Belambra Clubs "The Terra Nova" — Hotel in Albertville

This hotel was better than many of the reviews I read, but I can see where others are coming from with some negative comments.

We arrived very early, at 7am, having travelled overnight on the Eurostar train, so didn't expect access to our room at that point. I was able to use their luggage storage area and toilets to change for skiing. I'd not slept much the night before so on coming back to the hotel at 3pm I was very very tired and disappointed that the room wasn't ready. I was told "very soon" a few times but eventually got the key at 17:15.

Others in our group had been given access much earlier in the day, as had many others who just turned up in the afternoon to be given their room straight away. I felt it would have been reasonable to have shuffled the rooms around given the length of time I'd been waiting and allocated me a room which was ready for use. To be fair to the hotel the official check in time is advertised as 17:00 so they were only a little later than that and, having seen them, the cleaning team were incredibly busy. Overall I think I just got unlucky with the room allocation as it was clearly one of the very last to be prepared.

The food I felt was excellent, but I'm not a vegetarian and they do have limited choice. On some evenings, dishes that would have been perfect for vegetarians had unnecessary meat added such as a little ham on top of a cheese, cauliflower and pasta dish.

The rooms were comfy and better than many others I've had in the mountains. The boot/ski lockers we're excellent, the best I've used and my boots were always dry and warm for the next day. Ideally there would be a few more benches to use when putting boots on and off, but that's only a minor criticism.

At the end of a couple of days there were drinks (cherry squash or white wine with cherry) and little treats such as sliced fruit or marshmallows. It was a shame it wasn't every day though, as I've come to expect elsewhere and usually it's cake/gateaux offered. They did have lots of cake on offer for some of the breakfasts however!

The best feature of this hotel is it's brilliant piste side location. It really is ski in, ski out, unlike many who advertise this but the reality is different.

Overall this is a good hotel, and despite some of the points above, they are relatively minor niggles which didn't distract from a good experience and...

Stayed here with my son for 9 nights in April. I'll start with the location which is fantastic! Out of the door from the boot room and you're on the slopes with a short ski down to a couple of lifts giving easy access to the whoe ski area. A few minutes walk and you're in Plagne Centre with shops, restaurants, a supermarket and a bus stop. The free bubble lift taking you to the higher villages is also on your doorstep. There's a ski hire shop in the hotel next to the boot room.|The rooms. I booked a triple room so we had a bit more space which had views across the valley (not the slopes). The first room we were given wasn't very clean with a dead spider in the corner of the toilet that looked like it had been there a while and the room generally didn't seem clean. Spoke to reception and they prepared another room for us. This one was a bit cleaner, not perfect but acceptable. The rooms are dated but have lots of storage and having the toilet separate to the bathroom is a great idea. One of the beds had the light switch behind the pillows, crazy idea as during the night when you move your head you turn the light on! I found the beds far too hard to sleep on and after 2 nights had enough so got extra bedding and slept on the sofabed which was a bit more comfortable. Loved there was a kettle in the room |The restaurant. The views from the huge panaromic window are stunning! However it needed a good clean which isn't an easy job given the size of it and how high up it is. We enjoyed the food. Breakfast more than adequate continental breakfast with a few hot items. Dinner was very good with buffet starter and desert and a couple of choices of main which you ordered so was freshly cooked. Wine was also included with the evening meal. Service was very good|Ski lockers were good with boot warmers but the boot room could do with some benches.|Reception staff were lovely very friendly, Only went to the bar once and there wasn't a lot of choice of alcohol but it was end of season so maybe why|We had a great stay despite the rooms, I'm already booked for next March and looking forward to going back and will be packing a mattress topper...

Our room was very nice, quiet and cosy, with an amazing view and plenty of hot water. We had everything we needed including kettle and hairdryer. The bed and pillows were comfy but there was no mattress protector, and the sheet kept sliding off all the time as it wasn't fitted so that was a bit gross. Our bins were not emptied until they were overflowing and we left them out in the middle of the room but other than that no complaints.

One of the lifts broke down which meant there were long waits to go up and down but in fairness it was fixed within 48 hours so well done to the staff on their quick response. Staff all spoke English and were helpful and friendly. The hotel is in a great location and we really enjoyed our holiday. Another bonus for us child free people is that there were hardly any small children at the hotel as it is not really set up for them and I personally think that is great.

The reason I have given 4 stars is because of the food. It was very hit and miss. Some nights were great but other nights I had a lump of dry chicken and vegetables that were so overcooked they were just mush. I was glad to see the back of the restaurant by the end. I understand this is a three star hotel but broccoli costs the same whether you cook it so it is nice and crunchy or mushy and disgusting. On the other hand the free wine was very nice and actually drinkable unlike in other places I have been.

Overall I would reccomend staying here it is a nice hotel in a great location for a reasonable price. If I did it again I would consider not going for the half board option and eating out although I don't know what options there are nearby and I am certain you would spend a lot more money doing...