Lagrange Vacances - Cybèle — Hotel in Albertville

We arrived at the Cybele on a Saturday evening in February 2019 for our family skiing holiday. We were greeted by two rude, unaccomodating women at the reception who spoke very little English and were very keen to take our deposit straight away, of 200 Euros. Once we got to our room we discovered 3 filthy beds, with no pillows and no bed sheets or duvets. We investigated this problem and eventually found an assortment of pillows, which were again dirty and included cigarette burns on them. We also found some thin blankets which were said to the be duvets. When we entered the bathroom, it was again filthy, and obviously had not been cleaned for many weeks. The toilet was not flushed or cleaned and the floor and bath was very dirty. The sink had dirty marks around it and a small space between the sink and shower was black with dirt. The shower, was almost non existent. The head of the shower was not even attached to the wall making it nearly impossible to stand and have a shower at the same time. Once one of us braved the bathroom and attempted to have a shower, it was soon revealed that after five minutes the hot water ran out and so the other two members of our party could not shower. The television and the wifi did not work and when we looked in the cupboards there were no plates, cups or bowls. They were all in the dishwasher, which once we opened, we found were all filthy, and stained. After putting the wash back on, all the utensils were just as filthy as before. Along with everything else the curtains were also hanging off their rails. Once we had discovered all of this we went back downstairs to the two ladies at reception. We asked for some bed sheets, duvets and towels, and begrudgingly we were given a couple of sheets and towels but still no duvets. By this time we had made it clear to our tour operator that we did not wish to stay in the Cybele for any more time than we had to, and we were quickly relocated to a much nicer accommodation just down the road. The next day after a day of skiing, we told the two women that we would be leaving, and wanted our deposit back immediately. The one woman at reception that we were speaking to, spoke such bad English that she made us to type into google translate on her computer what we were trying to say so that she could understand that we were leaving and wanted our money back. Overall we stayed at the Cybele for one night and were appalled at the state in which we found our room. We also did not receive our deposit back until nearly a week after we had left and this was prompted by a number of phone calls from our rep asking for...

Cybeles is effectively four blocks of unattended, self-service, simple apartments, with basic, limited facilities, tired decor and a 'hostel' feel.||The rooms are warm and the beds are comfortable, but have thin bedding and pillows; the ensuite bathroom is fine for 2-3 people and there's plenty of hot water. The kitchen end of the room is small, with a sink, fridge, tiny ceramic hob, microwave, toaster and kettle. There's a washing machine, but ours was missing its metal top casing - exposing the workings and electric wires. There's a little dining table and 2 chairs, plus a TV (French terrestrial channels only) and a small balcony facing the other apartments.||We had a reserved parking space in the basement garage (there are few spaces outside), but that relies on other cars not parking in it (which they did to ours). One of the four blocks has a reception desk manned briefly for a few hours each day, but it closes early evening and the complex is unattended for the rest of the time.||During our stay, the onsite restaurant was shut and looked out of use for months, the sauna and hot tub were broken and empty, and there was a small, dimly-lit pool for a swim. A side room (gym?) was flooded with water, unlit and had no equipment. The lift was broken for 2 days while we there.||Brides itself has a few small bars and restaurants (which turned us away when they got busy), and you do need to accept that it's many miles from any of the 3 Valleys ski resorts. There is a great ski hire shop (Intersport) at the gondola, a ski pass office, Spar corner shop and a good pharmacy. There are quite a few hotels, and there's a thermal bath-house (though it starts at 30 euros for a post ski swim session).||To ski, it's a 30 minute gondola ride to the lowest Meribel village point, or a 25 minute mountain drive to the lifts at Le Praz (Courchevel 1300) - if you have a car and get lucky with parking when you get there. It's a 40 minute drive to Les Menuires, where there's more parking. If you rely on the Meribel gondola, you absolutely have to catch that last one back (1700) as there's no other way down to Brides. There are no ski resort buses to or from the village. And - it's a long way back if you forget anything or like to take a break during the day.||All told, if you're highly self-sufficient, need no extras, comforts or assistance, don't want to be in a ski resort and are content with a self-contained, basic and inexpensive hostel room to sleep each night, then Cybeles is fine. But - this is not a hotel, and you do have to manage your...

We are staying here for a full winter season. Brides les Baines is a small town where there is not a lot happening. We are in our 50s and are enjoying the tranquility that Brides offers. Residence Cybeles is cheap and cheerful, first impressions are the corridors are a bit grubby, but the rooms are absolutely fine. The apartments are larger than that of similar apartments that we have been used to in other resorts. Warm air heating keeps the apartment nice and warm albeit being a little noisy. The apartment has free WiFi, but you should check as it's not always the case. It will only allow one user to access it though at any given time. It is basically equipped with a microwave, two ring electric hob, fridge and stainless steel sink. We have a kettle, crockery, cutlery, toaster, coffee maker, iron, hoover etc. However, I'm not sure if you get all of these for weekly lets. The room comprises of two singles that you can push together, two bunks, pull down table and chairs, shower/toilet, kitchen, outdoor balcony with plastic table and chairs. We have got underground car parking space which is fantastic as the car park is very busy. The clientele seems to be mainly a mix of French, English and Italian. We have been here two months now and have yet to experience any noisy neighbours.

Everyday there is a courtesy minibus to take you to the Olympic lift with a very friendly driver who always has a ready smile. However, we enjoyed the exercise of walking there, but if you have children they might struggle as it's quite a steep hill. The olympic lift starts at 8.30 and closes at 17.00, there are no buses to get down from Meribel and aprez ski is almost non existent in Brides. A taxi will cost you 30/40 euros if you miss it.

The on site ski hire shop has one of the friendliest and most helpful men that we have met during our stay. He went the extra mile to help us when one of our bindings broke even though it was our own.

The receptionist is very friendly and helpful. We have yet to use the swimming pool because I've had an eye operation, but it looks absolutely fine and not busy in the mornings.

All in all I would without hesitation recommend Residence Cybeles to anyone looking for a quiet, cheap experience of...