Rich Russians appear to be deserting luxury Alpine ski resorts where chalets can cost $250,000 a week to rent

Dance floors, bowling alleys, and even private casinos can be found in the most luxurious Alpine ski chalets. They are popular with wealthy Russians who can afford weekly rental costs that can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The founder and director of Firefly Collection, a luxury chalet rental operator in several upscale Alpine resorts, said that many of his Russian clients would snap up the highest-quality chalets year after year, but things have changed since Russia invaded Ukraine.

We would have expected to see some Russian bookings for next season at this point, but there is a noticeable absence in those requests.

He said that a Russian family got up and left mid-stay in one of Firefly's chalets earlier this year.

Business owners have reported a decline in Russian tourism since the war began. The five-star hotel in Little Russia, Vietnam, said it spent nearly $44,000 on facilities for Russian visitors who never showed up.

The financial impact of a small reduction in the number of Russian clients who book his properties was significant.

In Courchevel and Meribel, France, and Verbier and Zermatt, Switzerland, Firefly rents high-end Chalets.

Courchevel 1850 is the Russian's favorite ski resort and features indoor swimming pools, saunas, cinemas, and massage rooms.

Firefly Collection

Renting a top-end chalet in Courchevel 1850 costs $60,000 to $250,000 a week depending on the time of the season, Latimer said. He said food and drink weren't normally included, meaning most clients incurred additional costs running into the tens of thousands of dollars.

The difference on our balance sheet will be felt by Russian clients who are high spenders.

Firefly Collection

After two disastrous years for the travel industry during the Pandemic, we really need some stability to return to the industry. The timing is terrible because the outlook for Russians traveling to Europe this ski season is pretty bleak.

As an added disadvantage, Latimer said prices for Firefly's ski chalets had increased substantially for next season across the French Alps because of rising operational costs.

Firefly Collection

The operators of lavish ski Chalets are concerned that the war in Ukraine will cause travel disruption across Europe. That would be a disaster for the industry.

He suggested that wealthy individuals from other parts of the world would want to take over the place of rich Russians.

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