A little less than a year after my last mountain getaway (remember my last little trip around the Mont-Blanc in 2016), I headed back to the Chamonix valley for a few days at the start of spring. I was lucky enough to be invited to stay in 2 very beautiful hotels in town (which I will introduce to you), to ride in a Skoda Kodiaq (as a passenger, obviously, since I don’t have a driver’s license), and I’ll take this opportunity to give you a few ideas for things to do and places to discover during a trip to Chamonix.
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Table of Contents
The Rocky Pop Hotel
This new-generation mountain hotel, fun, relaxed, and recently opened, is located in Les Houches, a village in the valley very close to Chamonix. Here, they are dusting off the hotel concept with an establishment designed as a friendly and joyful living space that will particularly appeal to thirty-somethings by incorporating quite a few symbols of this generation (my own!) for which you will find some clues in my photos below…
My room 126
Small but very functional, this room, although facing the street, is quite quiet at night. You can hear the cars during the day, but at night the traffic seems much slower, and that’s a good thing!
Price of my room: between 50 and 250 € depending on the season Room prices: between 50 and 200 € in low season / between 140 and 400 € in high season
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The Restaurant
The hotel also has a cool restaurant with a nice and very varied menu, so there is something for everyone.
To try:
- The Tartiflette with Reblochon (18 €), I unfortunately found that the potatoes were not cooked enough, a pity…
- The fish of the day (salmon that day) and vegetable wok (19 €), super good!
- The burgers from the house: the classic (12 €), spicy Mexican (16 €), Mont-Blanc (14 €), veggie (13 €), Rocky-Pop (17 €).
- The very varied pizzas from the restaurant (between 11 and 17 €).
- The Génépi Baba (8 €), with fresh fruits, vanilla whipped cream, the special Savoy dessert.
- The chocolate brownie with nougatine ice cream (8 €) and the blueberry cheesecake (8 €), the round of desserts.
- The French toast with salted butter caramel and vanilla ice cream (8 €).
- The profiteroles with chocolate sauce and praline ice cream (8 €).
- The fruit tiramisu, one of the desserts of the day.
- As for wine, I advise you to try the local stuff with a Haute-Savoie white wine, the Chasselas de Féchy (23 € for the bottle, 4 € for the glass).
Great deal: the RockyKids Menu for 12 €
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The Cocktails
I strongly advise you to try the establishment’s cocktails, which are of a very high level, and I know what I’m talking about with all the cocktail bars that I test in Paris…
To try:
- the Rocky Sour with Génépi, lemon, and griottines (10 €)
- the Chambord Margarita with Tequila, Chambord, and lime (11 €)
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The Buffet Breakfast
Buffet Breakfast Price: 10€
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The two Penthouses
These two accommodations are a really great deal for very large families or for groups of friends, as they can each accommodate 12 people in a 90 m2 space spread over two floors. In low season for 12 people, it only comes to 10 € per person (if you are 12, obviously) on certain dates, let’s just say it’s really worth it to go with your tribe at that price…
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The hotel’s great extras
- Free movies and channels to watch on the TV
- Free internet
- A corner with refrigerator, microwave, kettle, bottle warmer made available for free
- A ping-pong table, a foosball table, and a pétanque court
- A play area for children
- A room with washing machines in the basement
- The Rocky shuttle that takes hotel guests for free to the ski areas of the Chamonix valley (in the morning and late afternoon)
- The little extras graciously made available (fruit juices, candies, coffee, tea, books, comic books, board games) as well as the new additions (popcorn machine, musical entertainment two evenings a week, children during school holidays) are numerous
- An e-shop with RockyPop products
Rocky Pop Hotel 1476 Avenue des Alpages, 74310 Les Houches
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The Heliopic Sweet & Spa Hotel
Another hotel in Chamonix (which, by the way, belongs to the same owner as the Rocky), but more central this time, the Heliopic is a 4-star establishment open since 2013 and it is located right next to the Aiguille du Midi cable car (a super convenient point for skiers). Another interesting piece of information, it is also about a 15-minute walk from the Chamonix train station, which means you can easily walk from the station (I did it and it’s really convenient).
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My room 212
I really liked the raw materials and soft tones of this superior room (25 m2), with a chic and cozy mountain style. Not to mention the super little balcony with a view of the mountains. The best! Plus, the bedding is very comfortable.
Price: between 220 and 350 € depending on the period
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The Buffet Breakfast
Buffet Breakfast Price: 15 €
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The Spa by Nuxe
The hotel offers within it a super 500 m² Nuxe spa with an indoor pool, a hot tub, a steam room, a sauna, a tepidarium, a cold bath, an ice cave, a herbal tea room, fun Egg hanging chairs… In short, everything to relax and have a good time. I also really liked the make-up corner when you come out of the changing rooms with Nuxe body and face products, I found it super practical (and this is not the case in all spas).
Accessible for free to hotel guests from 10 am to 8 pm
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The hotel’s great extras
- ask for your guest card at the reception to get free access to Chamonix public transport
- free and unlimited wifi connection
Hôtel l'Heliopic Sweet & Spa 50 place de l’Aiguille du Midi, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
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Lunch at the Auberge Refuge La Boerne
This inn with a very rustic charm is a perfect stop for hikers in search of beautiful landscapes and authenticity. After lunch, don’t hesitate to take a walk in the surroundings to digest! For information, you can also sleep there since it’s a mountain refuge.
Auberge Refuge La Boerne 288 Trélechamps 74400 Argentière
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Snowshoeing with the Compagnie des guides de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
The Compagnie des guides de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc is one of the oldest in France, since it was created in 1821 (impressive, right!). It was therefore the opportunity for our little group to try out snowshoeing, a discipline that I found very pleasant and not at all difficult to access. We did our little walk in the pretty landscape of the Les Houches Mont-Blanc ski area (ski-leshouches.com) by taking the Prarion gondola.
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Our road trip in a Skoda Kodiaq
As I told you in the introduction to this article, we took this little road trip to discover the Kodiaq model from Skoda. Well, since I don’t drive, I tested all of this as a passenger, but when it comes to mountain roads, it can become important… Yes, because when it twists and turns, generally I get travel sick. Here, I ultimately didn’t have any issues because the Kodiaq cars are super comfortable, and what’s more, their handling is extremely smooth and pleasant.
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Transport Tips in Chamonix
To get around for free in town, the city of Chamonix provides tourists with “mulets,” small electric buses in service in the town center of the resort.
I hope that with all this I will have made you want to discover or rediscover Chamonix and its surroundings, and if you also have your favorite spots for this mountain destination, don’t hesitate to share them in the comments!
Photo credits: Melle Bon Plan (photos taken with the Panasonic Compact Lumix LX15) Photos not royalty-free, photographer's authorization mandatory before any use
