Very far from the village, outright unsafe access, failure of basic utilities such as hot water and…read more"gaslighting" by owners if you file a complaint.
We stayed here as a family (including a child) and would not book again. It was our fourth year in Saas-Fee and we've always had good experiences there until this year. In fact, if anything was available at the time on short notice (we were there during new years) - I would have paid double in order NOT to stay there.
Getting there / finding it was a problem:
On arrival there were no taxis available, and in the dark--carrying luggage (and ski gear)--we couldn't find the property as it on the outskirts and very high uphill. We ended up calling several times and exchanging photos just to locate it. That's a bad start, but it got a lot worse.
The access path to the property is outright dangerous in winter:
The approach to the apartment was basically a vertical sheet ice, part of it a very steep incline followed by a path which was also covered in ice. This was genuinely hazardous--especially if you have a child, heavy bags, or ski equipment (we ticked all those boxes). A winter rental needs safe access. I ended up carrying 40 kilograms of luggage up the slope and falling several times before finally arriving to the appartement. I had hiking boots on. Our bag was totally destroyed as were we arrived. Also our child fell several times during the week that we stayed there.
No hot water (and gaslighting by owners when reported):
We didn't have hot water for two days on December 31st and January 1st, and couldn't even wash our kid for new years celebration. Initially, the owners brushed us off saying they had not received any complaints from the other apartments. As if we don't know what cold water feels like. The "explanation" we got was basically that there is one boiler shared across three apartments and in "rare cases" you may simply be without hot water until later in the day.
What really crossed the line was the communication: instead of owning the issue, it felt dismissive, and came across as gaslighting--as if we were imagining the problem or didn't understand what we were experiencing. We were not asking for a debate; we were asking for a basic utility to work or an immediate solution as we were there with child. Later on the owners admitted that something had gone wrong. They offered us "compensation" in the form of paying the tourist tax (CHF 13,5 in total...). This felt extremely insulting in the light of the fact we paid several thousands for this property for a week. What a mockery. A family holiday in peak season in Saas Fee costs several thousand CHF in addition to the property expenses.
Location is far from the slopes/village
Be aware: walking to the ski area / village is roughly 30-40 minutes, and the walk back uphill is very heavy, especially if you're carrying groceries or ski gear. Fine if you're training for an alpine ultramarathon, not fine if you're trying to have a normal ski holiday with a child that gets tired after a day of skiing. Taxis are expensive and not always available. They're about CHF 45 per trip if you can get one, but they're not always available. We ended up paying up to CHF 180 per day going to and from the ski area.
Property
Bedroom and toilet are situated next to each other and separated by a large window, so if you turn on the light at night when going tot the toilet, the light will also be visible in the large family bedroom (all 4 beds are in one room). Expect to be woken up several times a night. Also, there was no sauna in our apartment contrary to the pictures (we did know this upfront).
