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Mottaret -Mottaret lies at the heart of the 3 valleys just a couple of km from Meribel. The skiing in the 3 valleys is superb with the largest linked ski area in the World, there is no excuse for becoming bored. Epic journeys can be made to see how far away you can get in one day, just remember you have to get back too!The village itself is is modern but attractive with wooden clad chalets providing ample accomodation.
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There are plenty of places to eat but some are a bit pricey. Nightlife is lively and you can easily head into Meribel for even more choice.
Resorts close toMottaret include: Meribel (0 km), La Tania (5 km), Courchevel (6 km), Brides Les Bains (7 km) and St Martin de Belleville (7 km).
Méribel is a sprawling chalet-style resort built originally by an Englishman on the mountainside above the valley town of Moûtiers. The most central and convenient base for fully exploring the giant Trois Vallées ski area. It offers an enormous amount of intermedate skiing and the widest choice of luxury chalets of any resort in Europe
Méribel vies with Val d'Isère for the title of the most popular resort in Europe for English-speaking skiers. It was founded in the late 1930s by British skier Colonel Peter Lindsay who, like other international racers, had boycotted St Anton in Austria and was looking for a new resort when he stumbled upon the scenic Les Allues valley.
The first lift was installed after World War II when Lindsay began developing the area in conjunction with French racer Emile Allais. He decreed that all buildings must be made of stone and wood with slate roofs in order to blend into their beautiful mountain environment. Méribel today has grown into a ski city that he would not begin to recognise. It stretches in different quartiers up the mountain from Méribel Village at 1400m to the top of Méribel Mottaret at 1800m. But, miraculously, his building regulations have been vigorously adhered to and, with the exception of the original buildings of Mottaret, Méribel avoided the concrete architectural horrors of the 1960s. The main village is also connected to the valley by a long gondola that climbs from the spa resort of Brides-Les-Bains.
Heart of the resort is Méribel 1450, which houses most of the shops, restaurants, and the lift hub of La Chaudanne. The bi-weekly street market provides colour. Other communities are situated off the dead-end road leading to the Altiport and on the edge of the wooded pistes leading into the resort. Confusingly, Méribel Village is not the main village but a modern satellite situated a 2km drive away from 1450, but linked by chair-lift into the ski area.
Méribel Mottaret is a higher satellite situated at 1750m on the road above Méribel 1450, and is a convenient base anyone wanting doorstep skiing and the best snow-cover. The different sectors of town are served by a ski bus which reporters complain is oversubscribed. Some walking is inevitable. Before booking accommodation – particularly for families with young children – it is important to find out where your hotel or chalet is located.
From Méribel a mighty network of lifts link Courchevel, La Tania, Les Menuires and Val Thorens to form one of the world's greatest intermediate playgrounds. However, so many English-speakers congregate here during the winter months that you could be forgiven for thinking that this was some sloping suburb of south-west London rather than a top French ski resort.
Mountain
MeribelYou need a whole season to explore every corner of the Trois Vallées and Méribel is the best place to start. From the Chaudanne lift centre at 1450 and from Méribel Mottaret higher up the valley, lifts rise on either side. To the east, gondolas take you up to 2738m at Saulire for a choice of descents towards Courchevel and La Tania. The mountainside back down to the resort is criss-crossed with mainly blues, benign reds, and an assortment of chairs. To the west, more gondolas and chairs rise to the long ridge that separates the valleys of Les Allues and Belleville. From the top you can ski towards Les Menuires, St-Martin-de-Belleville, and Val Thorens. Alternatively you can explore the dozens of lifts and runs down to 1450 and Méribel Mottaret.
Accomplished skiers and riders head for the more challenging terrain off the Mont de la Chambre. Mont Vallon, and the Col du Fruit at the head of the valley. The sheer volume of skiers funnelling into both 1450 and Mottaret at peak times means that some queuing is inevitable, but the lift system is extremely efficient. One of the greatest assets of the Trois Vallées is that anyone who can ski parallel can travel far afield without ever leaving blue runs, while better skiers can find a route to the same destination almost entirely on reds. The seemingly endless range of runs has produced a whole generation of skiers who never go anywhere else.
Méribel has good nursery slopes with easy green runs around the Altiport and back to the resort. However they tend to suffer from through-traffic, particularly at lunchtime and at the end of the day. This can be unnerving – with the ever-present risk of collision from out-of-control skiers and riders. Méribel has two terrain parks: the 1200m Moon Park and the Snowpark des Plattières at Mottaret.
Lunch
Eating on the mountain is iniquitously expensive anywhere in the Trois Vallées. Les Castors, t +33 (0)479 08 52 79 is an old favourite at the foot of the Truite run in Méribel. Les Rhododendrons, t +33 (0)479 00 50 92 at the top of the Rhodos gondola and Restaurant Le Rond Point, t +33 (0)479 00 37 51 are both recommended. Bibi Phoque, t +33 (0)479 00 30 93 at Chaudanne has reasonably-priced pancakes. The Altiport Hotel, t 33 (0)479 0052 32 has a sunny terrace. Chalet de Tougniat, t +33 (0)479 00 45 11, at the top of the Combes chair out of Mottaret, is off the beaten track.
Dine
Most visitors here eat in their chalets, which accounts for the low number of good restaurants in proportion to the size of the resort.
Chez Kiki, t +33 (0)479 08 66 68 specialises in meat cooked over an open fire. La Taverne, t +33 (0)479 00 32 45 in Hotel Le Roc offers pizzas and Savoyard cuisine. Le Refuge, t +33 (0)479 08 61 97 has a warm atmosphere and Le Croix Jean-Claude, t +33 (0)479 00 61 05 is good value with excellent food and wine.
In Mottaret, Côte Brune, t +33 (0)479 00 40 97 is an old favourite. Au Temps Perdu, t +33 (0)479 00 36 64 has a wide choice of crèpes, and Pizzeria du Mottaret, t +33 (0)479 00 40 50 is good value. Le Ty Sable, t +33 (0)479 00 43 32 is also recommended.
Party
Jack's Bar and Le Rond Point are busy in the late afternoon as the lifts close. Le Loft, located above the ice-rink, has live music, a fun atmosphere and stays open late. Dick's Tea-Bar in 1450 and Le Privilège in Mottaret are the other late-night venues.
Children
Les Saturnins, t +33 (0)479 08 66 90 is the non-ski kindergarten for children aged 18 months to three yeas. The tourist office, t + 33 (0)479 08 60 01 also has a list of babysitters who will care for infants in your hotel or apartment. Les P'tits Loups ski kindergarten cares for children aged three to five years at La Chaudanne, t +33 (0)479 08 60 31 and at Mottaret, t +33 (0)479 00 49 49.
Resort recommended for:
Beginners, Intermediates, Advanced, Skiing for all standards, Moguls, Snowboarding, Off piste, Mountain restaurants, Luxury accommodation, Eating out, Families, Romantic/charming, Cross-country
Nearest airports/stations:
Chambéry - 2 hours
Lyon - 2.5 hours
Moûtiers - 0.5 hours
Geneva - 3 hours
Resort altitude: 1400m
On the snow: top: 2952m - bottom: 1400m
Lifts in area: 167 (40 cableways, 69 chairs, 58 drags)
Lift pass: Trois Vallées adult €204, child 5–13yrs €153.50, both for 6 days
Trails/pistes: 600km
description
Traditionally alpine in style with picturesque chalets and a lively village centre, people are drawn back to Méribel year after year. Mottaret, although not as traditional or charming as Méribel, has a compact resort centre and enjoys all the advantages of doorstep skiing, breathtaking views and friendly après-ski. We offer a wide range of accommodation in both resorts to suit all tastes and budgets.
the skiing
The Meribel valley runs north-south and has an unrivalled amount of skiing and boarding totalling 600km, making the Trois Vallees a magnificent ski area suitable for all levels. From the main Chaudanne lift station you can climb either side of the valley by gondola and find yourself at either La Sauliere for Courchevel, or at La Toungette for Val Thorens and Les Menuires, and St Martin de Belleville. Meribels slopes are not the highest in the three valleys, however there are substantial snowmaking facilities on the upper and lower slopes so that lack of snow is rarely a problem.
advanced
From both resorts you can explore an awesome 600km of marked pistes. Numerous challenging runs will keep experts happy and when conditions are right, the powder and mogul fields here cannot be surpassed.
intermediate
There is a vast choice of long, well groomed pistes awaiting you with an amazing variety of gradients and descents to challenge you to the max. The pistes here offer everything, great for improving your skiing.
beginner
Beginners will join their ski school classes at the base of the pistes in either Méribel or Mottaret depending on where you are staying. There are limited beginners pistes at resort level so beginners are taken to higher slopes at an early stage.
family
Non-ski kindergartens; for 3-5 year olds – one in Mottaret and one in Méribel, both open daily. To book in advance, please call 00 33 479 08 60 31 (Méribel) and 00 33 4 79 00 49 49 (Mottaret). Children’s Ski School: For children from 5-13 yrs, classes operate for 5 days Mon-Fri (and 6 days a week during school holidays) 2.5 hours per day. Lunch and lunch time supervision also available.
snowboarding
There are pistes to suit every taste, serviced by a well-linked lift system comprising mainly chairs and gondolas. There’s a dedicated snowboard park with half-pipe for more radical riders and plenty of off piste terrain to ride. You won’t be disappointed!
apres ski
Mottaret offers a great range of welcoming restaurants and bars at reasonable prices for the valley. Visit the cosy cellar-style bar and the popular ‘Downtown’ and ‘Rastro’ Bars.
Reviews
1 January 18, 2006 - 07:47 AM
Tom Mayes from GERMANY
Mottaret is a fairly well thought out "purpose-built" resort. It has more ski-in/ski-out accommodations than any other resort I've visited. It's also less crowded than its lower sister, Meribel--except at lunch, and at 3:30 pm when all the skiers start cueing up at the Pas Du Lac and Plattiers bubbles to return to the other valleys.
I truly enjoyed the location, and the wonderful skiing in Meribel. We stayed the Christmas week, and the early season snow was patchy, but they did a pretty good job of keeping the runs covered with snowmaking and grooming--it was fortunate this year that the temperatures were cold enough every night to make snow. We had easy access and were able to link over to Courchevel, Val Thorens, and Les Menuires--there was plenty of diverse terrain to cover. The man-made snow was only icy in the shade.
Eskiador/Sport2000 in Le Hameau took very good care of us, and even let us swap out our skis/boards for "mini-skis" the last day. AMS Rentals were very helpful, and we had a wonderful apartment for the week.
There are some oversights, though. There is very limited ‘beginner’ ski instruction in this area. If you have a beginner skier in your group, you'll spend a lot of time getting them sent on a bus down to Meribel for lessons. (If the skier wanting lessons is a bit above ‘beginner’ they can likely navigate the long green run down to Meribel—just allow plenty of time before the lesson in Meribel starts!) The buses are also typical city buses--no ski racks on the outside of the vehicle--so each hairpin turn is an exciting exercise in shoulder-to-shoulder balancing, while holding a heavy board, or skis & poles. They don’t stop at every stop, either. Twice, we had quite a hike from the center of Meribel back to the Castors Restaurant bus stop (near the ski school meeting point), because the bus driver ignored our request to stop before the tunnel.
Restaurants are limited in the Mottaret resort, as well. They all play an orchestrated game each evening where all the sandwich shops close at 5PM and all the menus switch to an assortment of overpriced omelets and local dishes that only the most adventuresome would otherwise try--the food is ok, but none of it's worth $25 a plate. It's impossible to find a burger anywhere for dinner. If you want to eat on the cheap, plan to cook a lot in your apartment. There are a few carry-out pizza places that are more reasonable, and the local grocery store has whole roasted chicken if you get there early.
You should try to stay high on either side of the valley. The ski-in/ski-out feature doesn't work well if you stay halfway up in the entrance of Mottaret (1), or at the back of the valley (2). See the www.meribel.net/welcome-h.htm and go to the resort map of Meribel-Mottaret--areas (1) are D2 & E2, and area (2) is A1. I saw many skiers hiking a fair distance, skis on shoulder, to the nearest lift from these areas
Also, snowboarders should avoid the long run "Ours" at all costs--If you pass the "Plan Des Mains" chairlift, you've gone too far, and you're in for a painfully long "scoot" back to Mottaret--probably easier to pick up your board and walk.
All told, it was a very enjoyable week. Pricier than most, but if you want to ski-in/ski-out from the central most point of Les 3 Vallees during the holidays, a premium should be expected.
2 January 01, 2006 - 11:40 PM
Tom Travis from UNITED STATES
Les Trois Vallees has the best interlinked valley skiing I have ever experienced. Mottaret is the best place to stay to have easy access to all the valleys since it is in the middle and has a number of good hotels. It is also higher than Courchevel and Meribel and thus the snow is more plentiful and conditions better. If you want night life and a variety of restaurants do NOT stay there. I loved skiing back and forth among the valleys, with each valley having a wide variety of interesting runs. The runs are mostly intermediate, cruisers; I did not find many challenging black runs. The views are gorgeous, particularly from Val Thorens and Le Masse.
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