Let's get one thing straight - it's a village, unless it's a small town. In which case it's almost always called a village too. It might be an apartment block, a minimarket, and a bar: village.

The thing is, not many look like villages. Some do. In the Alps, where sliding down a hill on two planks of composite materials is reasonably new, there has still been a tradition of mountain villages serving local farms for centuries. 

But as sliding down, climbing up, and walking through mountains became ever more popular, developers suddenly got the idea that making their own villages would be a good idea. 

In functional terms, they were probably right. Go to somewhere like Avoriaz and the ski-in/ski-out, everything on your doorstep convenience is great. It is also an architectural - well, let's say it's an acquired taste. 

If classical, pretty alpine villages are your thing then you need classics like Adelboden, Grand Bornand, Samoens, Alpbach... the list goes on.

The North American resorts simply can't compete for authenticity, but they make up for it with out-of-this-world logistics and facilities. 

Finally, a word about village names and regions. We advise you to check really carefully, on a Google map or similar, precisely where your village or accommodation is. If you think you booked Courchevel 1850 and ended up at 1550, then you're in for a shock. Conversely you might see on your booking you're in a village called Le Praz when in fact it's just a tiny enclave of a bigger village just a few metres away. But do check.

Sorry, just a final, final word: there are a few towns or even cities from which it's possible to 'commute' to the slopes every day - Innsbruck is a classic example.