(Review of dinner service at the * restaurant at this hotel, La Table de l'Ours)…read more The chef's tasting menu here at La Table de l'Ours is a Michelin-endorsed spectacle. Each course is better than the next and we all felt that the arctic char was a special achievement: a large portion that still "belonged" in a fine dining lineup. Everything from the seats to the plates was commendable. Only complaint was that dinner was painfully long. Nearly 4 hours passed between walking in and walking out of the restaurant. Really had us wishing they offered 5:30 PM reservations in Europe.

POLISH BELOW! I've…read morejust came back from my winter skiing holidays in Planibel. As an Elite yelper I started by checking the hotel's reviews on yelp and got really upset about all the drawbacks mentioned in the previous one. Actually, I must admit - all of them were quite true :/. If you came here tempted by glorious descriptions of four-star-spa-hotel made by tourist agencies you may be disappointed. But knowing all that, I truly believe the hotel deserves 3 stars. First of all, there is no spa, just a decent swimming pool (with warm water!), or actually two pools - small one for kids and bigger (25 m length) for swimmers. I swam every day during my stay and the pool never got too crowdy. There is also a fitness room, which I never used and two locker rooms (male and female) with a sauna and turkish bath in each. Unfortunately, although sauna in male locker room is quite hot (around 90 °C), the female one never gets hotter than 70 °C. The hotel is very big an it literally constitutes the heart of the village - at the 2nd floor you can go out to piazetta in which you'll find shops, bars and pubs. If you happen to have windows overlooking piazetta - get prepared for noisy evenings and nights in karaoke club ;). There are two restaurants inside the hotel - both of them serving good, regional food. Rooms are just OK - nothing outstanding. They are cleaned daily, cleaning includes towels change. There is a ski room. The biggest problem for me was WiFi witch is claimed to be available free of charge, but so often doesn't work properly, that I wouldn't say it actually was provided. Finally, the hotel is just old. It must have been a great hotel like 25 years ago, nowadays it's rather obsolete. I must not forget about elevators in which I got stuck twice that week (just for two minutes, but as Italians call it: it was "pericoloso"). On the other hand - if you're looking for a decent hotel on the ski slope, and your main point is ski fun, relax afterwards and good food - this is a great place and I would eagerly recommend it to everyone! POLISH: Właśnie wróciłam z tygodniowego narciarskiego szaleństwa, kiedy to dach nad głową zapewniał mi Planibel. Jak na elitarnego yelpera przystało - zaczęłam od zweryfikowania recenzji i.... troszkę się przestraszyłam. Co gorsza, właściwie wszystkie uwagi wskazane w poprzedniej recenzji były całkiem prawdziwe :/. Jeśli kogoś skusiły podretuszowane fotki czterogwiazdkowego hotelu z katalogów biur podróży - pełne prawo do rozczarowania. Moim zdaniem, hotel zasługuje na uczciwe 3 gwiazdki. Po pierwsze, nie ma w nim żadnego spa, a jedynie strefa sportowo-saunowa. Z sali fitness nie korzystałam, wiem tylko że jest. Basen, a właściwie baseny (jeden mniejszy dla dzieci) jest naprawdę OK - 25 m, typowo do pływania i ciepła woda! Pływałam codziennie przez tydzień i nigdy nie było tłoczno. Oprócz tego, w strefie "spa" mamy dwie szatnie - damską i męską - w każdej z nich jest sauna sucha i mokra. W saunie męskiej temperatura wynosi około 90 °C, w damskiej - 70 °C. Hotel stanowi centrum miasteczka La Thuile - na drugim piętrze jest wyjście bezpośrednio na piazettę, na której znajdują się sklepy, bary i kluby. Jeśli okna pokoju wychodzą na piazettę - w nocy bywa głośno, głównie za sprawą fanów karaoke ;). W hotelu są dwie restauracje z dobrym jedzeniem. Pokoje są w porządku - nic nadzwyczajnego, ale wygodne łóżka i codziennie sprzątanie włącznie z wymianą ręczników. W hotelu jest też przechowalnia na narty i buty. Dla mnie największym problemem było WiFi - działało jak chciało i bardziej nie, niż tak. Ten hotel jest po prostu mocno starszawy - lata świetności przeżywał pewnie 20-25 lat temu, dziś wygląda nieco przestarzale. I nie mogę nie wspomnieć o windach, w których w ciągu tygodnia udało mi się dwa razy zaciąć (wprawdzie tylko na dwie minutki, ale już wiem, co Włosi mają na myśli, gdy mówią "pericoloso"). Ale podsumowując - jeśli szukasz fajnego hotelu przy stoku, z dobrym jedzeniem i możliwością relaksu po nartach - to jest naprawdę miejsce godne polecenia!

We stayed here for two nights (only). And we enjoyed so much: It's calm, but you can do so much at…read morethe surrounding. The owners helped us making plans to visit local restaurants and see several wonderful places. In the evening we enjoyed a very delicious dinner at the hotel, made of local and seasonal products. From the restaurant you can enjoy a wonderful view to The Valley - breathtaking in the evening sun!!

My wife is from Nax and we anxiously awaited the opening of the Maya Guesthouse. When it first…read moreopened, the owners generously showed my wife and mother-in-law the guest rooms. We've gone to the restaurant a couple of times this winter. The Maya Guesthouse is brand new and absolutely lovely. Its a green establishment, with power generated from the heat from a pizza oven in the restaurant as well as from solar panels. The restaurant is intimate and with an elegant, chalet feel. The owners are friendly and easily engage in conversation with patrons. Nax is a little over 2 hours, by car, from Geneva. It sits in mountains to the south of Sion, the capital of the Valais Canton. Its an absolutely beautiful part of the world and incredibly relaxing. Both Nax and the Maya Guesthouse are well worth the trip.

Fantastico. This establishment has figured out how to do the right thing at just the right time…read more The staff are uniformly excellent, multilingual, and super-efficient. There is a great kitchen, bar, spa, and numerous other facilities. Housekeeping is superb. There is always someone making sure each and every guest is well cared for. The property is clise to the Hellbroner Teleferic which makes it very convenient for mountaineering. It is about a half hour walk down to the village of Courmayeur. But the hotel offers a shuttle if preferred.

Absolutely amazing…read more Room was beautiful and clean. Housekeepers are lovely people. Dinner was absolutely delicious, with great service and a view of the mountains. Spa was really nice (wish there was a hot tub), and the hiking in the area was fantastic and well marked. We would highly recommend!!

I wish you could give it 6 stars. This is the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. Top of line all…read morethe way around. And the views... Oh my gosh... The views! The check in and check out procedure is so personal. They sit you down and treat you as one on one. Unlike anything I have ever experienced. Upon checkout, they give you a small parting gift too. The dinner was fantastic albeit small portions but 8 courses! The cheese bar is out of this world with 20-30 different cheeses. You can also get cheese to go if you want. As much as you want. They have a neat little cigar bar with Cubans of course. The breakfast buffet in the morning was fantastic with plenty to eat. Oddly, we never got to the spa or pools but we did check them out. Next time... If there is a next time.

Just came back from a stay at Lenkerhof. For sure it was a highlight. A great way to end a long…read morevacation to relax and unwind before heading back home. The town of Lenk is very small but oh so beautiful! Very fortunate the weather was clear and warm compared to the rest of my rainy and grey trip. It is a journey to get to the resort. I was coming from Salzburg which was about an 8hr journey. If you're coming from Zurich it's about 2.5 hrs and if you're coming from Bern it's about 1.5hrs, all by train. Long story short, since I was coming from Salzburg the journey took longer than expected and we didn't check in till about 21.30. We were so tired and hungry when checking in they could sense how exhausted we looked and they called the restaurant to see if they would stay open for us and they said yes! We immediately went to eat and the servers never rushed us and they treated us so well. I was very grateful they stayed open late for us. Tips/Comments: The website, at least for me, was very difficult to get information on what was included in my booking. Friends were the ones who told me about this place and I just mimicked the same packaged they got. So when we arrived I felt like such a cheapo asking if this and that was included b/c i just didn't know. So with the gourmet package dinner AND breakfast is included. Couldn't find a place on site to eat lunch except for in the Sauna they have this vegan broth that provided some substance. Also the contents in your mini fridge are included as well (thank god!). It was the first and only part of our trip where we had free water. Speaking of which, note that most of Europe's drinking water comes from Switzerland so drinking the water from tap is completely ok, even at the airport. When you're at the fancy dinner you can ask for free tap water as well. You also get a city card that lasts the duration of your stay. Highly recommend taking the lifts up to the top (about a 20minute ride) and the views are worth it. If you ever wonder why the town seems empty or quite it's because everyone is on that mountain hiking down. And let's not forget the sulphur pools and sauna. The pool is wonderful and just note that the Sauna's are nude. I get nude is totally an ok thing for Europeans but I'm sorry, my American-ness just couldn't strip down. They do provide a thin towel that I wore to cover up while i was in the sauna, just don't expect anyone else to do the same. Also, don't talk in the saunas. You will get scolded. Last but not least, if you decide to go into town and eat food off site its is VERY expensive. My lunch of a soup, salad, and coke was 38 swiss franks. 0_0

We really enjoyed staying at this hotel. So we booked one of their attic rooms and then panicked a…read morelittle because shortly before the trip they sent a warning email about the room.... Ha! It basically said the room was up a bunch of stairs and also has no air conditioning, but it was pretty much the only affordable option so we risked it. I really loved the attic room! The weather was perfect for staying there (cloudy, drizzly, cool.... Not so good for seeing the sites, but you know). The window overlooked the street, which was great. The beds were comfy. The shared bath and shower were tiny but you could see a waterfall out the small window... so cool! Also, the breakfast was huge and delicious. The property had lots of nice communal spaces and had tea and coffee available all day. I really liked staying here!

The location is magical. Staff are so friendly and helpful…read more Beds are comfortable. It's a charming experience waking up to the sound of cowbells.