For our 1-week winter sport holiday in Valloire, we stayed at the Les Chalets du Galibier. We booked this through Bizztravel which already includes our ski passes. Booking through a travel agency is the best way to go for a skiing/snowboarding holiday, at least from the Netherlands, because the accommodations offered are most often inclusive with a ski pass.
If you book your accommodation independently, you will have to buy the ski pass separately on site which often cost between 180 to 250 euros per person for a week of lift/slope access. Students and senior citizens may be entitled to get discounts though.
Chalets du Galibier
Website: Lagrange Prestige Les Chalets du Galibier
We had a 2-room apartment which means 1-bedroom and another room for our living/dining/kitchen quarter. We booked this chalet apartment for many reasons, one of them being affordable, as well as for its easy accessibility to a chair lift which is just right across the complex and lastly, comfort.
There are 5 Galibier chalet complexes spread out in the property and we stayed at Galibier 2 which is approximately 100 metres from the Moulin Benjamin chair lift. Each chalet is divided into apartments (studio, 2-room/1-bedroom, 3-room/2-bedrooms).
Here are the pictures I took of our 2-room apartment:
And here are the facts, the highs and lows of this chalet apartment.
- The 2-room apartment which can accommodate 4 persons was quite spacious for the 2 of us. It would be tight for 4 though.
- The toilet and bathroom is roomy as well and fitted with a large bath tub – very important in relaxing the muscles after a long and tiring skiing day.
- Bedroom size is okay and the beds are pretty good. We slept soundly. And because this is Europe, most beds are single beds set side by side each other. The other two beds are in the living room, the sofa and a bunk bed under it.
- Guests are supplied with fresh bed linens, bath towels and a kitchen dishtowel upon arrival.
- TV is old and you have to pay extra to use it. We didn’t because we read somewhere that the channels are mainly in French.
- There is WIFI at extra cost. Pricing of WIFI is based on number of machines accessing. You can choose either an individual or family access. Choose family access if you have 2-3 machines (maximum is 3 machines).
- The kitchen is fully equipped with the basics: microwave, coffeemaker, water heater, fridge, sandwich toaster, dishwasher, glass plate stove with exhaust fan, kitchenware, dining ware, glassware and utensils. I could not find any chopping board though?
- Each chalet apartment has a sizable balcony.
- The apartment is equipped with a telephone. Ours was in the bedroom.
- It is also equipped with its own cleaning tools including a hoover – this is very handy because the apartment we booked last year didn’t have a hoover and we had to reserve a time slot to borrow one at the reception.
- In each complex there is an indoor heated swimming pool free to use any time until 19:30.
- There is hammam (steam room) and sauna as well. First use is free of charge.
- The reception has a huge lounge room with a fireplace, a game area and a little bar.
- There is free parking outside, as well as covered parking for a fee.
- You have your own ski box.
- Access to the apartment through physical keys and access code.
- There is a lift (elevator). Hallelujah! Hehe.
- The nearest ski chair lift is 100 metres downwards called Moulin Benjamin. You just have to cross the street and ski down to the lift (there is a little slope access).
- To go back to the chalet apartment after a day of skiing, don’t ski all the way down to the Moulin Benjamin lift but take the little bridge before it and walk down to the apartment. With the ski boots, it is much better to walk downwards than to walk upwards.
- Reception loans hair dryers, raclette grill and fondue set. They are open 16:00 to 20:00 daily.
- There is a laundry and left-luggage room.
- There are spa services as well.
- Pets are welcome at an additional cost.
- Location is approximately 1 to 1.5 kilometres (depending on which chalet you are staying as they are spread all over the property) from the village centre, about a 10-minute walk. There are free ski shuttle buses available though going every 15 minutes between 08:00 and 20:00.
All in all, we were quite happy with this accommodation.
More pictures here:
To know more about Valloire and see pictures of the village, please go here: Valloire: Impressions of a Traditional Ski Village in the French Alps
Travel Period: January 2014
Destination: Valloire (Savoie – Rhone-Alpes), France
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