Hôtel Les Menuires Les Bruyères

The location made skiing easy, with the slopes close by and the little village of les bruyeres nearby too. The Sherpa shop is about 10 meters from the main reception. I also really liked the bar, and the two bar staff were friendly and chatty, which was good company when I was travelling alone. I can’t remember their names. The spa was clean and just the right temperature. I wish I’d used it more. Maybe there’s space to squeeze in a jacuzzi by the seating area. The whole hotel was clean, and the rooms, food, location, and staff made me wonder why it only has 3 stars. I’d have given it 4. The evening meal was especially good. I love steak medium rare, and they got mine right. Breakfast was very good too, though there was no ketchup for my scrambled eggs, so I bought some at the Sherpa across the road. The beer was cheap. I liked the Heineken and the blonde beer, even though the altitude catches up with you. Apparently I never learn. I do enjoy a beer, and I was probably a bit of a nightmare during the first week, but everyone who had to deal with me was pleasant, helpful, and smiling. I hope I didn’t annoy anyone too much. I’m planning to book another two weeks around the same time next year, and hopefully a week in January too. It was a pleasure staying there.

The lounge was a warm place to sit and take in the beautiful views, and the food was great. We had half board, with a buffet and a good choice of main dishes. The sauna and hammam were a nice extra. We booked a later ski trip in March and had a lovely stay at hotel Belambra. The room was spacious and had everything we needed, though it wasn’t as clean as I expected when we first arrived. The location was fantastic, right by the main bubble lift.

We spent a week here at Christmas. The slopes are on the same level as the building’s top floor, and you pass the lockers on the way out. Getting to the slopes and EFS classes was really easy. Our room had a great view and sun from around 10am to 3pm, and the insulation kept noise from other rooms out. We were on the 3rd floor, though, close to the road. The room was an okay size, and when staffing allowed, it was cleaned every day. The biggest problem was the heating. It wouldn’t work when we came back from skiing and wanted a warm bathroom or a bath, and the hotel couldn’t fix it. We were told the heating runs on time slots by floor, but nobody knew when our floor’s turn was. That was a very unprofessional explanation. We resorted to using the hairdryer for warmth, which I disliked because it uses a lot of energy. The huge closet was awkward too, with only two working hangers and no shelves, so we made makeshift shelves with pillows. Dust on the door panel was still there all week after I drew in it. Breakfast was quite okay: fruit, eggs, bacon, toast, jam, yoghurt, cereals, and croissants that weren’t very good. One item changed each day, like pancakes or cake. Dinner wasn’t worth the price to us. We tried it once and only went back a second time because all the restaurants were full. The salad bar was tasty, but the main courses were hit or miss and served on small dessert plates. The fries weren’t tasty, my 50g steak was tiny, the burger came raw when we’d asked for well done, and the cheese fondue was too sour. Dessert was okay. Paying 30€ for mediocre dinner in an unpleasant canteen-like setting seems far too much when the three nearby restaurants serve excellent food for the same price. We had most trouble with the staff. They spent a lot of time hanging around the same places as guests: rolling cigarettes and eating food bought outside at the bar, making coffee, then going in groups to smoke on the guests’ terrace. Some walked around with cigarettes in their mouths. In the evening they sat at the bar, and in the morning they ate in the restaurant with guests, as if they were at home. A few were polite and said hello, but most seemed young, unprofessional, and didn’t bother greeting people. I’ve never seen this at another hotel, and it felt like a very unprofessional management approach. Be careful with old reviews online, since this has been a hotel for a year and is no longer a club. There’s no kids club, and the sauna is only open in the evening, not all day. When we asked about dinner, a staff member quoted 25€ per person, as shown on the posters outside. Management then raised the price by 5€, apparently because they thought it was high season, even though their own posters still listed 25€. I had to point out the mistake. Dinner also looks nothing like the refined dishes shown in photos from a few years ago.

The staff were really friendly, and the location was nice. Beyond that, there wasn’t much to like. It was dirty from the rooms to the public areas, smelled bad, and breakfast was terrible, with a very poor cheese selection and ham of questionable origin. The sauna was fine, but the hammam was all plastic. There was no cool-down area or way to get outside from the sauna. The heating worked only now and then, and the room fridge didn’t work.