Chalet Well

We had a weekend in the chalet Well and have to say that i totally disagree with the last review here, it may not be a Premium standard but that is not what it is billed as and nor what we paid for. What we got was an honest chalet, with the loveliest dining room, lovely staff, good food and a overall a nice place to stay. My only concern was the "walk of death" as we negotiated the icicles that humg from the roof...
Our bedroom had a sloped ceiling which did cut out a lot of usable room space but it had lots of storage space and a nice modern bathroom, (again small but plenty of hot water). Anyway the price was excellent and the hot tub has a great view of the whole valley.

Our stay at the Chalet Well was one of the most dissapointing ski holidays that I have EVER taken. The rooms were tiny to the point that two of us couldn't get changed at the same time unless one went into the cupboard (sorry, bathroom), or on to the balcony (that looked out on to the main road at the back of the property ), the "real log fire" was NEVER lit (we were told by Alpine elements that we should have lit it ourselves, (I'm not too sure that the Chalet insurance company would agree!!)and the two lounges were filthy. We lifted one of the sofa's and found a thick crust of dust (dried skin) and sweet wrappers that had obviously been there for some time and the downstairs "lounge" was actually a "ski/boot/snowboard room with ski eqipment taking up ALL the seating area as the outside ski room was running with water and freezing cold with nothing to dry out ski wear.Non of the tv's or DVD's worked and the Sky dish cable appeared to go through into the "chalet maid's" accomodation, it certainly didn't work anywhere else. The meals were pathetic, with one sausage and one piece of bacon on one day (various options of the the same portions throughout the week) and an evening meal of chicken that one of our party had was visibly uncooked and was taken away when I complained ( I ate at the local pizza house that night). The afternoon cakes that were presented were fantastic, so if you can live on that you will be fine. Non of the bedroom doors could be locked which meant that you HAD to trust fellow geusts (we did) but should you have to? All in all, I wouldn't go back to this chalet even if my life depended on it. However, Morzine is beautiful and the skiing was awsome.

We have just returned from Chalet Well, Morzine. The accommodation is definitely not worthy of a silver star rating and as such meant that we felt disappointed on arrival. Having stayed in a number of catered chalets in the past we feel that we have some idea of what to expect. The communal living areas were absolutely fine with 2 separate sitting rooms both with TV's, DVD and plenty of comfortable seating. Bedrooms varied from tatty and small to adequate. Bathrooms didn't have any blinds on the windows! This however was addressed my maintenance during our stay. Other bathrooms had tiles missing which was not addressed. On arrival each person was given one smallish bath towel and most beds had 1 pillow but not all! The chalet staff did work hard to address this and by day 3 we all had extra towels if not pillows. If this had been advertised as a traditional rustic chalet I feel expectations may have been more realistic.
Food was varied, afternoon tea and evening meals were at the very least good and often excellent apart from the roast potatoes! Only milk available UTH tetra pack and always warm, so had to buy our own pasteurized, but maybe we are too fussy? Breakfast was a bit of a running joke to say the least. Highlight of the week from a joke point of view was sausage on toast one very anemic looking, sausage looked a bit like the sort of thing we have seen served up at cub camp, and a single slice of baget! Cereal, bread and yogurt was also available.
The Chalet staff were great and dealt with all complaints and concerns to the best of there ability. They did all they could to make us feel welcome and were excellent with all age ranges and clearly cared about the guests.
The pistes were very well maintained and virtually all runs open despite the poor snowfall we think an impressive feat.
The town is only a 10 minute walk but if you don't wish to walk the bus stops out side the Chalet.
Perhaps Alpine Elements feel justified it giving this Chalet the Silver rating as it has a fab hot tub? We think that guests expectations are too high and hence disappointment is great. This is a shame as this a perfectly acceptable Alpine Chalet that just needs a number of repairs.

To rate it as gold or even silver standard is a big stretch of the imagination, however, it was warm comfortable.
I enjoyed my stay but thought it was expensive for what it was (£650) inc flights The rooms are all very small and to be honest it should really be a 10 bed chalet not an 18 bed chalet. If you book DO NOT book rooms 1-3. They are in the basement and are truely awful. One even has no windows. We booked room 4 which should have been for 4 people. There was two of us and it was ok. I would not put 4 in this room.
The communal living space and lounges are lovely. The food was good and plentiful. I have to say the chalet hosts and managers were exceptionally helpfull, from collection at the airport to helping us with anything in the chalet. They were all lovely and this made up for the basic accomodation.
I would say go ahead and book but bewarned it is not luxury it is average. However the hot tub is great.
Distance from town is fine. Yes its a ten min walk and no good for carrying skis, but for a small fee you can leave your own skis and boots in the hire shops in town. I enjoyed the walk as it warmed your legs pre skiing and walked off the tiredness after skiing. There is a free bus that stops right outside the door of the chalet every 20 mins so if you dont want to walk catch the bus.

Just got back from a week in Morzine with Alpine Elements staying in Chalet Well. I was also a little bit nervous about booking giving the previous reports. We paid £550 each for flights, transfers, accommodation, and food. I don't know what some people expect for this type of money, but I thought it was bang on for price/value and I've stayed in a lot of catered chalets over the years. Sure, the rooms were really small, and some people had to put up with cramped bathrooms. But the communal areas were good and that's where you spend all of your time when not out on the mountain - it's a skiing holiday. There are two lounges, a huge dining room, and a great hot-tub with views over the valley. The location is a bit out of town, too far with all your ski equipment really, but we knew that before booking and we were happy walking at night or catching the bus on the way to and from the hill - it's 15-20 mins walk which was OK by us. The couple running the chalet were ace. The food was pretty good too. The free wine was a bit rank, but you get what you pay for. I've been on slightly cheaper holidays and had much, much worse. I've been on quite expensive holidays and got only marginally better. All in all this is good value. It's not luxury. It's not gold rated. But for £550 all inclusive, what do you expect?

We holidayed here in April 2010 and what a nice place - read a couple of reviews after having booked and therefore went with trepidation, but have to say that we were pleasantly surprised. Yes it is a walk to the bars in teh centre but the ski bus stops right outside and gets you to the slopes in a couple of mins. The views from teh chalet are amazing!!
The chalet itself is fine - i dont know whether they have re-vamped it of late - but it looked absolutely fine to us - clean and white with newish bathrooms and decent beds. What more does one need? I agree with Pins pop and the Gold star rating - this may be a tad plucky, but overall for the price we paid I have had a lot lot worse! Well done team (food was belly achingly good too!)
Indeed this may not be the chalet for party go-ers but for families and couples - its ideal!

1 reader found this review helpful

On re-booking the chalet Well this year from Alpine Elemenst i noticed these comments in google. I hace to say that i really do disagree with alot of the comments raised on this site.
We found the chalet to be very relaxed and comfortable and although the location is a bit of a trek from the centre - the decor is fine, clean and the staff, service and food all pretty darn excellent.
The reception we had was very warm and i thought the chalet was (although not luxury) very nice indeed. Maybe the "Gold" badge is a little plucky from those marketing bods at Alpine El, but come on - as far as ski chalets go it's a nice enough place and beats most i've stayed in hands down!

1 reader found this review helpful

A group of eight of us booked into Chalet Well for a weeks boarding/skiing.
Upon arrival it was obvious that although this chalet was claimed to be of a gold standard it was clear that this was only fools gold. At least we could take some comfort in the fact that we were not in a bronze standard chalet, which judging by the overstatement of qualtity by Alpine Elements would probably have only been a figment of their imagination.
The rooms were exceedingly small with a distinct lack of anywhere decent to hang damp clothing. Not only this but if they had ever undergone any cleaning it must have been when the contruction staff cleaned up before handing the chalet over to the owners, which by counting the layers of dust was in excess of ten years ago. I am sure if we had been bothered we could have found some important archiological finds under the layers that had built up.
In addition the bathroom was never clean and bore a close resemblance to what you may imagine to find in a squat. The bath was constantly full of long hairs - those of the chalet staff (I use the term loosely)- and the windows had been broken and replaced with wood.
The curtains did not fit the windows, the door handles were loose, and it was apparent that nothing in the building could be considered servicable.
The dining experience was at best comical. At first this was homourous but soon became dismay. The first course would be served about half and hour late. This you might think could be lived with. However when the main course was only started to be prepared once the starters were finished you start to get a picture about how long the meals took. This became so bad that we resorted to eating in town and not bothering with the chalet 'food'. And when I say 'food' I mean potatoes with some warm double cream on top. Move aside Gordon Ramsey!
Essentially while the resort itself was great the chalet we chose and its staff were not. In fact we have struggled to find what the staff actually did. It seemed they could not even pass on any local knowledge regarding buses, other than the one that stopped outside their door.
I would never put my name to recommending alpine elements to anyone - unless they were and escaped convict. But even then they would probably find their cell and the screws more accomodating.