Club Hotel Le Totem

3 readers found this review helpful

Excellent Excellent Excellent! what more can i say as a group of four we had an excellent stay at le totem w/c 1 mar 09 and would definitely recommend anyone of all ages with children or without to stay here. The Hotel is clean tidy spacious offering big leather sofas to relax in with your afternoon tea and cake ( which is free) the bar is tended until you leave (and thats not saying we are heavy drinkers) and they do a great deal on wine and lager buy purchasing a ticket for ten drinks lager 35 euros and 20 for wine so works out reasonable considering we paid 45 euros for 4 large beers on our first day ok they were litres !!! the breakfast and evening meals are really good with a choice of cooked breakfast to cereals, fruit yogurts ham cheese, croissants and toast and a choice of three main meals on the evening. the staff are only too happy to please and are friendly and really helpfull have to say thanks to alex kate billy robyn for making are stay there so enjoyable. the rooms are of a travellodge standard clean tidy with lovely views of the snow covered mountains and rooms cleaned daily if you wanted. as for the pistes you have a wide range of choice and would definitely recommend buying a full piste pass. this place is ideal for all types of skiers and boarders and children. go see for yourselves you will be impressed

1 reader found this review helpful

My partner and i stayed here and it was like being on a school trip... there was a big group staying here, they spoilt it for everyone else, the kids ran riot, the parents didn't seem to be bothered to keep the kids under any control. Any time spent at the hotel was dominated by the noise this group made, the kids ran up and down corridors and the communal areas were a mess.
If you wanted cake at 4pm, than be prepared for a scrum..my advice-nip over to the bakery accross the square.
We met some lovely people and the general feeling for all of us was, that Crystal should not allow such large groups, and/or at least ask the parents to keep them under control.
The staff were great, i don't know how they keep smiling!
The 3 course dinner in the evenings tasted great and looked good...
The accomodation isn't great, but it is clean and warm...

2 readers found this review helpful

Whatever happen last year forget it as this year it was awesome. Yes we have fantastic weather and great snow but the hotel was equally good and with Crystal renovating it during the summer it can only get even better..! Don't listen to any rubbish about the food as it was outstanding especially in the evening. I do agree the breakfast could be a bit fresher but this depends on what time you get down for the buffet. I you want 5 star food all day then empty your bank account and go the other over priced resorts.
We took our two kids 7 and 9 and we felt very safe letting them go off and meet other children and make friends playing on the Wii, Pool table, table football as well as the many activites the staff organised. Yes the rooms are basic but who wants to stay in their room..?
Take a bit of time to chat to the staff and you will reap the benefits. They are very helpful, young but not 'kevins', and keen to help. Will book again next year so enjoy it..!

Absolutely no hesitation in recommending this to any family. We are 2 adults and 2 children of 6 & 8 who used the Whizz Kids drop off / pickup and lunch service.
Accomodation - we saw a 2 adult + 2 child room (ours), 2 adult only and a 2 adult + 3 child adjoing room and all were of a good size with loads of storage space to get the gear out of the way, and all were clean and warm.
I can't say enough about the quality of the staff - attentive, friendly and always available. There was no mucking about and they were there to help. This was service that was more than you should expect and made the holiday a really pleasant experience. Having done a similar holiday in a similar type of hotel in Morzine in 2008 (which was really very poor), we approached this with some trepidation, and apart from a hiccup on the transfer (down to flight delays and bad logistical planning - where we had no rep on the bus), the holiday experience was near perfect.
A good manager has created a good team - credit due there. Adult food was excellent - really good standard for this type of accomodation and catering for children was good as well.
Hotel has a good sized bar area, Wii for the kids (and adults) 2 x pool tables, a few arcade games and Sky TV - what more could you want from a really well thought out place.
The resort isn't particularly pretty, but the location is A1 and the off piste variety is fab.
Why not a 10 ? Don't really know - maybe a 9.5

four adults two children
3 intermeadiate skiers,3 novice
hotel in great position for ski school and lifts for rest of resort
the hotel is warm ,rooms are basic ,but clean and have very adequate wardrobe space
staff were very friendly and helpful.
meals were very good with a varied and reasonable choice
of starters ,main and sweet,with 1/2 litre of red/white wine
and soft drinks for children
only minor gripe for us was because we all wanted to eat together
and not at the earlir childrens meal times a lot off the choice off food didnt suit them ,perhaps another choice for older children would help.
the hotel does have a kiddies club,which looked to be well attended and well run
we have been to numerous hotels and chalets,all have good and bad points for various
reasons but i would put this up in our top 10,so yes i would recommend it.

Crystal and the hotel have noted the feedback from last year and there is no need to consider the comments from 2008/9. It is a different experience completely now and we had an excellent stay. The food was great, the staff very helpful and the position for skiing ideal. Go enjoy!

Spent New Year 08/09 atthe Club Le totem - excellent holiday. Hotel is in perfect position for the slopes and ski school(2 mins away). The roomsare usual standard for this type of holiday, but clean with great views (for half of rooms). Facilities were good, spacious dining room with large bar and seating area. The food was first class and the staff excellent. Double check your child care arrangements as we had a few initial issues!
Would go back next year -

Having stayed in Totem several years ago we were very disappointed to find such a lowering of standards. Our room was OK but cleaning during the week was minimal to say the least and we had to ask for clean linen. The food was poor and the sevice, particularly at breakfast, was slow. The public rooms were scruffy and the carpets were filthy. Worst of all was the lack of security. I put my sterling cash in an envelope in the hotel safe but on the last night when I went to collect it , the envelope was open and the cash had gone. In spite of letters to Crystal I have had no reply so ,dear skiers ,beware !!

First Of all I would like to say, that if you are reading this review, It was at the LAST week of the season, from the 5th of April 2008, to the 12th April 2008 so the Hotel and its staff was getting ready to close...
I have been to La Totem in Flaine once before now, and that was 3 years ago...Quite frankly, the difference is unbelieveable...
The room we had was great, just what i would exspect for 3 stars. As before it was clean when we arrived and although it was not cleaned during the week (down side i no) My family and I didnt spend much time in it anyway so the clean towels where the only thing that we majorly missed during the week.
The only bad side is we noticed that there were two school groups staying at the hotel, thats fine dont get me wrong, im not old myself and id of loved to off been able to go skiing with my old school, but the teachers had master keys, and so they were able to get into any bedroom in the hotel, even if they new it or not, i dont think thats right, fair enough the hotel having a key, thats just safe and its there hotel, but a teacher who gives a key to the kids? i dont think thats fair on the rest of the guests some how
The staff were amazing! they are all aged between 18 - 30 and most are taking gap years before and after uni...This might sound strange, but it acutally worked really well, they are all great with kids and have more than one kids club! so this hotel is extremly well organised regards to ski clubs, ski schools, and evening clubs for the children so they are always occupied, weather it be pajarma club, kids disco, evening meals, or "Whizz Kids" the club that runs all day so you can ski with out having to worry what your children are doing
The Staff are all willing to help with anything, i personally made friends with one, and im going to go and ski with him next year, so its a really friendly enviroment!
but unforuntly as regards to the hotel, its enough about the GOOD stuff and start to talk about the problems...
really there is only one....and thats the Chef!
He/She should be kicked out and made to work at Mc Donalds...the food was stupid...
Each night there is a menu inwhich you choose a starter, main course, and a pudding, fair enough
there are 2 starters (soup or a somthing left over that they want to get rid off)
3 main meals (one meat, one vegatarian, and one fish)
2 puddings (anything they have in the freezer
The problem we experienced, is that after a long hard day skiing, cold food, thats been shoved from freezer to plate in SMALL quantitys, just really did not fill me or my family up...or for that matter any one of the guests! even the manager and manageress WILL NOT eat at the hotel, and so go over the road to the extremly good restaraunt on the other side of the square...
Its not like me to be annoyed as we did have a amazing holiday, but dont go at the end of the season, as literaly everything is the last of what they have, the management are tight with money, and so even though we pay the same as everyone else, we just get whats remaining from the season, or just get told that "were sorry but im afriad we have run out for the season"
so unfortauntly compared to the last time that i went to la totem, the food is awful, but the hotel is as friendly as ever!
PLUS! THERE IS ALWAYS SNOW! *2ft dropped nearly everyday!*
hope this helps, if not contact me if you want to ask any questions on
ben_annas911@hotmail.co.uk
Ben

Good points were the fantastic snow and brilliant position of the Hotel. Most of the staff, especially the restaurant hosts were really great and did their best and this report is not aimed at them.
Here it stops - this was our 4th visit to Le Totem and will be our last trip with Crystal although Flaine was fab.
Le Totem was clearly run on a very tight shoe string and if the current manager was brought in to improve things then I dread to think what is was like before.
1. Hot breakfasts were cold - little choice of 'hot' food and when I received a bowl of porridge it tasted like it was scraped from the bottom of a burnt saucepan.
2. The 'chef' was obviously on an over inflated ego trip serving the likes of Kangaroo casserole on arrival and later in the week a kebab of Ostrich, Venison and Kangaroo that the staff were labelling 'zoo on a stick'! Hilarious but revolting food - in fact the menu the whole week was bizarre to put it mildly.
It didn't inspire me to see a member of the kitchen staff with a cigarette in his mouth when the door was open.
3. Bar staff were less than diplomatic at times and we didn't appreciate seeing staff getting drunk in the hotel bar during quizz night.
4. The hotel was grubby throughout with little evidence of maintenance - Health and Safety was not a priority.
Shame on you Crystal.