Chalet d'Isere, Val d'Isere, France

Fantastic location for both the skiing and the village

Just on the edge of the main village

5 min walk from the shops and restaurants

Just a few seconds in ski boots, from bus stops to the Funival (one stop), village centre (two stops) or Rond-Point des Pistes (four stops).

If you were asked to describe the perfect chalet, you’d probably start with somewhere conveniently located for both the skiing and the village, offering good-sized bedrooms with huge windows and balconies, good-sized beds and lovely bathrooms (some baths, mostly rain head showers). You’d want a superb living room with plenty of wood and stone, under the open roof timbers where the views are best. You’d like lots of comfy sofas and a good table to sit around until the candles have burnt out, and the only light is from the moon shining through the massive south-facing windows. The kitchen would be modern and elegant, with an expert chef working in it. There’d be a lift for legs that have skied not wisely but too well, and one of its stops would be at the ground-floor ski room (with bootwarmers, of course), a TV room (with Sky and BT Sport), a sauna and a hot tub. In the basement would be a garage so that friends driving over from Méribel needn’t expose the Evoque Convertible to unaccustomed snow…

Well, you’d have described our Chalet d’Isère!

Completed in the autumn of 2016, it is on the bank of the eponymous river, just on the edge of the main village, five minutes’ walk from the shops and restaurants, and just a few seconds in ski boots from bus stops to the Funival (one stop), village centre (two stops) or Rond-Point des Pistes (four stops).

It has eight lovely bedrooms, all en-suite*, and all of the qualities and facilities you have specified above, with gorgeous views in all directions from its windows and balconies.

If you don’t have fifteen skiing friends, Chalet d’Isère’s eight gorgeous bedrooms, all with excellent facilities, make this a perfect chalet to come to as a couple or in a small party.

However, if you do have fifteen available friends and can fill the chalet, you benefit from our very generous group discounts.

*Please note that the bath and shower areas in Bedrooms 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 are open-plan and can be seen from the bedrooms. If you are booking the whole chalet or taking rooms individually, please only use rooms 1-4 and 7 if sharing with someone you know well!

We are extremely well-suited to families. Some of our chalets are large, some small. Some are very smart, some very good value. And some have Extra Beds for children.

Chalets are more relaxing for families than hotels, where parents are constantly worried that their brood will upset fellow guests, or self-catering apartments, where most of someone’s holiday will be spent shopping, cooking and clearing up.

And, perhaps surprisingly, Val d’Isère is the ideal family ski resort. It has good snow, short queues, wide nursery slopes with free lifts, and extensive new beginner runs higher up the mountain at the top of Solaise. (Beginners do, however, need a ski pass to access these higher nursery slopes) The flat village, free and frequent buses, very good ski schools, English-speaking instructors, and lots of British youngsters also help hugely. Where to Ski and Snowboard magazine describes the nursery slopes as ‘95% perfect’.

• Fantastic location for the skiing and the village
• Good-sized bedrooms with huge windows and balconies
• All bedrooms give option of twin beds or doubles (please specify which you prefer when booking)
• Lovely bathrooms
• Superb living room with masses of wood and stone
• Wifi
• Lift to all floors
• Sauna and indoor hot tub
• TV room (with Sky and BT Sport)
• Ski room with boot warmers
• A chef and two assistants, who live out

8 bedrooms for 16 guests
2 baths, 6 showers

Bedrooms in order of preference (in our opinion)

Bedroom 1
Twin/double on second floor with balcony facing Solaise. En-suite bath, double basins and wc.

Bedroom 2
Twin/double on first floor with balcony facing Solaise. En-suite bath, double basins and wc.

Bedroom 3
Twin/double on second floor with balcony facing Solaise. En-suite shower and wc.

Bedroom 4
Twin/double on first floor with balcony facing Solaise. En-suite shower and wc.

Bedroom 5
Twin/double on second floor with balcony facing south. En-suite shower and wc.

Bedroom 6
Twin/double on first floor with balcony facing south. En-suite shower and wc.

Bedroom 7
Twin/double on second floor with en-suite shower and wc.

Bedroom 8
Twin/double on first floor with en-suite shower and wc.

Sitting-Dining Room
High ceiling and an immense wall of glass facing Solaise to the east. Log fire. WiFi.

Sauna and Indoor Hot Tub
On the ground floor. Please note that the use of the sauna and hot tub in Chalet d’Isère is at your own risk (and that of your party members). We cannot accept responsibility for any accidents/injuries that occur during the use of the sauna or hot tub. Children must be supervised when using these facilities.

TV Room
On ground floor.

We start with a proper breakfast. Fruit juice, porridge, cereals from Rude Health, bacon, eggs, baguettes straight from the famous local bakery, yoghurt, tea and fresh coffee from Nespresso machines (with instant or infusions for those who prefer them). On one morning breakfast will be self-service with fresh croissants and pains au chocolat delivered to your chalet.

You return from the slopes to find bread and jam, a freshly-baked cake (except on staff days off), tea and coffee left out for you. If you would like hot chocolate, please inform your chalet staff (and tell them how you like it!).

Dinner is where we pull out all the stops on five nights of your holiday. Our policy on food is straightforward. We start with the best cuts of meat and the best fresh fruit and vegetables, not really counting the cost. Everything we need is available in Val d’Isère. Most people are very happy with our normal formula of canapés followed by a three-course, fixed-menu, dinner-party-style meal. The cuisine is largely French, though with a fusion of other influences.

A small proportion of our guests wishes to eat different food from the rest of their party. If you request a different diet, we will be able to offer one alternative meal so that the normal meal or this alternative will be suitable for vegetarians, vegans, dairy free, no red meat or no onions/no garlic.

Or you could tailor-make a menu for your party for the week and ask us to cook, say, two fish meals, one chicken, one red meat (when vegetarians can simply not have the meat) and one vegetarian meal – or whatever combination suits your group. This way everyone enjoys the same meals all together and, dare we say it, eats a little more healthily.

If a diet is more complicated than those mentioned above, we may have to make a charge for special ingredients but we will let you know in advance. If you want us to buy in special non-dairy milks and yoghurts there will be a charge in the resort, much the same way as the alternative wines mentioned below.

There are some diets we cannot cater for. We regret that we do not have the separate fridges, etc., required for Kosher diets, we do not have access to Halal meats, and we cannot guarantee that our chalets will be nut-free.

With dinner, we serve free unlimited quantities of a selection of very drinkable French AOC wine and vin de pays. This is, unfortunately, only with dinner, not breakfast, and we stop serving the wine when the coffee appears.

We also have a wine list from which you can buy everything from slightly smarter wine to Châteaux Lafite-Rothschild or d’Yquem. We sell these wines at less than they cost because you are not drinking the house wine.

Damage deposit for all bookings