• Sleeps 14-15
• Super-convenient ski-in, ski-out location
• Part of beautiful building designed especially for YSE
• Lovely bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms throughout
• Huge sitting room with massive log fire, satellite TV, surround sound and balconies south and north, the latter overlooking the
• World Cup Downhill
• WiFi
• Separate dining room
• Brilliant location right on the slopes just above La Daille
• Brand new La Daille bubble just below the chalet
• Funival 200m walk
• Ski room with individual locker and boot dryers per bedroom
• Two members of staff, who live out
• The maximum number of guests that can be booked into Chalet des Neiges is 15, including babies and children.

Chalet des Neiges in Val d`Isere is the ultimate skier’s chalet, just yards from some of world’s best-known runs and two of France’s fastest ski lifts! A minute’s walk takes you to the edge of the piste, a further 30 seconds’ glide reaches the Funival, and a five-minute ride gets you to the top of Bellevarde. Des Neiges occupies the top three floors of a large chalet on the slopes at La Daille, surrounded by OK, Orange, Diébold, Raye and Verte runs. Just below is the new super-fast La Daille bubble. Reasonable skiers can ski right back to the door, while the less experienced tend to stop about 60m away.

The location is so perfect that we not only signed a very long lease on these chalets, we also bought the shack next door to live in ourselves. Could we give a more sincere endorsement than that?

Being right on the pistes is great. And these aren’t just any pistes: they are World Cup Downhill pistes. They offer skiing for every standard, ultra-quick lifts back up and guaranteed snow from snow cannons top to bottom. And once the lifts close, they become lethal with tearaway toddlers on toboggans!

In the morning, you can either take the new high-speed ten-heated-seater cable car, which as you can see from the picture, is practically in our garden, or you traverse to the Funival, still the world’s fastest lift. Going to the cable car involves a 50m walk down our hill to the bottom of the OK via the direct path lovingly carved through the snow by our staff and their new snow blower. The Funival is a 100m walk and a short glide from our door.

At the end of the day, good skiers ski right back to the chalet (probably making a quick pit stop at the outrageous Folie or a more genteel one at the Trifollet), while the less intrepid ski back off the Verte to about 60m away, or just take the free ski bus which stops a short walk below.

The only people who find the 20-minute walk from the main village less than ideal are those who spend more time in Cocorico than on the slopes, but the free bus runs until 02.00, and the teenage sample we asked were enthusiastic: apparently, staying in La Daille gives time to chew on a mint or two on the way home, while being right on the pistes means even with a record hangover one can still be on the first lift. Parents will be reassured to hear that.

Chalet des Neiges in Val d’Isere is very comfortable and well appointed. The bedrooms are not huge – predictably, since the real estate they occupy must be some of the most desirable in the world – but they are tastefully decorated and have underfloor heating, reasonable cupboards, safes, good lighting and gorgeous bathrooms. Even the beds are bigger and firmer than usual in France. Each bedroom has a private ski locker in the ski room, with individual boot dryers.

The sitting and dining rooms are magnificent. Tons of wood and stone, bottomless sofas, and fireplaces from the only man in the Savoie who knows how to make a chimney draw properly.

Chalet des Neiges has seven bedrooms, all with en-suite bathrooms. It actually has space for fifteen guests, Room 3 having three beds.

The heart of the chalet is the dining room, with its long table and open-plan kitchen, where one of our top chefs and two assistants will be serving some of the best food in Val d’Isère (the proof of the pudding being the fact that des Neiges almost certainly has more regular customers than any other chalet in Val d’Isère). After eating or, Heaven forbid, drinking a little too much, it is a mercifully short stagger to the large L-shaped sitting room with its huge log fire, balconies, WiFi and a plasma-screen Smart TV.

Breakfast:

On six mornings, you’ll start with a proper breakfast. Fruit juice, porridge, cereals, bacon, eggs, bread straight from the famous local bakery, yoghurt, tea and fresh coffee from cafetieres or 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.

Afternoon tea:

You return from the slopes to find bread, butter and jam, a freshly-baked cake (except on Wednesday), 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:

Dinner is where the chalet hosts pull out all the stops on five nights of your holiday. Their policy on food is straightforward. They start with great cuts of meat and fresh fish, the best fresh fruit and vegetables. Everything you need is available in Val d’Isère. Most people are very happy with their 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 – what Londoners call Modern British (foreign, in other words).

They will provide six dinners – five up to a normal gastronomic restaurant standard, and, on Friday evening, a traditional Savoyarde tartiflette with salad and fruit.

As well as six cooked breakfasts and one continental. The chalet’s communal areas and bedrooms will be cleaned on six days per week.

The bedrooms are tastefully decorated and have underfloor heating, reasonable cupboards, safes, good lighting and gorgeous bathrooms.
The beds are bigger and firmer.
Each bedroom has a private ski locker in the ski room, with individual boot dryers.

Bedrooms 1 & 2
Doubles (10′ x 10′) on first floor, bathrooms with wc. French windows onto balconies.

Bedroom 3
Twin/triple (15′ x 13′) with three single beds, on first floor. Bathroom and separate wc.

Bedroom 4
Twin (11′ x 9′) on first floor. Bathroom with wc.

Bedroom 5
Twin (11′ x 9′) on second floor, next to kitchen and dining room. Bathroom with wc.

Bedroom 6
Twin (13′ x 9′) on third floor, under eaves. Bathroom with wc. £50 pp discount when chalet is split and not taken by one party.

Bedroom 7
Twin (10′ x 10′) on third floor, under eaves. Bathroom with wc. The cupboards are in the bathroom. £50 pp discount when chalet is split and not taken by one party.

Dining Room
(18′ x 7’6″ excluding kitchen.) On second floor with open-plan kitchen. French windows to balcony.

Sitting Room
(21′ x 15′) Next to dining room. Two french windows, each opening onto own balcony. Large fireplace. Plasma screen on wall for satellite TV (all channels), DVD and WiFi.

Extra Bed
Triple combination in Bedroom 3, this room can be used as a triple whether the chalet is occupied by one group or individuals/couples. The cost for this extra bed is half the quoted Chalet des Neiges price with no transport or 85% if flights and transfers are required (subject to availability).

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