Hôtel Village Montana by Les Etincelles

We stayed here over the half term for a week long ski break and were terribly disappointed. The rooms are tiny, old and rundown. The food on the half board was mediocre with tiny portions and I actually got food poisoning on one night after dining at the Chaumiere. The ski lockers are randomly located with kids traipsing through an underground carpark at all hours to access the lockers. Most disappointing and certainly not a 4 star.

Positive the rooms are nice and it is a good location but they was overshadowed by the horrible staff that were very anti English and so rude. I asked twice if the soap could be replenished in the bathroom next to restaurant and was told that there was no house keeping. I found this disgusting as patrons were unable to wash their hands and a lot of the restaurant was self service. The breakfast was disappointing, undercooked eggs and the bacon was either undercooked or burnt to a crisp. I was served an ice cold crème brûlée at one restaurant and when I questioned this I was told that was how it is supposed to be served, they then put their finger in my food to test it! I of course didn’t touch it after that. The waiter then called me stupid to his colleague in French. Also the pool tables you had to pay for which was fine accept the bar staff didn’t want to give anyone change without making you feel it was a great inconvenience. They could make the hotel more family friendly by providing games. I would tell anyone to avoid this horrible place.

9 magical days at the hotel, a large and spacious room with an amazing view, the hotel restaurant at an excellent level, we enjoyed every meal

A lot of the previous reviews mentioned some negative areas of this hotel but we went in January 2025 and it was a brilliant! Great location to ski and ski out, so early morning it was grab ski's and set off immediately outside the hotel... The only slight annoyance was that we had to get back to the Almes chairlift before 4:45 each day to get the last lift up so that we could ski back to the ski locker room, otherwise it was a 8-10 minute walk up a hill with all the ski gear. The room we got was fantastic, far better than any other room in the lower budget hotels we've stayed in, it was kinda like a mini apartment and the view over Le Lac was beautiful! Evenings and morning views were lush. The food was pretty standard stuff in the mornings, a bunch of variety (eggs were actually pretty decent). The meals in the evening were really good, although we only had a very limited choice as we were half board... It's basically option 1 or 2 for the main meals. I wouldn't necessarily recommend the restaurant that you have to pay for though, as it wasn't any much better than the other restaurants that you get half board with. We didn't have ANY issues with the spa either, people have mentioned that it was cold but we didn't experience that at all, I'm guessing they've resolved the issue by the time we got there. I'd highly recommend going at around 7PM as we found that to be the most quietest time. It's about a 8-10 minute walk into "town" but there's not really much going on in Le Lac, other than a few restaurants and some bars which are pretty mediocre, definitely not a 'lively' town. That being said, there's buses that go from Le Lac to Val Claret like every 15-30 minutes and they're super easy to get, and they only take about 10 minutes to travel so getting to and from Le Lac and Val Claret is really really easy. Val Claret definitely has a lot more to offer in terms of restaurants, bars and night life... I realise this isn't a review on the town but it's always handy to know the location you're thinking about going to! All in all, this hotel really surprised us, for once the pictures don't do the place justice (for a change!) and everything regarding the hotel was brilliant... Would be nice if they had a bit of evening entertainment but that's just being picky! I honestly don't think you will regret going here, and for the price you can't get a better offer! Just gotta be happy with staying in a quieter town =)