An independent guide to Val Thorens
The hotels in Val Thorens include four 5-stars - the Fitz Roy, Altapura, Koh-i-Nor and Pashmina.
Among the 4-stars are the Hotel Val Thorens, Hotel 3 Vallées, and Fahrenheit 7. The Val Chavière and Sherpa are well-run, friendly 3-stars.
If you prefer a club hotel, owned and run by a tour operator, options include the Tango and the Club Med Sensations.
Read about Val Thorens hotels here.
The inventory of SNO Ski includes all the hotels within a package (flight and transfer included), but they also sell accommodation-only hotels and can tailor-make a Val Thorens package with hotel, flights and transfers under their own ATOL licence, so you can create precisely the bespoke trip you want, yet also benefit from ATOL financial protection.
Find out about hotels in Val Thorens with SNO Ski.
5 star | 4 star | 3 star | Club hotels
There are four 5-star hotels: the long-established Fitz Roy, then newer 5-stars all built since 2011, the Altapura, the Koh-i-Nor and the Pashmina.
Right at the centre of the resort, the Fitz Roy is in a great location, in place Caron. For many years, it was Val Thorens' only 4-star, then it upgraded to 5-star in 2013. It was refurbished during the pandemic.
The hotel's website says that the Fitz Roy embodies the spirit of Val Thorens, 'offering a warm, intimate Alpine retreat'.
The Superior rooms are modestly sized (20m2, but there are also Privilege rooms and suites.
The Fitz Roy has excellent facilities, including a small swimming pool in the wellness area. There's a bar with an open fire, and a restaurant called Beca which offers 'a new bistronomic experience in a relaxed setting'.
My spellcheck doesn't like the word 'bistronomic', and I agree with it.
Guests have direct access from the ski room onto the snow.
Even if you're not staying at the Fitz Roy, you can treat yourself to lunch on the terrace, or dinner in the restaurant.
The Altapura opened in December 2011, and it is described as a friendly luxury sport hotel.
The hotel's website says of the rooms:
'Large windows with views of snow-covered Alps, a blond wood harmony and warm fabrics with peppy notes, a cozy bed, bathrooms with mineral tones with a spacious shower and bathtub...elevate your wellbeing in an alpine cocoon!'
This is perhaps proof that translating florid French prose directly
into English doesn't work, but they are nice rooms.
It is spacious, and aims for a 'Nordic-chic' atmosphere. It meets the latest environmental standards, and features solar panels on the outside. Also for environmental reasons, there are no balconies.
It has a terrace, bar, and an Italian restaurant, Casa Alta. La Laiterie serves the Savoyarde specialities. The new restaurant Altayaki is where Asian and European flavours meet.
At the Altapura, there's an extensive (1000m2) spa area, with an 'igloo' space, and an indoor/outdoor pool. If you take the Plein Sud chairlift, you can see the Altapura's guests splashing around in the outdoor part of the pool.
The Altapura has a minibus for transporting guests around the resort. It is no doubt a useful service for hotel guests, but it's important that the Altapura minibus drivers don't go too fast, and show patience and respect to people walking around resort.
In general, the minibuses of the luxury hotels in Val Thorens are a menace, and the drivers don't show care and consideration for anyone other than their own passengers.
The Koh-i-Nor is a 5-star hotel, which also has luxury apartments. It's at the top of the resort, just above the Tango and the Hotel Sherpa.
The hotel is designed to be light inside. Koh-i-Nor's website says that in Persian Koh-i-Nor means 'mountain of light'.
Koh-i Nor has 63 rooms and suites, two pools in an 800m2 spa area, a lounge bar, and a business centre.
The main restaurant is called Le Diamant Noir, where the Michelin-starred chef is Eric Sansom. He 'invites you on a harmonious gustatory journey, fusing his Breton roots...with high-altitude alpine atmosphere of Savoie'.
The other restaurants are L'Atelier d'Eric and La Cave for Savoyard specialities. The KIN Lounge Bar and Terrace also has a menu.
The Pashmina is a 5-star hotel that opened in 2015. It's in place Péclet, and borders the slalom stadium.
It was built by the Gorini family, who have been in Val Thorens since 1972 and also own and run the Hotel 3 Valleys and the Chalet de la Marine (an excellent mountain restaurant).
The hotel aims for authenticity, hospitality and escapism. It uses local materials, and is built to high environmental standards. It has 42 bedrooms, plus a number of 'cosy homes' and apartments, as well as a 400m2 spa complex.
There's a bar and two restaurants - les Explorateurs and le Base Camp.
Les Explorateurs is presided over by Consultant Chef Romuald Fassenet. The Head of Kitchens is Camille Vallet and the 'Pastry Goldsmith' is Sébastien Deléglise.
There are two igloo-pods on the roof. It's a form of luxury camping, and you can spend the night in an igloo-pod with a view of the mountains and the stars, but still with home comforts such as a wood-burning stove and a Nordic bath (like half a wine barrel, and using water heated by the wood-burning stove).
There are four 4-star hotels in Val Thorens: the Val Thorens, the 3 Vallées, the Hotel du Kashmir and Fahrenheit 7.
There's also the '4 tridents' Club Med Sensations (see club hotels, below).
Hotel le Val Thorens is owned by Beaumier, like the Fitz Roy. It was probably Val Thorens's top 3-star hotel before it was upgraded to 4 stars.
It is branded as having 'Seventies Spirit', because it was one of the resort's first hotels in the 1970s. The bar is called Le 1971.
The public areas are quite spacious, and the terrace gives onto the central place Caron. There's a spa and swimming pool.
The two restaurants are La Fondue and La Brasserie.
The Hotel 3 Vallées is advertised as a mountain boutique hotel, and a warm and intimate mountain getaway. Like the Pashmina, it's run by the Gorini family.
It's quite small, but it's in a good location, with excellent food and friendly service.
I don't know whether I'm allowed to tell you this, but the restaurant is called Le Confidentiel. It is billed as a refined and elegant setting for eating.
A four-star hotel is part of the luxury Hameau du Kashmir complex, which also includes apartments.
The Hameau says it is a true haven of peace with an authentic, refined atmosphere. That makes it an idyllic place to recharge your batteries.
The main restaurant is called the Beef & Lobster.
The successor to the Hotel Mercure, Fahrenheit 7 emerged from a complete interior renovation of the building in summer 2016. The name comes from the perfect temperature for the formation of a snowflake (7F or -13.89C).
The hotel's rooms are decorated in a 1970s style, with lots of old photos of the resort on the doors.
The main restaurant serves Italian food at lunchtime and in the evening.
Le Sherpa is a cosy hotel run by the Chamberot family since 1976. It's ski in ski out.
The comfortable rooms are classed as single, economic double, tradition, panorama (with a better view), and junior suite.
The bar, with an open fire, is one of the nicest things about this hotel. The food is excellent.
There's a cosmic sauna (outside by the terrace), sauna, hammam, and jacuzzi, plus a beauty centre offering massages and beauty treatments.
Le Val Chavière is another family-run hotel, which is popular and gets many repeat visitors.
It doesn't have too many airs and graces, but all the rooms are south or south east facing, with a view of the mountains, and TV, telephone, and safe. Some rooms can take a third bed, but there isn't all that much space, so this arrangement is usually for two adults and a child, or three children.
The Val Chavière offers good set menus, with Savoyarde specialities (cheese or meat fondue) one day a week. Breakfast is a buffet affair. There's a bar with friendly service, and direct access from the ski room to the slopes.
Le Portillo (named after a ski resort in Chile) is in a good location for shops and bars, and for access to the slopes.
It has 15 good-sized hotel rooms plus 4 suites, with TV, wifi, bathroom with bath, separate WC, and balcony. It is good value.
There's a sauna and steam room. In the past, the service has been slightly eccentric. (The Portillo also has 35 apartments).
Alberta Hotel is near the slalom stadium and ESF Roc de Péclet snow garden. It's ski in ski out.
The twenty-two rooms are 11 to 15m2, so small, but rates are reasonable compared with other hotels in Val Thorens. The restaurant and bar offer simple, Italian cuisine. There's a small spa area.
I'm not sure of the star rating. Tripadvisor reviews are very positive.
Owned and run by the Scandinvian tour operator, Langley Travel (part of the TUI group, which also owns Crystal), the Tango is a club hotel.
The hotel has 59 rooms, with individual, contemporary decor, and TV.
The Tango's bar and restaurant are open to non-residents. The bar has been popular for many years with holidaymakers and season workers, for its lively but relaxed, friendly atmosphere. (Wifi in the bar and restaurant).
A stay at Tango can be booked through Crystal.
Club Med Sensations in Val Thorens opened in the 2014.
It is rated 4 tridents (the Club Med equivalent of 4 stars), and has space for almost 800 guests. It boasts bright balconies, light airy spaces and panoramic Alpine views.
It is all-inclusive - accommodation, meals, drinks, entertainment, and ski lessons are all included in the price of the holiday.
There is also a UCPA (a sort of French youth hostel), and Club Hotel Marielle MMV Les Neiges.
The Bel Horizon is available through
the tour operator Sunweb.
MMV took over the old Club Med building in 2014 for their MMV Les Arolles club hotel, which is aimed squarely at families, with children's clubs part of the package.
Whichever Val Thorens hotel you choose, I wish you a great stay in Val Thorens.
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Skiing Made Easier is the follow-up to Skiing Made Easy, and covers technique beyond basic parallel turns - carving, short turns, bumps and off piste.
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