Les Gnellets

Les Gnellets was built a couple of decades ago in the time-honoured local way, all wood and stone, with some of the rooms tucked in under the massive roof timbers. It is a pretty, comfortable and welcoming chalet.

The room the time-honoured locals obviously planned to spend most of their time in is the spacious, high-ceilinged, open-plan dining-sitting-room-kitchen, with its log fire surrounded by sofas, its terrace, mezzanine etc.

Not to say that the bedrooms aren’t comfortable. There’s a super master bedroom with a balcony overlooking the Calabourdane stream, and both a bath and a very indulgent rain-head shower. Two other bedrooms have en-suite facilities, while the last two share a bathroom and separate loo. These two rooms are tucked under the rafters, up a staircase with not one but two low beams to test sobriety.

'There are two more beds on the mezzanine above the living room, which children or friends can take at half price, although we cannot guarantee flight seats for these two extra beds.

For some reason, Les Gnellets has always generated a particularly laid-back and contented atmosphere, possibly because it feels good, with all the larch and granite, perhaps because it is so convenient for skiing, with the cable car station and pistes a couple of minutes away. At night the loudest sound from without is the babble of the stream or the occasional lowing of Val d’Isère’s milk supply in the nearby farm. From within, there is occasionally a lot more noise, but Les Gnellets is one of our few chalets with no near neighours to complain.

Rooms in order of preference (in our opinion):

Bedroom 1: Double (12’6” x 11’) on the ground floor with en-suite bathroom, separate wc and private balcony.
Bedroom 2: Twin (12’ x 10’) on the ground floor, en-suite bathroom with wc.
Bedroom 3: Double (10’ x 9’6”) on ground floor, with en-suite shower and basin.
Bedroom 4: Twin (10’ x 9’6”) on the first floor. Sweet room tucked under the eaves.
Bedroom 5: Twin (9’ x 9’6”) next door to and rather like Bedroom 4. It is larger than the measurements given, but part is not very accessible owing to the low beams.
Bathrooms: As well as the en-suite facilities there is a wc on the ground floor. On the first floor there is a bathroom with bath and basin and a small separate wc for rooms 4 and 5.
Sitting-Dining Room: (22’6” x 13’6”) Long and high, with sofas around the fireplace. The kitchen (not included in measurements) is off the dining area. Mezzanine (13’ x 13’). WiFi.
Extra Beds: Two half-price single beds on the mezzanine.

The chalet is in the lovely hamlet of Le Joseray, five minutes’ walk from the village centre, though there are shops, bars and restaurants close by.

• Telephone: 0845 122 1414
  
• Telephone 2: 0845 122 1414
  
• Fax: 0845 122 1415
  
• Web: http://www.yseski.co.uk
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