard Alps?