Petits Fours des Blanc

Finding a small, Petit-Four-like micro world of infinitely personable styling gets our creative senses bubbling – for it is these little pockets of lovely individualism that bring a rarity to our travel edits and are quiet literally the icing on the cake.

Sheer gorgeousness paired with intricate simplicity, confidence and a sense of being at ease are the trademarks of people passion and dreams that came true.  Yes indeed, opting to stay at one these little gems means total immersion, living like a local in a place that is laced with attention to detail and the odd whimsical wink towards the eclectic.

Check-in to these wintry favourites for a spot of chill time wrapped in blankets of fresh snow, frosted webs, dewy mornings, hot stoves, cracking fire pits and doorstep nature.

I love the cold front heading our way in Europe, especially from the warming sanctum of one of these places. These are my four petit houses for your travel winter agendas, small, beautifully formed, and terribly well-styled.

Hello my lovelies

Before you write to correct me, after having 12 years of French, merci Madame Lawson, I know that the 'Four' in French is not the English four - but hey, let's be creative. So, mes amis, Petits Fours best sum up these four cute bastions of style and snuggle up in the duvet sentiments for winter, none of which are in France. 

Check-in to these wintry favourites for a spot of chill time wrapped in blankets of fresh snow, frosted webs, dewy mornings, hot stoves, cracking fire pits and doorstep nature.

I love the cold front heading our way in Europe, especially from the warming sanctum of one of these places. These are my four petit houses for your travel winter agendas, small, beautifully formed, and terribly well-styled. 

Hugs

Iain & Co

PS: History of Petit Fours, according to friends over at Wiki. In 18th and 19th century France, gas ovens did not exist. Large brick (Dutch design) ovens were used, which took a long time to heat up to bake bread and cool down. Bakers often used the ovens during the cooling process, taking advantage of their stored heat, for baking pastry. This was called baking à petit four (literally "at small oven"), a lower temperature that allowed pastry baking. 

Brücke 49

4 bedrooms + 3 apartments - A fabulously humble basecamp of good design for kindreds of style, Brücke 49 is a collection of rooms, suites, studios and apartments in the high-in-the-mountains creative enclave, Vals.

Juvet

9 bedrooms- An unfussy architectural gem that floats above a bed of the greenest and most delicate fauna like a scene from the latest Hobbit epic, this is total immersion in nature from your spectacular viewing pods – here, less is definitely more.

Mezi Plutky

6 bedrooms - Set against the forested Beskydy (Beskids) range in the Carpathian Mountains, this 200-year-old designer hideaway fosters modern Czech country living whilst giving heritage a hug, decked in whites, linens and twisted rafters.

Villa Hundert

9 bedrooms - Eye candy sets the tone, a decisively chilled design refuge of honeyed timbers and smooth noir accented interiors, a foodie basecamp and cabin-esque hideout for the lovers of keeping it easy, perched hillside overlooking Engelberg.