Les Arcs 1950, Bourg-Saint-Maurice, France

A light and sunny apartment in the Hameau du Glacier residence, Les Arcs 1950, with views over the piste and mountains beyond. Furnished in traditional alpine style and well equipped, the 53m2 apartment boasts 2 en-suite bedrooms, one with twin beds (2m long), a bath and WC and the other with a king size bed (also 2m long) with a shower and separate WC. The bedrooms are situated to either side of the living / dining area. A double size sofa bed is located in the living area, though we prefer occupancy of up to 4 people. The living space and both bedrooms each have large windows to take advantage of the afternoon sun. A private balcony allows al-fresco dining later in the ski season and in the summer. Entertainment facilities include a smart satellite TV and free wi-fi. Fully serviced with towels and linen provided, with an option to have a mid-week clean and / or change of towels and linen (at additional cost, supplied on request). For stays longer than one week, a full clean (excluding the kitchen area) and change of towels and linen at the end of each week is included. Saturday changeover only at present.
Arc1950 was originally developed by the Canadian specialist, Intrawest (who also created the Whistler and Mont Tremblant resorts) between 2003 and 2007 in order to provide, for the first time, a high standard of self-catered accommodation in the French Alps. The traditional architecture of Arc 1950 is striking with a clear move away from the style of earlier developments. All the facilities of the village are right on your doorstep. Shops, bars and restaurants are all located on the village street level as are ski hire, ski school and lift pass office. There is also direct access into the residence from the underground secure car parking (payable locally). The Arc 1950 village itself is strictly car-free.
With the addition of the high speed “Vanoise Express” lift in late 2003, the resorts of Les Arcs and La Plagne are now linked to form the “Paradiski” domaine with over 450 km of pistes and many off-piste opportunities. It is possible to ski all the way to Champagny for lunch and back again before the lifts close. Truly a “ski-in, ski-out” location, access to the pistes from the apartment really couldn’t be easier - you can ski virtually from and right back to the locker room door. The apartment has 2 ski lockers and the changing room is heated.
The village is divided into 8 residences. Hameau du Glacier has 24 hour reception (ski season only), a fully equipped gym, sauna, steam room and free laundry facilities. A particular feature is a heated internal walkway to the adjacent Prince des Cîmes residence where there is free access to a large heated indoor swimming pool, sauna and steam room. Hameau du Glacier itself has an outdoor Jacuzzi, also free and open in the ski season. At the other end of the village but still only a couple of minutes’ walk away is the 1,000m2 Deep Nature Spa complex (payable locally) located in the Sources de Marie residence.
Accessibility is another key advantage of Les Arcs 1950. During the ski season, there are Eurostar services from London St Pancras to Bourg Saint Maurice currently twice a week; one daytime, the other overnight. There are also indirect rail services with changes in Paris or Lille. From Bourg Saint Maurice rail station, there is a funicular railway to Arc 1600 with a free coach connection from there to Arc 1950. Frequent flights from a variety of operators are available to Geneva, Lyon, Grenoble and Chambéry with car hire, bus, rail or taxi connections from the airports.
As for summer in Les Arcs; there are many activities on offer in the area, including mountain biking, white water rafting and hydrospeed (from Bourg St Maurice), golf, tennis, swimming, hiking, archery, glacier skiing, guided trekking, rock climbing and canoeing. Several ski lifts operate in the summer to give access to many kilometres of tracks and spectacular scenery whether on foot or with a mountain bike.