Hôtel les Barmes de l'Ours

For family travel, the hotel is beautiful with options for children to have fun. The gym has a very good cardio section, but the weight training area is poor. The rooms are great. The breakfast is quite inferior to the hotel's daily rate; they charged 14 euros for an omelet or toast. A special thank you to Maria (Portuguese) who served us breakfast - she was so kind. We had a ski lesson with instructor Phillipe - I highly recommend him.

Rather poor experience at La Rotisserie at this hotel. We had high expectations when we arrived due to the beautiful interior and good service. While the starters were promising, we were highly disappointed by the main courses (roast chicken, rib-eye steak, and pot au feu). The rib-eye steak was a particular stand out, which was extremely tough and dry. A steak bought from the Spar and cooked in our accommodation would have been far superior. The linguine vongole, the special of the day, was also bland and lacking. Admittedly, we were not in a restaurant on the coast of Amalfi, but a restaurant in such a fine establishment should be able to produce a decent attempt at a vongole. The signature roast chicken was also on the dry side (similar to what a previous reviewer experienced). An attempt was made to change the rib-eye steak to another item, but fearing further disappointment, this was declined. The steak was not comped on the bill, something that may have redeemed the dinner. Really wanted to like this restaurant but unfortunately I am unable to recommend this place to anyone, at least for this season. They have a really extensive wine list and the sommelier is excellent. Perhaps go for a glass of wine and head to L’Etincelle for dinner instead.

Le Coin Savoyard: A documentary on Limitation and Cheese There’s a certain honesty to a restaurant that doesn’t pretend to be what it isn’t. Le Coin Savoyard, tucked within the Hotel Les Barmes de l’Ours in Val d’Isère, practices this virtue with an almost defiant simplicity. They’re famous for classic Savoie fare, which is to say, fondue. Which is to say: you may have anything you like, as long as it’s beef or cheese. This is not a complaint. There’s liberation in constraints, as any writer knows. The tyranny of infinite choice gives way here to a focused clarity of purpose. Mountains have shaped this cuisine just as surely as they’ve shaped the valley itself, sustenance built on what survives at altitude, what warms the body, what binds a table together over heat and shared implements. We opted for beef. Kidding aside, and one must occasionally put the irony down. the meal was scrumptious. The meat arrived with Sonderup’s fries, those golden batons of potato that achieve what all good food should: they make you forget, momentarily, that you’re performing the biological necessity of eating and remind you instead that pleasure exists. And the cup never runs dry. These pot was bottomless. Le Coin Savoyard meal ended and were heard the strings of a hearty New Orleans Jazz band playing in the Hotel’s lobby bar. We sat down and had a hell of an evening. They were exceptional. We started looking around the hotel — we stay at the Experimental hotel this time — and thought: wow, we must stay here next time. Clearly they understand something essential: that tradition isn’t the enemy of satisfaction. That beef or cheese, or Jazz properly executed, is not limitation but abundance. That sometimes what you need after a day skiing on the mountain is the comfort of bliss to the tune of Minnie the Moocher!