Belambra Clubs Résidence Les Menuires - Le Hameau Des Airelles

“Good value, warm and comfy”

Layout: From the main road a small road slopes steeply downhill to a selection of about half a dozen blocks. Reception is the first one you come to. The swimming pool and saunas are in the block behind the reception block. Our block had its own ski-room, and I assume all the accomodation bloc… more

Layout: From the main road a small road slopes steeply downhill to a selection of about half a dozen blocks. Reception is the first one you come to. The swimming pool and saunas are in the block behind the reception block. Our block had its own ski-room, and I assume all the accomodation blocks did. Car parking is at the top before you reach the reception block. Location: Slightly out of the village centre, but once you've found your way around, it only takes about 10-15 mins to walk to the centre, and there's a free lift that runs into the evenings to take you up and down the hill. There are 2 or 3 restaurants very close and plenty in the village centre. There is a Sherpa supermarket about 5 mins walk away, and a Carrifour nearer (by the petrol station on the main road). The ski-bus stop is just at the main road, so extremely convenient, and the Bettex piste goes just past one of the accomodation blocks. It is a very short walk across the carpark and a climb up a very short slope to get onto the Bettex run, which although blue rather than green is very easy skiing and a delight to start each day on (at least it was with the snow conditions we had!). Those in the accomodation blocks further down can also take the road under the piste and follow a little path the other side onto it, to join a few metres further down and save a bit of uphill climbing. There is a ski-hire shop literally next door to Reception, and a couple of others very close. Reception: Open from ( I think) 8:30am to 11am and 4:30pm until sometime in the evening. Had a selection of comfy sofas and some childrens toys. There is a key-box for anybody departing outside of those hours. Wifi is available free in Reception. I believe there is also the option to hire an in-room wifi. Swimming pool / sauna: At check-in you are given wristbands to show that you have access to these facilities. There is a quite large swimming pool, with some sunbeds around it, and dry saunas and steam saunas. There is one large area of lockers (not seperated into male/female) which take a 1 Euro coin (and return it when you put the key back in). The only downside is there are only 3 changing areas (each of which can hold 2-3 people) and one of them doesn't have a door, so at busy times there can be a queue for those. It helped to go across with swim-things under your clothes so you don't need one at the start, but you still really had to wait for one to get dressed in afterwards. Note that outdoor footwear needs to be taken off once you are in the pool reception area, before going downstairs to the pool & saunas. Shoes can either be left up at reception or carried down and put in your locker. Makes sense, as you don't want to be walking barefoot where people have traipsed in muddy shoes. Room: Although only two adults, we decided to pay the extra and go for one with a separate bedroom rather than just the sofa-bed, and for us that was the right decision as we appreciated the extra space. We had a bedroom with two cupboards, and two single beds pushed together. They did tend to drift apart a bit in the night, so we used a pair of shoe laces to tie the bed legs together! The main room was spacious, with a sofa which could easily seat 3 and a comfy stool around a long coffee table, and a kitchen table with four chairs. There was a TV although we never used it. The kitchen facilities comprised a fridge, dish-washer, four rings, microwave which also had a grill function, coffee machine, toaster, kettle (which goes on a ring, not plug-in) and came with lots of crockery and glasses and pans (including pressure cooker). We only had breakfasts and the occasional lunch in, so didn't really use much of the kitchen facilities. The bathroom had a short bath (as is typical in French ski accomodation) with a shower over it, and plenty of space around the wash-basin, and a heated towel rail. There was plenty of very hot water. What is / isn't provided: As is typical with cheaper French ski accomodation, costs are kept to a minimum, therefore you do not get everything done for you. Duvets, pillows and covers are provided, and your clean sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers are neatly packaged up, so you do have to make the bed yourself on arrival. Towels are not provided, so either bring your own, or rent some from Reception. There is no soap / shampoo / shower gel provided, so bring your own. There is no washing up liquid, sponge, tea-towel or dish-washer tablets provided, so either bring your own, buy a "household products" pack from Reception, or buy what you need from the supermarket. There is no toilet roll provided, but the previous people had kindly left half a roll. Again these can be bought from Reception or the supermarket or just bring one with you. Bin bags were provided (one for the kitchen bin, one for the bathroom bin, one for the toilet bin) but if one for each wasn't enough for you, you could buy more at Reception. You are expected to clean it yourself on departure - a dustpan and brush, mop and bucket, toilet brush are provided (but if you want cleaning products such as disinfectant, you need to buy/bring your own). If you don't want to clean before you leave, you can request them to do it for you, for about £50. If they find you haven't cleaned, they will do it and charge you. Radiators in main room and bedroom worked well, and we generally found a setting of 5 (on a scale of 1-8) worked well for us. Ski-room: Large locker for each room, plenty of room in it. Was really convenient to have one in our block. Several chairs provided. didn't have heated pegs for ski boots so if your boots got wet, it might have been difficult to dry them out, but ours didn't. Overall: Worked really well for us. Comfortable, warm, plenty of space, enough room to store things, although if you were four people and eating in for all your meals, you'd need to be a bit imaginative about where to store things. Would happily stay there again if I was back in Les Menuires.

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“Good value”

Regular user. Airelles need a makeover with a few improvements such as pool lighting, kirchen supplies and comprehensive wi fi to make it up to date. Some are easy wins such as towels and dish cloths, working lights and repaired fittings. Others such as wi fi need a serious improvement. Why not op… more

Regular user. Airelles need a makeover with a few improvements such as pool lighting, kirchen supplies and comprehensive wi fi to make it up to date. Some are easy wins such as towels and dish cloths, working lights and repaired fittings. Others such as wi fi need a serious improvement. Why not open a decent lounge and cafe area?

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“Basic but ample accommodation ”

Our apartment was basic but ample for a skiing break. It was, however, very dirty and the bed covers were filthy. The pool, steam room and sauna were nice but the gym had equipment that was not plugged in which was frustrating. A little word of warning. We paid for a parking space which was undergr… more

Our apartment was basic but ample for a skiing break. It was, however, very dirty and the bed covers were filthy. The pool, steam room and sauna were nice but the gym had equipment that was not plugged in which was frustrating. A little word of warning. We paid for a parking space which was underground. The salt/snow dripped from the ground above onto the bonnet and roof of our car and damaged the paintwork.

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