Here 4 the Apres

Apartments are more affordable, have more space, and can fit more people than hotels in Val Thorens. Some apartments even come with washing machines and free parking spots. But, you do lose out on hotel amenities such as bag check, spas, and concierge service. For my American friends, be aware when you book that WiFi and linens aren’t necessarily included in your apartment booking.

Apartments

PROS

• Larger than hotels: If you plan to do a week in Val Thorens, an apartment gives you more space so you don’t feel so claustrophobic. They’re not as big as apartments in USA, so note the square footage of the apartment when you book it.
• Can fit more people: Most hotels are only designed to fit 2 people comfortably. Apartments tend to accommodate more people. Last apartment I rented in Val Thorens had twin bunk beds plus a queen pullout with a very thick memory foam mattress, so it could definitely fit 3 people comfortable, and 4 if 2 people are willing to share the pull out.
  • Warning: I’ve noticed on some apartment listings that an apartment is a 2 bedroom, but in reality there is the common area with a couch that can turn into a bed and a separate room with more bed. I guess technically it is 2 rooms with beds, therefore a “bedroom”. Look carefully through the pictures to make sure a “2 bedroom” is a common room, plus 2 extra rooms with beds or not.
• Full kitchen: If you think you’d like to cook to save some money, or even just want to store leftovers to heat and eat later, a full kitchen is very useful. Also great when you want to chill your REAL FRENCH champagne! There is usually also wine glasses available for use!
• Generally cheaper: For the amount of space you get, the price is almost always cheaper than a hotel.
• Some apartments have laundry: When I go on longer ski trips, I prefer an accommodation with a washer and dryer. I’ll bring along tide pods and do a wash mid-trip. Last time I went to VT they actually lost my ski bags, and I didn’t bring any clothes on my carry-on so good thing I had a washer and dryer to wash every evening. The apartment I was in had a washer/dryer is one unit, where the dryer doesn’t use hot air, but just makes the barrel hot and tumbles around. It took about 2.5 hours to dry my clothes. Good thing the air in Val Thorens is so dry, just hang your damp clothes near the heater and it’ll be dry by morning!
• Some apartments come with free parking: While I don’t drive, I had a friend from Lyon come up to ski with me on Sunday. No (free) street parking is available in Val Thorens, so you’ll have to pay for parking which ranges from 11 Euros (which is parking lot that is further away so you’ll need to take a shuttle) to 17.40 Euro for the parking lot closest to my accommodations and within the resort.

CONS

• French apartments don’t always come with WiFi: If you’re planning on working remotely or just want WiFi so you’re not paying a ton for international data (although getting a French SIM or eSIM is always a great option), make sure to choose an apartment with WiFi. You can use the filters on Booking.com or VRBO to make sure they only show apartments with Wifi. But a couple warnings:
  • Also even though I chose an apartment with WiFi, it was very slow to the point it was better to use data from my French SIM card. If you’re using Booking.com, you can ask the accommodation questions, I haven’t done it before I booked even though there is an option. Sometimes there are already comments or the question as already been answered on the listing. I know they are responsive if you already booked, so you can always book a refundable apartment and cancel. If you do ask, I would be very specific and ask them to do a speed test and have them let you know the speed. Also do a speed test at home to see what speed you normally work at home with. Online it says that you need at least 10-25 Mbps download speed, and 3 Mbps upload speed to use Zoom which is the heaviest of all video conferencing programs. But much better if you’re at least over 100 Mbps download speed.
  • Even if the apartment lists WiFi, it might only be available in the common areas like the lobby. So be sure to look carefully through the description or comments. You can also ask the proprietor through the Booking.com website.
• French apartments don’t always come with linens: This was quite foreign to me, but most French apartments don’t supply linens including sheets for the bed, towels for the bath, and kitchen towels. Maybe this is a COVID related change? Read the description of your apartment very carefully to make sure they list linens. It wasn’t mentioned on my Booking.com listing, so the owner of the apartment very kindly offered to pay for my linens since it wasn’t specified. Since most French just drive a car up or pack bags but rent ski gear, the extra weight isn’t as burdensome as for Americans lugging 50 pounds of ski gear on planes, trains, and automobiles (buses count as automobiles right?). I see on google maps you can hire linens at Loc’Linge. But would probably be easier just to ask your accommodations to arrange the rentals that you pay for so its already delivered to your apartment in case you are delayed. Its not usually too expensive. About 10 Euros for the week.
• Stricter check in and check out hours: While hotels also have strict check in and check out hours, they tend to have an hour or so flexibility. And even if you can’t check into your actual room, they will hold your bags for you. Most apartments will ask you to leave right at your check out time. Fortunately the bus depot location has a luggage check that is quite affordable. I paid about 3 Euros total for both my ski bag and my boot bag, so you can always do that if you want to hit the slopes before your bus out of Val Thorens.
• French apartments don’t come with extras: I’m sure everyone has had experience with AirBnB in the US. Really outstanding hosts will supply shampoo, conditions, hand soap, laundry detergent, toilet paper, extra linens, coffee, tea, cream / milk for coffee, and lots of snacks. This is not typical in France, so come prepared. There was barely half a roll of toilet paper when I arrived, and it was after the grocery stores closed so I couldn’t buy toilet paper until in the morning when the markets opened again.
• You’ll need to do light cleaning and take out your own trash: You’ll need to do light cleaning such as finish cleaning the dishes, strip the sheets and put linens in designated bag, need to return the linens if you rented directly, and very importantly take out the trash and recycles and put them in the appropriate bins outside. When I checked out of my apartment, I had to text to arrange a time for checkout so they can make sure the apartment has been cleaned and to pick up the linens.

This is the apartment I stayed in Val Thorens. It was recently renovated compared to some of the other apartments I’ve seen online. There were ski lockers downstairs and free parking in the covered garage. There was a full kitchen including a dishwasher. I couldn’t figure out the convection oven built into the microwave, so I stuck to stovetop and microwave. As I mentioned above the Wifi was very slow but I did find the washing machine very useful. This apartment was located on “Thirsty row” near Klub Summit and Cafe Snesko,so it is very loud on the street view, plus drunk people coming home from going out.

Hotels

Pros

• Staff always available if there are problems: This could be anything from getting so drunk at the bar that you lost your key, to flooding a toilet in the middle of the night.
• Hold Bags: If you arrive early on check-in day, or leaving later in the day on your last day, hotels will hold your bag for you and give you a place to change so you can get a couple runs in. Bonus, since Saturday is when people come in and out of Val Thorens and the most commonly sold lift ticket is the 6-day ticket, the lift lines are nonexistent! But like I mentioned previously, there is a bag check at the bus stop, but it is more convenient if it’s located in your accommodations.
• Most hotels come with free WiFi: How else are you going to be able to post on social media to make everyone super jealous of your amazing European ski vacation? Much like the apartment situation, data can be slow or only available in the common areas so make sure to investigate if this is a mandatory amenity.
• Some hotels come with free breakfast or even have half or full board: I don’t usually eat a full breakfast everyday at home, but even though I’m a fairly leisurely skier, I do usually like having breakfast so I can skip lunch but not get too wasted at the Apres ski!
• More hotel options with a hot tub or sauna: Not sure about anyone else, but on those colder winter days, I get chilled to the bone and a hot shower just doesn’t warm me up enough. I need to be submerged in a hot tub or sit in a nice sauna to feel human again.
  • Warning: Of the hot tubs I’ve tried at ski resorts in France and Italy, all of them were lukewarm at best, so maybe stick to the places with saunas?
• Hotel concierge can recommend and book restaurants, spas, and call local taxis: Uber and Lyft don’t work well in this area so if you want to go to a nice restaurant in the town over (everything in Val Thorens is walkable so no need for a taxi within town), better to have your hotel call local cabs for you.

CONS

• Tend to be more expensive than apartments: While you can find some lower price hotels in Val Thorens, apartments in general tend to be less expensive overall. I haven’t see a hotel in Val Thorens under $200 a night.
• Not good for odd number of people: Apartments tend to have more space and beds to accommodate groups of 3 or 5.
• No kitchen, most don’t even have a mini-frig and definitely not a microwave

I stayed at Hotel Club mmv Les Arolles back in 2020. The rooms are tiny, but there are triple rooms with 3 twin beds which is unusual in Val Thorens. Our shower door broke and we had to have someone come fix it. Oddly the toilet was separate from the sink and shower, so someone can use the toilet while they someone else is showering, but they couldn’t wash their hands. There was spa access, but you were only allowed 1-2 slots per person for the week and you needed to book it in advanced. This was all full board, but the food was pretty forgettable and the free wine headache inducing. Just pick up nicer wine at the supermarket, its worth it. The best things about the hotel were it was conveniently located, right off the Caron gondola, but also ski in ski out. The spa was nice but a little crowded. The bag check made it easy to ski for a couple runs on the day I left. And although the food wasn’t amazing, there was always a hearty breakfast with eggs, meats, and coffee in the morning, a cheese board, salad, and fresh bread, served raclette one night, and had unlimited dessert including ice cream at night. It was just convenient instead of trying to get reservations or making all my meals and then cleaning up.