Le Chalet des Amis

Meet a Life-Long Friend

Le Chalet des Amis will welcome you like a friend, the sort of friend in whose presence you relax and feel that life is charmed. The chalet is steeped in the tradition of those original mountain hotels whose proprietors welcomed the intrepid alpinists who sought refuge and nourishment around their table d’hôte. Many things have changed, but that welcome is a constant.

The old building by the stream was renovated in 1922 by the family of hoteliers who have passed it down for generations. They have created a chalet that reaches summits of luxury and indulgence and is set within easy reach of pistes and the modern-day amusements of Méribel. It appears, from the outside, humble, unobtrusive. Enter! You will be astounded.

The owners use the word “cocoon” to describe the experience, reflecting a sense of warmth and safety. Wood clad walls and deeply comfortable sofas are nurturing and yet high ceilings and large windows are about space and light. The living area is luxuriously social and the inspiringly well-equipped kitchen hides discretely behind a breakfast bar with a sense of humour. We haven’t had the opportunity to try out the very elegant hanging seating - can you eat cornflakes while gently swinging? Whatever, it sums up the conviviality and light-heartedness that continues in the games room downstairs. Snooker, table-football, darts and even pinball to keep energy levels high as an alternative to nestling down in the snuggly cocoon of the dedicated cinema room.

With their soft carpets, the six bedrooms all merit the “cocoon” metaphor, although these are cocoons with space to move about and lovely bathrooms. The family room (or children’s refuge depending on how many and what ages they happen to be) is spacious, with its double bed that can be two twins, sturdy bunk beds and sofa-bed. The other five all convert between doubles and twins, two of them have bathtubs, and some open onto south facing balconies.

While sophisticated, the Chalet des Amis shares its friendship with children as that family room suggests. Children often delight in a swimming pool rather than a jacuzzi, and Chalet des Amis has managed to include 5x3m of pool in its spa as well as providing the more grown-up pleasures of the sauna, massage and fitness rooms (although the last on the list might not quite come under the heading of “pleasure”).

As in the house of friends, you will feel truly at home. Attentive service is there to attend to your needs, to make the arrangements you require, to bring in a private chef should you so wish, to welcome you with champagne. But you can also spread out in peace and relax with the Chalet des Amis as your haven, your sanctuary, from which you will emerge refreshed and charged up ready for another day, perhaps not scaling summits, but on the glorious slopes of Méribel.