Chalet de Pierre, Val d'Isere, France

The Laisinant Express chair lift just below the chalet, taking you up to the Solaise and Le Fornet skiing areas. Ski back to the chalet from the L piste or Germain Mattis

This five bedroom, five bathroom, ski-in, ski-out chalet with sauna and private lift, is one of the smartest in Val d’Isère. The good-sized bedrooms have small but tasteful bathrooms. More importantly, each room has a pair of decent-sized beds that fit together to make a huge double if your holiday is going well, or slide apart if it isn’t. And better still, the rooms have picture windows giving breathtaking views of sunrise over the Galise, or sunset behind Bellevarde.

The sitting-dining room under the hefty rafters, with its open-plan kitchen, is vast. The dining table was hand-made to our specifications: three diners on the longer sides, two on the ends. That’s the way to get a good conversation going! Mealtimes are accompanied by an unforgettable view of Bellevarde.

At the other end of the room there’s an equally spectacular view across the bottom of the lovely, smooth L piste and up to the glaciers of the Italian border, to be enjoyed from big, squashy sofas around the log fire. When it gets dark, there’s a flat-screen TV and a selection of DVDs. Or just use the WiFi.

On the ground floor, between the front door and the private lift which whisks you to the bedroom floor or the living room floor, are the ski room, boot warmers, sauna, extra shower and wc, and table tennis table.

But what we like best is the location. The chalet looks over the charming little hamlet of Le Laisinant, just five minutes’ walk or one stop on the free bus past the edge of the main village, from a position just beneath the Traversée du Laisinant piste.

You don’t have to be a good skier to return to the chalet from the bottom of the L or Mattis pistes, while the never-crowded six-seater Laisinant Express chairlift is two minutes’ walk, or a quick pole away. The Laisinant Express was already the quickest way into the Fornet ski area, and now a new run takes skiers straight into the Solaise area, making this chairlift a superbly convenient way to start the day’s skiing.

(Please note that the use of the sauna in Chalet de Pierre 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. Children must be supervised when using the sauna.)

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’.

• Beautiful ski chalet in the hamlet of Le Laisinant
• Ground floor ski room, boot warmers, sauna and table tennis
• Huge sitting-dining room with log fire, TV for DVDs, WiFi and spectacular views
• Private lift to bedroom floor and living room floor
• Good sized bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms throughout and picture window views
• Option of large twin beds or huge doubles in each room (please specify which you prefer when booking)
• The Laisinant Express chair lift just below the chalet, taking you up to the Solaise and Le Fornet skiing areas. Ski back to the chalet from the L piste or Germain Mattis
• Boot warmers and glove warmers!
• A chef and an assistant, who live out

5 bedrooms for 10 guests
5 baths, 2 showers

Bedrooms in order of preference (in our opinion)

Bedroom 1
Twin/double (19’ x 11’6”) on first floor. Bathroom with bath and wet-room rainhead shower. Separate wc. French windows facing east.

Bedroom 2
Twin/double (14’ x 12’6”) on second floor next to sitting-dining room. Bathroom and separate wc. French windows onto balcony facing west.

Bedroom 3
Twin/double (19’ x 11’6”) on first floor. Bathroom and separate wc. French windows facing east.

Bedroom 4
Twin/double (14’ x 12’6”) on first floor. Bathroom and separate wc. French windows facing west.

Bedroom 5
Twin/double (14’ x 12’6”) on first floor. Bathroom and separate wc. French windows facing west.

Sitting-Dining Room
(40’ x 15”) Enormous room on second floor under roof beams, with sofas around a log fire, TV, DVD and WiFi, west-facing dining area, and two separate balconies. The open-plan kitchen is included in these measurements.

Extra Bathrooms and Sauna
Sauna with shower and wc on ground floor. Another extra wc on second 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.

Please note that the use of the sauna in Chalet de Pierre 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. Children must be supervised when using the sauna.

Damage deposit for all bookings.