Chalet Arabette - Tignes

Sarah B

White Horizons describe Chalet Arabette as follows:||||"Chalet Arabette is a stunning luxury chalet in Tignes Les Brevieres at 1550m. It has a fantastic location with mountain views. The chalet was recently refurbished to a high standard. Sleeps 12 guests, 6 ensuite bedrooms, 6 showers, 1 bath, 100 metres to slopes, 100 metres to resort centre, delicious four course evening meals with wine, hot tub on terrace, log fire, free WIFI internet, UK TV, 2 lounges, 12 stay for price of 11."||||1) Although the decor is nice, it is NOT a stunning luxury chalet by any means; it is an average chalet with VERY small bedrooms / bathrooms. Luxury denotes space, as well as decor.||||2) It does not have a fantastic location because it is uphill on the opposite side to the slopes. ||||3) It may well have been refurbished recently, but there was fibreglass falling out the wall in our shower cubicle; floor tiles lifting on the staircase; cracked/chipped mugs & milk jug. Hardly luxury!||||4) "6 ensuite bedrooms, 6 showers, 1 bath" is VERY misleading. Yes, every room has bathroom facilities, however two rooms do not have an ensuite loo, just basin & shower. Good luck if you are unfortunate to be in bedroom 5 - the drawer in the bed base is broken (although there isn't actually any room to pull any of them out to use); it has the smallest bathroom (without a loo) that I have ever used - the floor space is only the sweep of the door, which won't open fully anyway because the radiator is behind it, so you have to step out of the way into the shower to swing the door pass you. If you're under 5'6" you'll be ok in the shower, any taller and your arms will hit the boxed in pipework which encroaches into the shower cubicle. There isn't any storage space in any of the rooms for your bags, so most of our friends put theirs in the upstairs lounge and / or spare bedroom (due to a no-show)||||5) "100 metres to slopes, 100 metres to resort centre" is the biggest lie on their front page. There are three routes in the morning to the slopes - (a) an uphill 1/4 mile walk to the funicular, measured by GPS; (b) a downhill 1/2 mile through the village, measured by GPS; or (c) a short icy set of wooden steps then sloping icy path down to the village, which may well be only 100m to which they refer. "Thanks to it’s altitude and the aspect of it’s slopes, it has always been possible to ski from and back to the chalet all winter..." - REALLY? All the pistes are on the other side of the village / valley. ||||6) "delicious four course evening meals with wine". What a joke! The food is extremely cheap quality, seconds were never offered, and the wine was disgusting, evidence shown by the amount left in each carafe each night by a group of 11 adults. Most nights the starter was cold or salad (so thin on the plate you could see the pattern through it); main course was not exactly to a 'luxury' standard either - either dried out lasagne or a tiny portion of meat accompanied by simply cooked / presented vegetables. Dessert was always served in a ramekin, showing lack of creativity, and again seconds were never offered. Finally, cheese course. Whilst it was nice to be offered this each night, the staff scarpered as soon as it was served, leaving the guests to clear away the table - EVERY NIGHT. Being asked to vacate the table to the lounge would have been very acceptable||||7) "hot tub on terrace" - yes, and it's a lovely way to relax after a hard day skiing. However, it does not have the correct power supply of 32A, so it trips if you switch on the jets. The staff thought this was funny.||||8) "log fire" - yes, although this is left to the guests to light, even on the coldest of days at -20 degrees; the staff only live a few paces away from the chalet and could have easily popped in to light it for the guests. Don't expect the log basket to be topped up without requesting this. ||||- Only plastic glasses are readily available to use if you fancy a nice glass of something other than at supper||- The chalet doesn't have a front door, guests come and go through the garage door.||- Although it was very nice to be offered a different hot option at breakfast every day, breakfast generally was very cheap with undercooked croissants (no pain au choc, or pain au raisin were ever offered), no fruit on the table, and the 'fruitless' thin jams served are the cheapest in the supermarket!!!! YUK. PS: eat quickly, because it's only served between 8-8.30am||- The cheap wine is free, but there's an honesty bar for beer. Why? Often a woman will have wine & the man will have a beer. Why should one pay and not the other, esp when 24 Kronenbourg's cost 11 Euros? This is old fashioned and for a 'luxury' chalet should be included - otherwise get a drinks license and serve decent drinks!||- The staff scarper as soon as they can morning and evening. ||- Housekeeping in the bedrooms was very poor / non existent although this was rectified during our stay. ||||||Most of these things are small details, but put altogether they are not acceptable, especially if you've paid £1200+ per couple for a week in what is described as a "stunning luxury chalet" you should expect good facilities / bedroom, and good quality food / wine; you do not expect everything to be done on a shoestring.

Elena R

The chalet accommodation cannot be called “luxurious” as the bedrooms are so small you cannot open your suitcase in them. No storage space. We were in rooms 1 and 2 and both rooms had barely the space to walk around the beds. One had an on suit bathroom, one not ( only shower and basin - different from the website description). The bathroom had no ventilation ( no vent, no fan) and no toiletry when we arrived after a long journey. The only shop in the village was a tabac shop which sold very basic toiletry. In our room, the only hangers for clothes was right above the radiator, so you could not hang anything without melting it.. Again, I think that the description” luxurious” is misleading. We were traveling with children and we could not have the use of the laundry room: the only option was the laundrette again, at the tabac shop.|The trip to the sky field was via a tortuous set of steps and an ice path Schio was very inconvenient. |The living room space is nice and welcoming. The food was not always abundant but nice. Jim and Bod, the hosts where very, very nice and a pleasure to deal with.

Margaret A

Visited Jan/Feb for a week. Very comfortable living areas, great boot room with heated boot holders. Skis stored in garage. Hot tub on the deck was very welcoming and levels checked each day. Hosts were brilliant. Breakfast at 8am consisted of warm croissants, cereal, French bread, jams and marmalade, juices Each day Judith would offer either porridge, boiled egg, bacon and egg. Instant and filter coffee available at all times along with a selection of teas. Homemade cake left each afternoon for 4pm tea. Dinner was basic but nutritious, starter, main, dessert, cheese and biscuits. As much red and white wine as required. Room made up each day if required. Plenty of hot water for showers. These are all the pluses. Cons: en suite in room 4 too small, banged our head on wooden beam and wall, would suggest renovate into next bedroom for larger shower, make that room a bunk bed room for kids who could shower in parents en suite. Room 4 heater not working but we like a cool bedroom so no problem. The heated towel rail in the en suite gave sufficient heat. General area was too warm had to open windows to cool down frequently. Access to slopes wanting, took ourselves down the steps nearby but quite dangerous at times. There is a small funicular from town to above the chalet so you can walk down but our last day skiing the door access was shuttered so could not use it had to walk up the steps with ski gear, not fun.||There is a lovely Norwegian Fjord pony trap that is a taxi service for a few Euros. Brilliant!||||Not having skiied for seven years wanted to stay on green runs but they must be color blind because those greens are more like blues, I was lucky to survive them. The general information on Tignes is that the slopes are great for beginners and older skiers but not near Chalet Arrabette area ! The last two days I stayed on the greens by the travelators, Happy there.||||Loved the restaurant La Boide, apres ski drinks and lunch quite a few days.||||We had an all weather vehicle but if you don’t definitely carry snow chains as two vehicles in our party had to use them.||||On the whole we had a very fun week.

Calum S

I originally read the older reviews for this Chalet and felt somewhat undecided. However, we went ahead and booked and were not disappointed.||All the issues with rooms aren’t a big deal and there is a large landing, TV lounge and an extra toilet where we kept bags & clothes. I found the garage style entrance very easy to use and very secure. It takes you straight into the heated boot room which is handy.||||Whilst you cannot ski right out of the door its easy to get to the slopes with a short walk down some stairs to get into the village centre. It has a hand rail and is easy enough. If you are concerned about walking in ski boots I suggest you review your whole attitude to risk and outdoor sports. There is Intersport shop at the bottom and a damn fine cafe. The new lifts ( installed in 2018) are great and take your straight into Les Boisses to catch the next lift up towards Le Lac. We loved skiing home all the way from Le Lac down into Les Boisses and then in Le Brev’. Our youngest son aged 4 managed the last leg no bother.||||The food was great with Gary & Judith serving up local dishes. All freshly cooked and they are happy to entertain any reasonable requests.||||The hot tub is fully functioning and is a really selling point. You can use your courtesy bath robe to come and go. It was a great treat at the end of the day and is nicely sheltered from the elements||||The log fire is a real treat. There is plenty of wood stored outside on the terrace so no worries there. You will not be cold !||||Jamie the operator dropped by to ensure we were happy and hung around for a drink and a relaxed chat. Testament to the fact that he likes to look after his guests.||||We has 3 families with 13 of us staying the chalet comfortably. We would go back in a heart beat. There is a new mini-lift that takes you from the bottom of the village up to the street level where Arabette is. Again, a short walk and you are back at the chalet.||||We used Tignes Spirit for rentals and they were exceptional. We slo used the T4nanny service that Arabette suggested too. All 7 of our children between the 3 families used Evolution2 for ski lessons and they were spot on also.||||Moral of the story - don’t be put of by mediocre reviews and make your own judgements ! I have added some photos to show the mini lift from the village up the slope. It could not be easier.

Serafin Fernández López

Thanks to all the great customers we've enjoyed this Christmas ⛷️♥️

Puja

Simby s

Christine Arzur