Victoria Lodge, Friendly Hotel

Having stayed in Val D’isere and other French resorts before, this hotel was without a doubt the best so far, not sure how it isn’t at least 4*. The staff were very polite and honestly couldn’t do enough. I proposed to my partner whilst out in Val and the manager put a candle lit dinner on in a private part of the restaurant and picked out a menu just for us. Room - We stayed in a double room with no balcony. The room was quite small, however we spent minimal time in there so this wasn’t an issue and was as described so can’t complain. It was however very clean with the bed being changed daily, towels changed when left out and tea/coffee refilled regularly. Food - Breakfast was the usual buffet with coffee machines available also. Cakes were provided at this time also to be taken up the mountain to save having to come back down in the afternoon which was a nice touch (recommend the banana bread). Dinner was a 3 course meal each evening, clean plates from us everyday. Lots of ingredients from local farms which was nice to see. Staff - All staff seemed very happy and were very attentive. Special shout out to the male manager (name escapes me but he wore a scarf inside irrelevant of the temperature) he made our engagement day even more special and seemed to work 24/7. Amenities - Although our room didn’t have a balcony there are large balconies on each floor accessible to anyone with furniture for a morning brew or evening drink watching the snow bashers. Communal areas with games, beanbags and a fire were lovely. Spa was very clean with a jacuzzi and sauna, can be booked the day before and you are allowed a 30 minute slot. Receptionist allowed us to stay in for an hour + or so on the last day whilst we were waiting for our transfer which she didn’t need to do. I heard some people complain because the boot room was communal, no complaints from us rarely saw anyone else in there and was much easier than cramming the skis in a little cupboard, room is also covered with CCTV. Location - Next door to the hotel is a Spar, pizza shop and ski hire. We used the ski shop next door which was very handy for picking up/dropping off kit. Bus to the slopes is a 30 second walk and 2 minute bus drive. We for sure will be back. Overall resort - Val is a special place for us, even more special now. We ski’d everyday as the weather was great. Shops to get anything you need and loads of restaurants. Hate to say but on this occasion the Folie was not as good as last time or as good as Val Thorens - we gave this a miss after the first few days and went straight to Coco Rico.

Very comfortable modern hotel with friendly staff. We were half board breakfast was adequate coffee from a machine very average. Evening meals varied in quality from adequate to excellent. Spa area was very nice jacuzzi and sauna welcome at end of days skiing and you get it too yourself which feels llike a real treat, need to book a couple of days in advance. Access to slopes is best using bus 50m away we always start in la fornet as its quite 1st thing and awesome skiing but going other way to nursery slopes and ski school. You can ski back to front of hotel opposite side of road using L or German Mattis and laisant. Not for beginners but the bus is every 5 minutes. We enjoyed the bar and the lounge area which were very comfortable my wife enjoyed reading in the giant beany.