Chalet Montalembert, Serre Chevalier, France

Chalet Montalembert is closer to a charming, characterful holiday home than a modern chalet. As such, it's a nice place to relax and it has a good-sized seating area to spend the evening with friends, but some of the facilities are a little dated - e.g. a kitchen that's on the small side, and a couple of particularly uncomfortable mattresses in at least one of the seven rooms. The chalet is close enough to the slopes to be able to ski back practically to the door at the end of the day, and it's a 50 yard walk uphill to the piste in the morning if you don't fancy the 5 minute walk down to the nearest lift. There are plenty of bars within a ten minute walk of the chalet, and we had a great meal out at Eau Petit Pont on the staff's night off. Overall, then, the chalet itself was a good-value choice and the perfect size for our group of 15 people. The Crystal staff were friendly, enthusiastic and helpful, though some of the meals (and the punctuality thereof) fell a little short of the standard we've come to expect from even a cheap alpine chalet.

Apres-Ski 3/5

Neil