Stay cool in Chambéry
Former ski guide James Wallman knows the 10 best places to sleep in resorts near new Sterling destination Chambéry
words by James Wallman
Chalet Saskia Vaujany
Perfect for: foodie friends
New Zealand-born chef Marcus Cull worked in London’s Michelin-starred L’Escargot many years ago and you can tell. Visitors this season can look forward to menu highlights such as apple and chicken liver terrine, sea bass with Jerusalem artichoke purée and coconut mousse with curried pineapple relish. Ideal for large groups united in their appreciation of fine food, Saskia is made up of two wings – east and west – that each sleep up to 13 (the games room and ski locker rooms are shared). Five minutes’ walk away is the Alpette lift that whisks skiers and boarders up to Alpe d’Huez, a brilliantly linked, sunny resort in the southern Alps. Despite the sun, snow cover is guaranteed by one of Europe’s most extensive artificial snow systems.
From €750 per person per week
+44 (0)1428 608 070, www.skipeak.com
Vaujany, France is 120 km / 1.5 hours’ drive from Chambéry
Hotel Le Savoie Val d`Isère
Perfect for: snow and party hounds who want to be in the thick of it
Built in 1937, Le Savoie has been completely refurbished this year, with a modern look created out of traditional Savoyard materials like stone and wood. It opens mid December with 25 rooms alongside a spa, swimming pool, sauna and Jacuzzi. But Le Savoie is really all about location. Its sun terrace looks on to the slopes of the Solaise and Bellevarde, it is 100m from Dicks Tea Bar, the beating heart of the resort’s raucous nightlife, and 200m from the lifts. That means direct access to Espace Killy, one of the world’s premier ski areas with 400km of pistes.
Doubles from €215 half-board per person per night
+33 (0)4 5066 0070, www.lesavoie.com
Val d’Isère, France, is 150km / two hours’ drive from Chambéry
Whitepod Les Cerniers
Perfect for: solitude, romance and a squeaky clean eco-conscience
Waking up in the middle of winter, in a tent, in the middle of nowhere, on a snow-covered mountain doesn’t sound much fun. But it is when the tent’s a Whitepod. In the Dents du Midi range in Switzerland, guests stay in domes heated by wood-burning stoves, and wake up to views of the valley or a blanket of cloud below. And your eco-conscience can be pristine as the snow too: the camp is designed to have minimal impact on the environment, leaving no ‘footprint’ at the end of the season. Whitepod is more mountain adventure than ski trip. Guests snowshoe, go dogsledding, hang out in the outdoor hot tub and snuggle up on the new star-gazing platform with telescope.
From €250 per pod per night, including morning coffee and afternoon tea
+41 24 471 3838, www.whitepod.com
Les Cerniers, Switzerland, is 210km / 2.5 hours’ drive from Chambéry
Concept One Chamonix
Perfect for: ski-mad design junkies (and their children)
Having children often means you have to sacrifice your aesthetic ideals for their fun. Not here. The walls may be minimalist white, there may be an 8m-long chandelier hanging from the double-height ceiling in the dining room, the bathrooms may be Philippe Starck, but this ultra stylish chalet also takes children seriously. It has baby cots, high chairs, baby gates, children’s car seats, babysitting, PlayStation, bunk beds, strollers, a room full of toys, a chef who makes baby food and staff who love children. And for grown-up kids, there’s an outdoor hot tub with views of the Mont Blanc massif, a sauna, a massage room and Chamonix’s notorious ski fields nearby.
One week from €16,000 for the entire chalet, sleeps 10 with two children
+33 (0)689 046 174, www.conceptchalets.com
Chamonix, France, is 130km / 1.5 hours’ drive from Chambéry
Le Refuge Chamonix
Perfect for: ski-mad groups of friends
Once a hideaway for the French ambassador of Once a hidea Morocco, this farmhouse in a protected national M park has been a chic chalet for the last five years, sleeping six (or eight if friends come over and stay on the pull-out sofa) – with one of the best vistas of the Mont Blanc massif. If you’re in a couple, try and bag the double bed on the mezzanine, which has its own free-standing bathtub. Otherwise, it’s a case of pushing single beds together. A short drive away are Chamonix’s notorious ski fields. Off-pisters in the know avoid the famous Vallée Blanche – they say it’s too flat – and instead turn right at the top of Les Grands Montets (and always take a guide).
From €2,000 per week, sleeping six to eight
+44 (0)791 996 2021, www.le-refuge.co.uk
Chamonix, France, is 130 km / 1.5 hours’ drive from Chambéry
Hotel Alliey Monetier les Bains
Perfect for: spa and sun loving intermediate skiers who want to be in a traditional village
Opposite the St Pierre stone chapel, this traditional stone and larch wood hotel has a heated outdoor pool, a spa, a hammam and a new ‘bistro-gastro’ – an informal restaurant serving Alpine specialities such as lamb cooked with hay in a cast-iron dish, and warming tartiflette: potatoes baked with Reblochon cheese, bacon and onions. In other words, perfect recuperation after a day hurtling round Serre Chevalier’s 250km of pistes – the resort is renowned for its flowing intermediate-level red runs. Despite almost guaranteed clear blue skies – Serre Chevalier has 300 days of sunshine each year – the snow stays all season because the slopes are north-facing.
From €89 per person per night, half board
+33 (0)49 224 4002, www.alliey.com
Monetier les Bains, France, is 180km / 2.5 hours’ drive from Chambéry
Arc 1950 Le Village Les Arcs
Perfect for: ski in, ski out convenience
At 1,950m altitude, this purpose-built village, now complete in time for the 2007/8 winter season, is more likely than most to be snow-sure. But don’t let ‘purpose-built’ put you off. Ski in, ski out and car-free, Arc 1950 has been created using local wood and stone, and designed like a traditional village – one that features a boulangerie, a creperie and, er, an Asian restaurant where you can have a Mongolian barbecue and smoke a sheesha pipe. And on your doorstep, quite literally, are the Les Arcs pistes – 200km of them. If you’ve got the capital and like the area, book through UK-based Erna Low to ‘try before you buy’ – this means if you buy an apartment, they will refund €740 from the cost of your stay.
From €150 pp per night based on max occupancy per apartment
+44 (0)845 863 0525, www.arc1950.com
Les Arcs, France, is 115km / 1.5 hours’ drive from Chambéry
Chalet Orgeuil Morzine/Les Gets
Perfect for: families
In a pretty Alpine village called Essert Romand, this simple yet stylish chalet is ideally located for family-friendly ski resorts Les Gets and Morzine – both good for beginners and intermediates – five and ten minutes’ drive away respectively. Visit www.morzine.com for a piste map and details of passes. The chalet opened last December, and new this season is a games room with table tennis, table football, board games, books, toys, DVDs – and a Nintendo Wii. So after losing a ski race to your children, they can beat you at virtual tennis, too. Console yourself with chocolate brownies and raspberry streusel cake at afternoon tea, and with the knowledge that your children will eat well, if without much spontaneity (on booking, you are asked to choose which meals your children will eat).
One week from €590 per adult, €440 per child over two
+ 33 (0)450 755 997, www.boutiqueski.co.uk
Morzine, France, is 135km / 1.5 hours’ drive from Chambéry
La Bouitte St Martin de Belleville
Perfect for: couples with a sensual side
The father-and-son cooking team at this restaurant with rooms are hoping they’ll be given a second star by Michelin. Two years ago the family also opened a spa here, La Bela Vya – meaning ‘the good life’ in Savoyard patois – whose specialities include a milk and Alpine honey bath, and a mountain hay-scented steam treatment. The nearest lift, 700m away, gives access to 600km of pistes in the Trois Vallées ski area. For added privacy, instead of the five rooms in the chalet, opt for one of the two new rooms in the village of St Martin (the 50m² suite has its own infinity bath).
Doubles from €230 per person per night, B&B
+33 (0)4 7908 9677, www.la-bouitte.com
St Martin de Belleville, France is 80 km / 1 hour’s drive from Chambéry
Chalet Merlo Le Miroir
Perfect for: out of resort and five-star privacy
Begin your stay at this fabulous chalet with a glass of hibiscus flower champagne as you admire stupendous forest and mountain views, untainted by buildings or people. Sleeping 12, this chalet’s rustic, typically Tarentaise-style exterior of reclaimed wood hides a plethora of 21st-century technology, such as under-floor heating and home cinema (with 500 DVD library).
New for this season is a mini-chalet style massage and beauty room with log-burning stove. Popular with guests are the 15-minute helicopter transfer from the airport (from €265 each), and the ski choice. Within 20 minutes’ drive of the chalet are Sainte Foy, La Rosière, Val d’Isère, Tignes and Les Arcs.
From €310 per person per night, half-board, including afternoon tea
+33 (0)4 7922 4581, www.chaletmerlo.eu
Le Miroir, France, is 110 km / 1 hour’s drive from Chambéry
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