Héliopic Hôtel & Spa

We used this hotel as our base for a few days of hiking around Chamonix. The location is convenient, close to The Aiguille du Midi lift station and an easy walk from town. Our family room was clean and spacious, breakfast was excellent, and the spa was a much nicer feature than I’d expected. Watch the directions to the car park, since it’s easy to miss the entrance. A great hotel.

The spa was fantastic after a ski day, with a pool, sauna, steam room, cold plunge and an ice room I’d never seen before. The hot tub was the one letdown, since it felt only slightly warm. At the hotel, they also serve crepes, treats and mulled wine every day from 5 to 6 pm, a lovely way to finish skiing. Breakfast had loads of delicious options and fun things to try. We came by train from Paris, and the hotel was only a 13-minute walk from the station, so there was no need for an Uber. Check-in went smoothly, the woman who helped us was very friendly, and the hotel sent us a useful local guide right away. Our superior suite had high ceilings, plenty of space for our things and a beautiful mountain view. For skiing, the “sud” bus stop is nearby and takes you where you need to go. Bus tickets come with the lift ticket. You can collect lift passes from a 24/7 kiosk by scanning an online order, or get them from the hotel for a bit more convenience, though without a discount. We took the bus to Brevent on day one, about 5-7 minutes, and Balme on day two, around 30 minutes. Both buses take you right to the gondola. We had a fantastic stay at Heliopic and would recommend it to anyone visiting Chamonix.

On my second visit to the Heliopic, nearly ten years after the first, it still looked new, clean and very well cared for. The room was nice and fresh inside, although our ground-floor balcony opened onto a paved path and the view wasn’t great. I love that they use Nuxe products, which is part of what draws me back. The spa is beautiful, and I especially liked the hamman. The pool felt a bit cold to me, as did the one at Lykke hotel and spa, where we stayed the next night. At least that one also had a jacuzzi. Warm tea by the pool was a nice extra, as were the cookies and marshmallows outside the spa. Breakfast was excellent, the staff there were very nice, and I loved having Nespresso capsules instead of the standard hotel coffee machines. The check-in welcome was the low point. We arrived around six after a long hike and politely asked whether the mulled wine, popcorn and pancakes mentioned in reviews from the month before were still available, or if we’d missed them. The tall blond woman at reception hadn’t greeted us with a smile or a kind word, then abruptly replied that there was only self-service coffee and water. Fair enough, but the response felt sour. Luckily, the young man there took over and was cheerful and kind. Apart from that unpleasant start, we had a lovely time.

I’d choose this place for a winter visit, but I’d avoid it completely in summer. The rooms got so hot, and with the window open, the noise from the loud highway right across from us made it impossible for me to sleep. There was no way to get cross ventilation to cool things down. I live right in the center of a major European capital with no air conditioning, so I’m used to city noise, but this was too loud. The pool is very nice, though there’s no way to get fresh air in summer. It doesn’t seem as if the architect planned for the hotel to stay open year round, and the staff were completely unapologetic and unhelpful.