Reviews of Property: Samoens, Large 3 bedroom chalet apartment, ski bus 20m, 5 min walk to village

My South African best friend and I were looking for somewhere special, memorable and exciting to share a rare holiday together in early September. We found it. Steve and Michelle have the most delightful chalet in this extremely pretty and welcoming village in a spectacularly beautiful part of the world. As someone used mostly to summer holiday destinations directly associated with sun and sea, it was a real surprise to find that right up in the Grand Massif, in the pure air, it can be remarkably warm even in September and there is a treasure trove of things to do and see, largely associated with the outdoors. Even though we were visiting in the shoulder season, the restaurants, bars, shops and weekly market appeared to have as much enthusiasm for pleasing their customers as they no doubt have in the peak season. Such lovely locals.

The chalet is generously equipped with everything you could possibly need to make you feel at home (we had great fun one evening on the balcony with the fondue set) and the bikes, (of which there are several sizes) were made good use of in our week there (wall to wall sunshine every day) and allowed us to take to the tracks and really appreciate the area. We also spent a lot of time in the neighbouring lakes, notably Lake Morillon (at times a veritigious climb by car) where we had a fabulous walk, swim and picnic.

From the moment we showed an interest in holidaying here, we were provided with stacks of information and helpful advice from the owners who know the area extremely well themselves. Without any reservation whatsoever I would recommend this accommodation at 3, Chalet du Gran Massif.

Our first time to Samoens, in deed this part of France. We were very impressed with the chalet - if you wanted it, it was there. We liked the clever way the chalet has been laid out and found it spacious enough for four of us - eight would be a bit of a squeeze downstairs but it'd be fun!

The chalet is in a wonderful location with superb views of the mountains and well sited to get the late evening sun on the balcony. The ski bus bus stop is just to the right of the chalet as you face it, very handy in the skiing season, but not used in the summer. The local shops, are 10 minutes walk into the village where there is a very good selection of bars, restaurants, bakeries and mini markets, and more. We enjoyed cycling by the river to the boulangerie/patisserie near the GME ski lift each morning.

We had some wonderful hot weather until the Wednesday evening when there was a huge thunder storm. On the Sunday, we went up by two ski lifts to the Resto D'Igloo on the last day of the summer season that the lifts are open - glad we did too as it was a new experience for the children and they loved the ride up and the scenery. Good food here too. We walked down at a leisurely pace taking it all in - the cows with their swiss cowbells jingling was great to hear. Being the end of the season, several amenities were closed and seemed to have closed a day early. we still found things to do and swam in the lake down at the park.

We ate out two or three evenings - good food and service each time. La Louisiane for a very good pizza and La table de fifine for something a little more special.

I did a paraglide on the Wednsday and the children were booked in to do one after me but the wind started to pick up ahead of the storms we had that night. What an experience - I'm just so sorry the children missed out. Thursday and Friday were very wet days so we did water activities and had a fantastic time canorafting and canyoning; both activities are energetic but immense fun and highly recommended by us; the instructors were excellent. Typically, the weather on the Saturday was bright and sunny - whilst we packed our bags and had one last cycle beside the river. Even a couple of paragliders were out!

We would love to come back during the skiing season - summer in Samoens was great. Plenty of fresh mountain air and lovely scenery and loads of activities. We would like to experience Skiing in Samoens!

Thank you for letting us rent the chalet - it was well worth it.

Thank you for letting us stay in your very comfortable chalet, it is so well equiped. The chalet's situation is wonderful, great view of the Grand Massif from the balcony of the chalet, it is only a short walk to the lovely village of Samoens with it's super restaurants & cafes.Only a short drive away are some wonderful waterfalls,we saw them in full flow as the snow was melting off the mountains[photographer's dream].
The town of Annecy is not too far away & is well worth a visit,we had a very enjoyable day there.
In a nut shell I would highly recommend Chalet du Grand Massif the ideal place to stay in this area.

A wonderful place for a "Girls weekend". The chalet is excellent, a real "home from home", with every facility you could need. It is in a great location...only 5 mins walk from Samoens village. The village itself is very pretty & unspoilt & has some lovely restaurants & cafes (an absolute must). There are some beautiful places to visit within a short driving distance including Annecy which is very scenic & has great shops! If you're looking to burn off some calories after over-indulging in what the patisserie has to offer, there are plenty of activities in & around the village, including walking, cycling, swimming & rafting.
All in all a great time was had by all & I would recommend
Samoens & the Chalet du Grand Massif to anyone!

I have had another lovely week In this wonderful chalet. It is my 9th visit - I've been in both winter & summer & both seasons have so much to offer in the area from great skiing in winter to spectacular mountain walks with fantastic scenery - some of the waterdfalls have got to been seen!
The town of Samoens -which is a pleasant 10 minute walk from the chalet is an interesting & friendly town - nice shops - paricularly the chocolate shop!
The chalet is so well appointed - extremely clean & comfortable & also with a very well stocked kitchen - all the usual utensils as well as ample matching crockery & cutlery.
I can't praise it too much - sometimes I go with family - other times with friends & all have been impressed.
I would - without doubt - recommend it to anyone - whether they have children or not - there's someting in the chalet & the area for everyone.

Thanks to Steve for a great week in the apartment once again. This was our third stay and it really is a home from home. Everything you could possibly need is provided - even a few toys for the kids. We made use of the ski bus for the first time this year - you couldn't get much closer to the bus stop if you tried. We even managed to pursuade the bus driver form Sixt to take a detour to drop us off at our door!

I would strongly reccommend this property. Its well located ( ski bus 10M away!). We found the resort suprisingly god, as we are used to ski-ing North America.

The welcome pack we received through the post was incredibly detailed, so much so, we literally went straight to the front door without getting lost. We drove to the resort from Norfolk England, and the driving time on the French side was 8hrs, which is Handy to know if you are thinking about driving, rather than flying.

We found the food locally to be basic and expensive, but good.

The chalet is located about 200 metres from the village centre and a 5 min bus ride from the feeder lift into the Grand Massif system. The chalet itself is very well equipped with WiFi, PC, dvd player and quite an extensive library of films. There is a dish washer and washing machine but no clothes dryer, so no last minute washes!! The owner goes beyond the call of duty to ensure you are well informed and equipped for your stay. We found the facilities in the village to be excellent with plenty of rental shops, places to eat and buy groceries. Samoen benefits from being a “real” village with a history, rather than a purpose built resort town. The cheese factory just down the road from the chalet is well worth a visit, especially to stock up before the return trip. The ski bus is very frequent and there is no panic to catch the bus for this reason. We didn’t bother driving to the lift. One surprise was that you can’t ski down at the end of the day and you have to catch the Grand Massif lift back down, unless you are an extreme sports nut that is!! The piste themselves are very well maintained with plenty for the off piste enthusiast as well. The lifts are a little dated (slow) except in Flaine. I would suggest getting over to Flaine early on in your stay as it does take time to explore and get there. The mountain restaurants are among the best I’ve ever come across in The Alps if you avoid the “fast food” joints, so make some time for them. In Samoen itself, the restaurants are good although the menus are all cloned from the original Savoyard version handed down by Moses during a little know visit he made to Mont Blanc!! Also, avoid any wine that is not a vintage (has a year on the bottle). The owner will provide you with all the information you will need on this and other aspects of your stay. Overall I would definitely come back to Samoen and stay at this chalet.