Anyone who hasn’t been on a holiday to the French Alps for a few years is in for a pleasant surprise. Not only do French apartment holidays still offer by far the best value in skiing, usually with the ultimate in slopeside convenience, but the apartment complexes themselves have greatly improved in recent years. You can expect bigger, comfier, airier, hi-spec apartments – with many with other facilities like swimming pools and restaurants on-site.
There’s also a much wider range of apartment holidays available, especially in the bigger resorts but even in many smaller French ski stations. The best are now graded 4 and 5★ so it may be worth spending just a little bit more to secure a really swanky apartment for your trip.
These spacious well-planned apartments are designed within buildings created in traditional architectural style, but they are still always in great locations for slope access.
These apartments give you your own space to relax with home comforts including comfy beds, cosy lounges and kitchens that have everything you might need. They make the perfect base for families, who can spread out and choose whether to eat in or dine out each evening.
The best apartment buildings also offer the kind of facilities and services once only offered by top-class hotels. Many now feature their own spas with indoor pool, sauna, steam rooms and other spa facilities, and you can book in for a spa treatment too. All the extras like wi-fi (usually free), a heated boot room, breakfast delivery of croissants and pain au chocolat are normally there too.
Some of the best on the market at present include:
CGH Kalinda Residence & Spa Kalinda in Tignes 1800, at a snow-sure location in one of the world’s biggest and best ski areas, shared with neighbouring Val d’Isère. There are two restaurants in Tignes 1800, ‘Ô 1800’ serving traditional and Savoyard specialties and ‘Le Four 7’ with more international cuisine and the area has its own bakery, mini-market, ski school office, crèche and rental shop, so you only really need to leave to go out skiing and boarding if you like!
CGH Kalinda is a 4* prestige residence ideally located at the foot of the modern Boisses gondola with a blue piste leading back to the door, and a leisure centre with private indoor heated swimming pool and a large baby pool with slide, there are also Jacuzzis, saunas, steam room and fitness room.
CGH Kalinda also boasts the superb Ô des Cimes Spa Centre offering a selection of fabulous massages and beauty treatments.
In Les Carroz, a delightful village in the large, snow-sure Grand Massif area, the CGH Residence & Spa Les Chalets de Léana opened just last winter and offers many similar facilities including another luxurious leisure centre with indoor pool and Ô des Cimes Spa Centre, which now boasts natural salt therapy treatments
If you’d prefer a quieter smaller resort where you’ll have the ski slopes to yourself, then the CGH Residence Le Ruitor in Sainte Foy could be just your place. Again, there’s an indoor heated pool, saunas, steam room, fitness room and very comfortable apartments to relax in. The residence also has a bar, perfect for relaxing evenings.
Book With Peak Retreats
All of these properties and many more can be booked via the specialist award-winning French ski holiday company, Peak Retreats. Experts in French ski holidays, the company specialises in providing a personal service with unrivalled local know-how; staff have personal experience of its properties. Peak Retreats is ABTA-bonded meaning your holiday money is secure. The company can offer accommodation only or tailor-made holidays inclusive of travel by Eurotunnel, equipment hire, lift passes and lessons and offers complete flexibility, organising as much or as little of your holiday as you like.
