Chalet Juniper, Val d'Isere, France

Chalets Juniper, Jasmine and Jacaranda are spread across the top two floors of the delightfully retro three-star Résidence le Grizny, with Juniper occupying the whole upper floor.

The building is unusually spacious and solid, having been built before Val d’Isère’s narrow valley started running out of space. And its position is really good: the village centre is four minutes’ walk away, the ski buses stop nearby, and it is possible to ski home.

Juniper has nine bedrooms, ranging from cosy to very large, six bathrooms and separate, sizeable sitting and dining rooms. Two of the cosier rooms are discounted £40 per person per week (rooms 14a & b), while the smallest of all, 14c, contains a double bed which you can book for one person, and an optional bedmate can add in at 85% of the brochure price (or 50% if no flight is required).

The bedrooms face away from the road, towards the silent forest on the slopes of Solaise. Nearly all of the bedrooms have east-facing balconies with impressive views of mountains, trees and snow, and noise is never a problem, unless it's you making it!

Juniper’s atmosphere is always fun. It tends to appeal to relaxed people, perhaps because from the outside the building looks a bit like a municipal library, or because with six bathrooms for up to eighteen people it doesn't attract the sort of guests who might be put off by those technicolour baths and basins.

But however convivial the dining and sitting rooms become, guests can escape into the quiet of their own rooms, most of which are a good size - see room dimensions opposite. There is no TV (imagine trying to get 17 or 18 people to agree on what to watch?), but there is WiFi.

9 bedrooms for 17-18 guests

Bedroom 15

Twin (8'2" x 12'). Long, narrow room with large en-suite shower-room and wc.

Bedroom 11a

Twin (13' x 12'6") with balcony, sharing bathroom and separate wc with Bedroom 11b.

Bedroom 11b

Twin (17' x 12'6") with balcony, sharing bathroom and separate wc with Bedroom 11a.

Bedroom 12a

Twin (17' x 12'6") with balcony, sharing bathroom and separate wc with Bedroom 12b.

Bedroom 12b

Twin (13' x 12'6") with balcony, sharing bathroom and separate wc with Bedroom 12a.

Bedroom 10

Twin (13' x 12'6") next to the dining room with private bathroom (not en-suite), separate wc and balcony.

Bedroom 14a

Twin (13'6" x 12'6") with balcony, sharing bathroom and separate wc with Bedrooms 14b and c. £40 discount per person.

Bedroom 14b

Twin (13'6" x 13') with balcony, sharing bathroom and separate wc with Bedrooms 14a and c. £40 discount per person.

Bedroom 14c

Single room (10' x 9') with double bed (optional bedmate can book the other half of the bed, charged as an extra bed) with chest of drawers in the room and a wardrobe just outside, sharing bathroom and separate wc with Bedrooms 14a and b. Flight seat not guaranteed for second person.

Bathroom

In addition to the bathrooms described above, there is a spare bathroom with wc next to the sitting room.

Dining Room

(16' x 12') next to Bedroom 10. Excellent room with a huge dining table, french windows to the balcony, and a separate kitchen.

Sitting Room

(17' x 15') Friendly room with five comfy sofas. WiFi.

Extra Bed

A second person can book into Bedroom 14c, making it a double room. This room can be booked as a double whether the chalet is occupied by one group or individuals/couples. On certain dates we may not be able to provide a flight for an extra bed.

Breakfast consists of fruit juice, porridge, cereals, bacon, eggs, baguettes straight from the famous local bakery, a croissant or pain au chocolat if you like, yogurt, Twinings tea and fresh coffee from Italian espresso pots.

You return from the slopes to find bread and jam, a freshly-baked cake, hot chocolate etc. left out for you.

Then canapés followed by a three-course, fixed-menu, dinner-party-style meal. The cuisine is largely French, though with a fusion of other influences – what Londoners call Modern British.

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