OLYDEA - Les Fontaines du Roi | Savoie

The slopes are only 100 m away, and the resort itself is beautiful. For a student on a budget, it could be decent value if you’re okay with basic conditions, but the dirt in the rooms isn’t acceptable. I’d avoid it for a family trip or if you need proper rest after skiing. The rooms are crowded and poorly laid out. They rent apartments for 10 that seem to fit four at most. Of the eight beds, two are by the entrance in the hallway, two are on a fold-out living room couch, and two are crammed into a separate space where you have to cross past the other bed to get out. There’s only one actual bedroom, though the living room is roomy enough even with the couch open. The furniture is old, the doors squeak, and the thin walls let you hear the neighbors. The reception staff were very impolite. There are extra costs too. Linen was 8 EUR for a single sheet and 16 for a double. They also ask for a 260 EUR guarantee per room, returned at the end if it’s clean and nothing is broken. If something bothers them, good luck getting your money back. We didn’t have any issues with the deposit ourselves.

After we left, they checked the room and said everything was fine, then charged us 29 euro for a new door handle and 50 euros for the work. The handle had already been damaged when we arrived. It had been stolen during the night, so we couldn’t go skiing that morning while we dealt with it. They gave us a spare, and someone fitted a new one the next day. I wish I’d taken a photo of that job. It looked like a blind three-year-old had installed it. If you get the chance, check apartment G86, or “residence,” as they call it. It’s amazing how they try to make money at the customer’s expense. We were six in a room for eight, and there was only just enough space for us. The seventh and eighth people would have had to sleep on bunk beds right beside the entrance. Only one double bed was proper; the others were terrible. The sauna was in poor shape, with cold air around your legs. There was no Wi-Fi in the rooms. Reception had it, but they switched the router off at 20:00 sharp, the one thing they always did on time. Mobile data barely worked or didn’t work at all in the apartments, though nearby bars had free Wi-Fi. We also had to do a proper clean before leaving, not just tidy up, even though our room was filthy when we arrived. They only check you out after the cleaning inspection :D I definitely wouldn’t recommend staying here. It’s a brilliant example for people in tourism of how not to run a place, and worth checking out if you want to learn how not to do business.

It’s fine if you’re on a budget, and the slopes are about a five-minute walk away. Bring your own sheets, duvet cover, and pillowcase. They didn’t provide cleaning basics like dishwasher tablets or washing-up liquid.

The final bill was what really upset me. On the last day, they took 2000€ from the deposit for a noise violation, with no explanation. We were part of an organized trip of about 300 people, and the 5€ per person we had to pay isn’t a big deal, but it was for nothing. There were no warnings and no police around, either that evening or before. I think that’s outrageous, and I’ll never stay here again. There were plenty of other problems too. I put up with the sewer smell in the bathroom and the sauna not working while I was there, among other things.