La Folie Douce Hôtel Chamonix

The staff were friendly and polite, and the hotel looks impressive from outside, with good evening entertainment. The bed was comfortable, but the room itself was cramped, with very little space to move around. We'd booked two months ahead and asked for a double or queen bed. At check-in, the friendly desk agent said our room had two singles. When we pointed out the request, she offered to move us to a room with a larger bed. The bathroom was tiny and awkwardly laid out. A heated towel rack blocked the toilet seat, and the sink had just one low shelf. To reach toiletries like a toothbrush or toothpaste, we had to bend down under the sink or leave things on the toilet seat. Great location, but not much comfort.

The staff are the heart of this hotel, so kind, and the food is really nice. The atmosphere is great and the location is perfect. A refresh for the spa and pool would make the place unbeatable. Highly recommend.

The hotel has a lively, festive feel, and kids are welcome to enjoy it too. The location is great, with access to Savoy right outside and a route up to Brevet. Breakfast had a generous spread and the food service was excellent. We also found the outdoor après-ski area large and pleasant, with fire pits that were lovely to sit near. We had an outstanding massage. If you can book Efi, she has amazing hands. I only wish she were available every day. Ski rental in the hotel basement was handy for getting from shoes straight into ski boots, though it was a bit pricey. A few things could use attention. The spa feels tired: the steam-room door doesn't close all the way, the seats wobble, and for a big hotel I expected a larger steam room. The pool looked inviting but was still too cold. We also heard music in our room above the restaurant. There wasn't much food available between 2:30 and 4. Also, the hotel doesn't take AMEX, and it seemed to be hard to use it almost anywhere in Chamonix, so bring Visa or MC.

The hotel is in a very good location and has nice interior spaces, but the service and people are what make a hotel feel legitimate and premium. Acrobatics and aerial dancers can't make up for the poor service we experienced. During the Christmas period there was no room service, and there wasn't even a phone in the room, despite the TV promoting a 24/7 room service number for anything you might need. The services were very expensive for the quality. Staff didn't seem experienced enough for this level of hotel, and couldn't sort out even a small request for four bottles of water. We waited more than 40 minutes. They were also arranging ski lessons, then the person disappeared the next morning when we were supposed to meet for instructions. Her phone was off and she didn't email the information, so we were sent downtown to find the school ourselves. The spa was awful, old, dirty and in need of renovation. There are just two saunas, with wood that looked like it belonged in an average Joe gym 20 years ago. The pool was cold, the entrance was disorganized, and there was nowhere to hang towels or put clothes. It didn't make sense as a spa. At 10am, as breakfast was closing, they hid the water containers as if they were made of gold. We had four kids still trying to finish their food and they wouldn't give us water.