Chalet-style Stay in Val Claret

We were grateful to have heating and running water in the Alps at -2 degrees Celsius, so I suppose that earns the place one star. Getting settled was a whole ordeal: at 11 pm we spent an hour outside, trying the clearly wrong code we’d been given and searching for another entrance. A very nice man eventually let us in downstairs. Then came eight trips through dirty, maze-like corridors, with half-open doors and broken handles, before we found the room. The arrival felt like the last episode of Stranger Things, and the hallways made me expect Slenderman to show up. I never thought I’d give somewhere zero. We knew esquiades.com didn’t have fantastic reviews, but we were fine with a simpler place to sleep. Reception was hard to find too, and the room didn’t come with even a bar of soap, which made it seem like cleaning wasn’t a strong point. My phone had no signal and there was no Wi-Fi, so I was completely cut off. I think I slept better at the Arenal Sound campsite. Good morning, it’s the next day. Where are the toaster and oven they promised me?

The apartment shown in the photos doesn’t exist, and the website doesn’t mention that the pictures aren’t representative of the property. What we got was a converted corridor, as the other guests also pointed out. The young people at reception, poor things, gave us the same excuses. I’d originally booked a nice apartment in Tignes through Airbnb for our ski holiday, but my wife showed me the Odalys options, which looked much more appealing in the first image. We cancelled our first booking and chose Odalys instead. What a surprise on arrival. It’s a scam, and I’ll never use Odalys again.

The location is very good, and the receptionist was pleasant and quick to respond. It’s a shame the place hasn’t been maintained. Everything needs replacing, especially the windows, which are practically energy sieves. Ancient toaster heaters warm the whole place, and the shower has a tap rather than a mixer, so you have to let the water run for ages to get a decent temperature. It’s very small, with hardly any storage apart from the big closet in the entrance, and the cleanliness is questionable. The place is incredibly outdated. What a waste not to look after it.

The location is good, but the apartment was a letdown. Four of us were squeezed into a room that was far too small, with nowhere to put our luggage or sit comfortably at the table.