Chamonix reviews

Nice place. Nice village. Good skiing. But the buses to and from the systems are a big minus. Add to that the sign on the buses is poor and that the bus drivers are not so communicative. The frequency of the bus departures is poor. Crowded and queuing.
An entirely different observation; It feels like the number of skiers who skies very fast and uncontrolled has increased in recent years.
Visit again? Well, not yet for a while.

I was in charge of booking our anual ski trip this year and Chamonix was a hot favourite for the group with plenty of high skiing and lots of different runs for the styles of skiiers and boarders in our motley crew!

We found Chalet Tisseres www.iceandorange.com via one of the big chalet websites and contacted the owners directly. Renska (nice Dutch lady) who owned and ran the place with her husband Damo gave us a super fully catered deal including airport transfers from Geneva in Switzerland.

We arrived and were blow away by the place. Fantastic rennovated traditional French Chalet with great sized en-suite rooms and the most amazing view up to the aiguile de midi.

The food was simply restaraunt standard with classic French style and international dishes as well. Really enjoyed the scallops and Lamb Tajine.

I'm not a serious wine type but friends in the group who know their wines kept being very surprised as to the quality of wine served with supper. Well though out and balanced with each meal.

The outdoor hot tub is a great addition and the in house after ski massage service from Ali was just what the doctor ordered. The team arranged all our lessons with a local company who were first class and picked us up and dropped us off at the chalet each day, great personable instructors.

On the chalet night off Damo arrnaged for us to have a ski doo night above Courmayeur. Blasted up to the Maison Vielle on the back of a ski doo in the dark for some fab local Itlaian food and booze....... Definately the highlight of the stay.

All in all the best ski trip we have had in a long time and we are looking to book next year and take the kids along in the group as well.

Liked — living room and huge fire place
Disliked — would love bigger hot tun, only seated 8.

I have to disagree with the comments made about Le Touring hotel. I've stayed there a numer of times and have found it to be quite sufficient. I't not a five star hotel but it's well priced and the staff there are very helpful. The food that I had there was fine. The staff there also kept luggage for me while I did the Tour de Mont Blanc which is very useful as there is no longer a "left luggage" facility at the train station.

As for Chamonix itself. Great place.

As first experience in the Alps, the last week has been great (and not wonderfull only due to the bad weather conditions). Main reason of this comments is to help people in selecting the right Travel Agency and avoid unfortunate surprises. In fact, I've been travelling with STS Resor with the following facts happening:

- the flight to Geneva got a delay of 13hours (instead of
14.50 the 010317 we left at 03.30 the 010318)
+ STS resor paid back 1/7 of the cost of the trip
+ all people were guested at Eurostop Hotel in Arlanda with
dinner before the departure of 010318.

- the Hotel "Le Touring" in Chamonix claimed to be a **, but
it was less than a * I would say. In fact the bath/shower did not work at our arrival, and although we mention the problem the english staff of the hotel simply neglect the problem. We were adviced to use the staff shower outside our room, but after the first use of it, the staff closed down
the warm water which made useless that shower too.

- although we had paid in advance a full package with breakfast/lunch/dinner included. The quality of food was quite poor in more than 1 occasion: one dinner we got 3 shrimps + salad!! All the lunches were made by: 1/2 baguette with some cheese OR a slice of ham + a coke + a small chockolate bar!

- the restaurant could not handle all the people which had paid in advance to have dinner. The 2nd day we (3 people) arrived in the restaurant and due to the lack of space we were told to split in 3 different tables (we did not know the other people). Although our polite request to get some other
arrangements, we did not receive any help...instead we got a real proof of HOW UNPROFESSIONAL was the "le Touring" staff and open a discussion. At the end we decided to go out and eat in another restaurant...some real French food.

- another day the same episode occured to a couple
of guys. The STS Resor guy without even asking the 3 of us, just took forks, knife and plate and fix it on our table (with the clear intention to fix 2 places for the 2 guys at our table). Considering that there is nothing strange to get to know the 2 guys, I did not really appreciate the rude way
in which the STS Resor guy was unprofessionally solving the
strange situation.

- the last day we did not have any electricity in the room sockets.

- one girl of the staff, while serving pretended not to understand the english spoken by a friend of mine.

- the service on the table was efficient but rude.

I reccomend you all to avoid "Le touring" hotel!

Was in Chamonix 1 week in January.

+

- 1 h from Geneva airport,
- a large village with a wide range of restaurants, shops etc.

-

- spread over 5 different areas not contiguous,
- cannot go directly to the slopes from the village, which reduces the rating significantly,
- have to take the ski buses and walk a bit which is perceived as very hard. Unlike other resorts in the Alps.
- Brevent and Flegere you had to take the gondola UP and DOWN. The area felt limited if you compare with other large areas in the Alps.

Nice to have been in Chamonix but having to take the ski bus from the village pulls down the whole rating - is exactly what you want to avoid in the Alps.

If you like skiing, you should at least visit Chamonix once! Here you will find all the skiing you want, as well as Frenchmen in jeans or overalls who ski the shit out of Swedes in expensive goretex racks. And fully packed ski buses. The village, which is actually a city, is not very cozy but the range is great! I would not go here with children, but it does not get more classic French alpinism than this!

High mountains, steep, exposed, varied and fabulously beautiful.

Meow, meow. That's the answer I give when I'm asked what I think of Chamonix. When it's good, it's very good. But it has never been quite that magical in the weeks I've been there. Maybe got 1 really fantastic day out of 14. But hey, I've also had good days between that day and the days with meter-high humps at Grand Montets. My personal favorite is Brevent/Flegere. Here you can find powder fields, pots and other fun. Not as intense as GM, but if it has snowed, you still have to be up with the rooster to make the first turns.

One thing that should be made clear right away is that you are not coming here to ski the slopes. You can do that elsewhere. But it cannot be denied that the conditions for one of the world's best resorts for off-piste skiing are here. I just wish I get to experience Chamonix at its best sometime before I die.

Plus
+ The village really breathes skiing. When you're sitting on Moö and think you're something to have after a few lovely scratches, the goblins appear with ropes, cabin hooks and harnesses. Wind-lined faces with cigs in the corner of their mouths. All of a sudden you realize that there are so many better riders than yourself. Then there are plenty of restaurants, bars and clubs to have fun at, and the village is really super cozy all in all.
+ Easy to get here, just over an hour from Geneva.
+ You never feel as small as you do down in the valley in Chamonix, in a fantastic way.
+ If you're lucky, there are almost no limits to what you can come up with here.

Minus
- The buses. Minus with a big damn M. There is nothing as damn enervating as being tossed around in the buses to and from GM and Le Tour. Then they may already be overcrowded when you are about to hop on. Then you just have to wait for the next one. As it too can be overcrowded.
- The area. It is spread over five different mountains, and it takes a lot to make you want to get on the aforementioned buses to change areas during the day.
- Lack of fun slopes. This of course has to do with not wanting to destroy the mountains with pistes, but when it hasn't snowed for a while, it unfortunately feels a bit limited.

Is riding the bus your favorite activity? Go to Chamonix! That was the joke after our first day. But honestly, as long as you love skiing more than riding the bus and can see a bit of charm in angry French bus drivers, then you'll be fine. We had a great week (v 11 2022) here! Despite a little snow towards the end of the season, the slopes were super nice. Except in La Tour, the slopes are quite narrow and steep, more dancing on a narrow floating bridge than a dance floor. For me it was both fun and a welcome challenge for the leg muscles. A plus is the large selection of restus in all types! A normal week in the Alps contains much of the same, but in Chamonix it can be interspersed with things like sushi/thai/steakhouse/italiano/etc etc. It was my first trip to this place and it certainly won't be my last!

A village with a pleasant atmosphere.
Skiing that suits everyone, divided into 5 different systems
Plus nature experiences Valle Blanche starting from Aguila du Midi.
Preferably longer than a week...