Hands-down the best meal I've ever had on a mountain anywhere, ever. The refuge is off-piste to…read moreskier's right of La Herse or the Grand Montets cablecar. In addition to the off-piste route, you can take moderate cat-tracks to it from the piste, but there is no getting back on piste without either hiking out, taking a steep red back down to the Lognan trail to the base, or taking more off-piste back to the Lognan trail. The refuge is tiny, so you really need to call to make reservations beforehand (day before or morning of) in order to make sure you have a table. This is a beautiful old school refuge, with cozy stone walls, exposed wood beams, and old wood tables. I can't imagine a more Alps feel being possible. The menu seems to change daily, and on the day we were there they had something like oven-baked French bread pizza in cast iron skillets, but that's not doing it justice at all. The bread was cut and layered into the bottom of the pans, slices of fantastic cheese placed on top, then topped with a variety of options (e.g., tomatoes, asparagus, etc.) and baked until the cheese was bubbling. To wrap up the meal, they have a decent selection of tarts, tortes, and other sweets. My rhubarb tart was amazing, with a perfect crust and enough rhubarb for flavor in the tart without being too bitter, and my friend's blueberry tart disappeared damn near instantly, so I assume that it was also good. Great food, great views, and a great vibe; what more could you want from a ski hut in the Alps?

Best place to eat on the mountain in Chamonix that's lift accessible, even if you do need to ski…read moreoff piste to get there. Put it on your must visit list along with Refuge du Requin.

What Americans call "huts", the French call a "refuge". I think it's a much better term. It's a…read moreplace to hunker down in a very unsafe environment...not a make-shift, crappy shelter. Thus, the French name is "Refuge Vallot". Located at 4,362 meters on Mont Blac (on the Goûter route), this is not a place you "plan" on staying at. If you end up here, something probably went wrong: someone is hurt, horrible weather rolled in, you got lost, etc. It'll cut the wind on a desperate night, but not much else. Now that I think about it, the better term for this "refuge" might actually be "hut". When you see it on the way up, it's best to keep sloggin' for the summit.

This hotel was filled with character. It is part of a Club Med chain. You are welcomed by a…read morerepresentative when you arrive. The staff were all very friendly and patient with the non-french speakers in the group. A lovely Hotel, very big and fairly easy to get lost in. The food/buffets were of an exceptional standard. The rooms were very cosy and naturally had amazing views of the ski slopes. They had animal head as lights stands and very brightly painted rooms. This hotel has a lovely gym, sauna and spa area. There is also a pool which goes into the outdoors, which brings some nice scenery whilst swimming. There are other activities to do if you are not a keen skiier, for example shopping, gym, spa's, go to cafe's. The bar area was also very lively and a great place to unwind after a hard day out on the slopes. Also a fantastic chance to meet fellow skiiers. I am not a natural skiier and I found this very accommodating and situated on the main transport links into Chamonix town. The hotel was a bus ride away from Geneve Airport. There may be nearer routes but this was the one we chose.

Food was marginal, Cheese and bread were fantastic, main courses were cold, soggy and not…read moreappetizing. Creating food on a mass scale is very difficulty, the workers are awesome in the dining room, and work hard but the amount of food they have to put out is too much volume to be at any kind of quality. The worst is the ski instructors. We were misinformed. Don't believe that you will get a "Ski tour Guide" Rather you get a mothergoose style ski instructor who screams at you if you do not do exactly what he/she expects. The rudeness and non communicative style is terrible. I am American, do not speak french, and therefore was not able to ski alone in fear of getting lost without local language skills. I did not want to get myself in a situation where I couldn't find my way back, or take the wrong lift. I am a low end intermediate skier who enjoys Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and the American West, so have a lot of experience. However, because I am not a black Diamond skier they put me in the "baby class" It was so incredibly boring. It was also dangerous. Because they want to teach "mother-goose style" we were constantly at risk of being skied into. AND that's exactly what happened-- repeatedly! I finally said, I am not going to stand in the middle of the mountain waiting for your permission to move, I will see you at the bottom (which wasn't far at all). I got screamed at! Madame, stay where I tell you to stay!. My friend broke her ACL because someone skied into her. So much for their instruction! Old school instruction, ridiculous experience. Spent a lot of money to get there, flew from NY to Geneva and didn't enjoy myself. Couldn't wait to get back to the East Coast and ski with respectful people. My advice: If you visit Chomonix, do not go to Club Med, stay at a local place, hire a tour guide daily to take you at your level, eat in town and enjoy. Although friends of mine (I was in a CT ski club tour) went out for dinner and waited to be waited on (in a line); the counter woman ignored them, they politely asked to be waited on and she screamed, WHAT NO BONJOUR, NO HELLO, GET OUT!! OMG, really! Do they not have hospitality classes for the French? It is exactly as you have heard all these years, sadly to report but true, the French seem to be snobs. Probably best to go to the Italian Alps or the Swiss Alps. Wherever you go, don't go to club med in Chomonix for skiing.

Stopped here for a beer on our first day on the TMB. The staff was super friendly. It was great to…read moresit and enjoy a beer with a great view.

Excellent super cute hotel in Chamonix. Great staff. Great…read morevibes. Great food and coffee.

Another fabulous alpine hut in the French alps…read more This is one of the more rickety huts in France, compared to the newer ones (Gouter), but compared to most mountain huts in the US, this one is large and super-deluxe! Soup? Sandwiches? Beer? Yep. A good "bad weather day" idea is to just hike out to this hut, have lunch, and hike back.

This small hotel nestled in the French Alps is truly a hidden gem. The young couple running the…read moreestablishment has truly crafted a beautiful indoor ambiance and are eager to assist in any way that they can. The restaurant serves food that is unlike any other. There really is no better restaurant in the area. While the hotel may be a 5 minute drive from downtown Saint-Gervais, it is so worth it.

Final step of our Tour Du Mont Blanc...sort of anticlimactic after doing the fun ladders ( Stage 10…read moreof the Tour du Mont Blanc between Tré-le-Champ and La Flégère). This Gondola is a quick fun ride down to Chamonix ( you can also take it up for day hiking or more). Incredibly efficient. There are three great rides to take in Chamonix: The train to the sea of ice, the Gondola to the needle, and the Gondola on the other side.

Best accessible view of the European Alps. Absolutely breathtaking. Can see the majestic Grandes…read moreJorasses and Mont Blanc from the top of the cable car at Aiguille du Midi (3842m, ~12,605ft). The view of Grandes Jorasses in particular is stunning beyond belief. The only thing better is the mixed rock, snow, ice climb up the Cosmique Ridge (about 200-300m down to the Glacier du Geant on one side and about 2800m to the Chamonix valley floor on the other side of the ridge) and also the views on the way up to the top of Mont Blanc (4810m, ~15,781ft). If you do that though, get in great shape, take some Diamox, strap on the crampons and be prepared for a 12 hour day of strenuous exercise at altitude. Well worth it though. The Aiguille du Midi is the convenient starting point to get to Cosmiques Refuge, the starting point of one of the routes to Mont Blanc, where you can go up the cable car at around 5pm, eat dinner and sleep in the refuge until 12 midnight - 4am where you'll start up the mountain in the dark.

very cozy, amazing view of the mountains, the food was also very good, we were the only ones here,…read morebut the service was very quick