Vacanceole - Les Hauts de la Drayre

We've put up with cramped, uncomfortable, poorly maintained French apartments for years, but this one went far beyond what we're okay with. There was barely space in the living room or kitchenette, and you couldn't even open the dishwasher door all the way. The sleeping area was tiny too. In the toilet there wasn't enough room to undress, sit down carefully with the door closed, or stand back up without pulling on the handle. Showering meant holding the shower head by hand.

We were a group of 39 students and this stay was awful. The apartment wasn't ready until after 5 PM, and the front desk would only speak with one person, with a terrible attitude. They took a €100 deposit per person, then explained the rules afterward. Another group told us they lost €50 from their deposit for leaving clean toilet paper for the next guests. The charges for small missing items were incredibly high too. The place called a “6 person apartment” was badly misrepresented. It had one bedroom for two, a living room that had to be turned into a bedroom for two, and a corridor barely wide enough for one standing person, where they'd put a bunk bed. It felt like even a European prisoner would have more room. We checked the inventory because the replacement costs were so unreasonable, and about 40% of the listed items were missing, which could have come out of our deposit. You'd expect staff to check that list at checkout. We were also told to clean the entire apartment ourselves. I don't mind cleaning, but it hadn't been delivered clean, and it made no sense given how late we got in. We waited hours and I can't think of a reason why. This place sucks. Please go somewhere else.

We had to clean the room ourselves and check out by 9am. They also kept our deposit because we'd left five rolls of toilet paper and put our rubbish outside the apartment. Bad service and a bad hotel, don't go!

This is basic, budget accommodation, especially useful in summer for people doing the Megavalanche near Alpes d'Huez. The drive to Alpes d'Huez is a hassle, but the summer lift schedule works well for getting both rider and bike where they need to go.