Our five service levels, from a butler and a full household to a set of keys and a telephone number, and how to tell which one is yours.
The first question on almost every call is the same. Someone has found the chalet, the dates work, and then they ask, quite reasonably, what exactly is included. I can send the table. It is long, and accurate down to the towels. But the honest answer is another question: who do you want in the house?
Some people want a butler at the door and dinner served every night. Some want the keys and a number to call. Most sit somewhere in between, which is why there are five levels.
The same people behind every level
Duncan Robertson founded Koja d'Or, and he was one of the first to do this kind of work in Verbier, where we have been for close to twenty years. Around us is a team with more years in this industry than I would care to add up, and nobody on it has fewer than ten. Alex Langley, a chef and a close friend, works with us from his new kitchen at Le Hameau.
I have lived here myself for about ten years, long enough to know that the people you can call matter as much as the people in the house. Our list runs deep. When something needs doing at short notice, we usually know who to ring, and they usually pick up.
So the service gets lighter from one level to the next, and the standard stays where it is, because the same team stands behind all five.
Koja Gold
Gold is the house fully run. A butler leads the host team, and one of them is there from seven in the morning until one at night. The private chef cooks seven breakfasts, seven afternoon teas and six dinners around what you like to eat, and your driver is on call until one, in resort. Bags are unpacked if you wish, beds turned down, towels changed daily on request, laundry and ironing done, and flowers in the bedrooms too. The butler is also your concierge: one person to ask, who usually knows already.
Koja Silver
Silver keeps the essence of Gold in a quieter rhythm. The chef package is the same: seven breakfasts, seven afternoon teas, six dinners. A chalet manager leads the host team, who are with you at breakfast and dinner and leave you the house in between. The driver keeps full hours and the beds are turned down at night. It suits people who like to be looked after at the table and left alone in the afternoon, which is most people on a ski holiday.
Koja Famille
Famille is built around one long table. The chef cooks seven breakfasts and five dinners, served family style: big platters in the middle, everyone helping themselves. On the chef's two evenings off, the driver takes you to dinner in the village and brings you home. During the day the driver keeps set hours, for the ski school run and the way back, and your chalet manager looks after the house and is your concierge in resort. It is the level I would choose for three generations under one roof.
Koja Concierge
Concierge is self-catered, with a professional in the house. Your chalet manager keeps the chalet immaculate and the refreshments coming, and is your concierge in resort, so the guide, the massage and the table on Friday night are one message away. If by Wednesday you would rather someone else cooked, we can bring in a chef.
Koja Essential
Essential is the keys, and the freedom to make the place your own. Housekeeping comes in every day, and our local concierge is a phone call away. It is for people who know where they like to ski and where they like to eat, and want our standards quietly in the background.
What every level shares
Every stay begins the same way. By the time you leave home, our pre-arrival assistant has your arrival time, the ages of the children and what nobody eats. Lift passes are delivered and skis fitted in the chalet, so the first morning starts on the snow. On arrival day there is champagne, a basket of fruit, flowers in the living room, Aesop in the bathrooms, and a second basket for the mountain, with lip balm and suncream. The house is cleaned every day and tourist taxes are included. At every level, food and drink are charged at cost plus VAT, and lunch in the chalet is an additional charge.
Gold, served four ways
At Gold, you also choose how the house is served. Invisible, for guests who would rather feel the service than see it. Curated Buffet, generous platters with hosts close by. Elegance, plated courses and formal dress. Grande Maison, a standing butler and a full household, every meal a small ceremony. One level, four very different evenings.
If a friend asked
Friends do ask, so here is roughly what I tell them. For a celebration, or the one week a year you mean to do nothing at all, take Gold. If you want the chef and the evenings but the house to yourselves by day, Silver. Children, grandparents and one big table: Famille. If you love to cook, Concierge. And if you know Verbier well and want us mostly out of sight, Essential.
Not every chalet offers all five levels, so tell us who is coming and how you like to spend a day, and we will suggest the chalet and the level. The full comparison is on our services page. When you are ready, enquire here.