Lizzie Hôtel

Excellent hotel, our room was spacious, had two terraces/balconies and a view of Mont Blanc that was simply superb! The staff were lovely, friendly and accommodating. The bed was firm, the aircon worked perfectly, the tea/coffee maker very welcome and the toiletries very nice. The room decor is attractive but it is all about the view! Our room overlooked the pool and straight to the mountain, highly recommend that you request this or pay the extra to get it. The breakfast was very good, European as well as cook your own boiled eggs to your preference, excellent. The breakfast room looks straight to the mountaintop and is a wonderful way to start the day. The pool is large with plenty of deck chairs. An absolute bonus is that the train station is a mere 200 metres or a 4 minute walk. The train is free to hotel guests ( they give you a card) and takes about 8 minutes to Chamonix, two stops away and deposits you right at the top of the Main Street, so easy! They do offer a free bus ticket but the train was our choice, they run every 20- 30 minutes depending on the time of day. Last train is at 8.27 but that suited us perfectly, an early dinner then home to have a drink looking at the mountain in an indigo sky. Sigh…….

Nothing.

I like this characterful hotel very much so it is a shame that there are a few aspects of it that I find disappointing (see below). It sits on its own in Les Tines, an hour or so’s walk from the centre of Chamonix, but it is very conveniently placed both for the local bus service and the local train station. The rooms are comfortable and well-appointed without being luxurious. There is a pleasant bar (with very friendly bar staff) and good spa; and in the summer the large outdoor swimming pool is a real asset. In the winter the ski room is well fitted out and spacious, with individual locked cabinets with plenty of space for skis, poles and boots; and there is a ski concession on the hotel premises available for ski and boot hire. Breakfast is adequate without being outstanding. Most of the staff are unfailingly pleasant and helpful. The overall four-star rating is perhaps slightly flattering but the hotel is not alone in this respect.

The hotel's restaurant is often closed in the evenings; when it has been open my experience has been disappointing so in any case I usually go out to eat at one of the other local restaurants. There is no doubt that the hotel is becoming a little tired in some aspects so on my most recent visit it was good to see that there is a major refurbishment in progress - I look forward to seeing the results on my next visit, possibly including improvements in the restaurant!

View of Alps Close to nature

Spa closed Restaurant not open for dinner Need nightstands

The hotel is well located, clean and the staff are friendly. The rooms are well equipped with coffee making and TV (although only terrestrial French channels) and the bed was comfortable.

The cost for both the accomodation and food was very high and not commensurate with the quality delivered. We ordered the Boeuf Bourguignon which had clearly been reheated inconsistently so some of it was still cool. As a direct comparison we dined at another local hotel on one evening and the quality of the food was far higher despite the costs being slightly lower. We were also rather taken aback that a place advertising itself as a 'Hotel & Spa' then wanted to charge, on top of a high room rate, a further 20Euro PER HOUR for use of the Spa. Overall, this is not a bad hotel ... but it is charging significantly higher rates than others around for a slightly poorer experience so it's not good value.