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LES ALPAGES DU CHANTEL |
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LES ARCS, FRANCE
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Location, location, location: Les Alpages du Chantel has them all. First, the two low-rise apartment buildings, built in the exposed-stonework style of a US lodge, are set at the mid-level of the Les Arcs ski area, itself a huge playground for intermediate skiers but now also - thanks to the new Vanoise Express lift-link to La Plagne - part of the biggest ski area in the world, in terms of skiable hectares. Second, they are right on the slopes, offering ski-in, ski-out accommodation. And third, they are a decent distance away from the Arc 1800 'village', a concrete construction often compared unfavourably with South London council estates.
It is no exaggeration to say that 'six-person' apartments in the original towers were barely big enough for a newly-wed couple. When local builder Maurice Giraud began creating small apartment blocks in several resorts in the 1990s, they seemed almost absurdly generous: much more spacious accommodation and a club-like reception area; usually an indoor swimming pool and gym; here a sauna, there a hammam. Les Alpages has all that plus a launderette, a games room, Internet access and a covered car park. Now that these 'MGM Residences' have become almost commonplace - they are to be found in 12 French Alpine resorts - the dimensions seem less remarkable (although a six-person unit does comfortably accommodate four), the Savoyard carved-wood details a bit excessive and the design economical rather than expansive. But Les Alpages is one of the best; and for the skiing, the sunsets over the Tarentaise valley, the morning boulangerie service and the other facilities, it is possible to put up with pine and eager-to-please rusticity. Especially if there are four of you in one of the three-room, six-person apartments with a pair of mezzanine bedrooms.
CONTACT
Les Alpages du Chantel (00 33 4 79 04 34 34). Apartments are bookable through Erna Low (0870 750 6820; www.ernalow.co.uk); a three-room
mezzanine for six costs from £775 per week
THE SKIING
Les Arcs has good black runs including the 7km Aiguille Rouge (with a
2km vertical drop) and off-piste terrain for experts, superb, fast pistes for
intermediates, and adequate beginner areas. In poor light and bad weather, the ski area can seem dull, with a plethora of pistes running down the same, front face and broad, treeless moonscapes above. But in good conditions, it skis beautifully, and for those who like to go far and fast, it's hard to beat. Les Alpages du Chantel is on the front-face slope running down from Col des Frettes to Arc 1800.
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