We are just back from two nights in this charming chalet high on the hill above Lake Leman. We had never visited the region before and were blown away by it.
The drive up to the chalet takes you along some pretty steep, narrow roads. We live on a hill in Scotland, but even so, one or two of these roads gave us some sharp-intake-of-breath moments, not least because the small hire car we'd rented was swapped for a seven-seater monster by the hire company. The whole area is pretty breathtaking anyway, but our advice would be to insist on your compact car if the hire company tries to upgrade you for free - it can be double-edged!
We were met by our host, Alain, who took us up to the chalet and showed us around.
The chalet itself is a few metres behind Alain's own house, in a lovely rustic garden surrounded by trees. It's a very peaceful place with touches of the far east dotted around. The Dali Lama sits above the door into the chalet. There's no TV, and the WiFi switches off at 10:00 p.m., guaranteeing you aren't tempted to sit up late watching Netflix!
The photos give a good representation of the chalet's furnishings - we haven't always found this to be the case with some AirBnBs, but Alain's was pretty accurate. The cupboards were well-stocked with stuff like olive oil, salt, herbs etc., which made cooking a breeze. Again, we've stayed at places that don't run to so much as a jar of salt, so this was a useful touch. Alain himself was on hand during our stay and came up to see us after our first night to ensure we had all we needed.
One or two small points to note:
- You make your own bed up here! Alain leaves the bedding out, but it's a DIY affair - a new Airbnb experience for us!
- There are no large towels in the bathroom - only hand towels. Trying to dry yourself off with a hand towel in an unheated chalet first thing in the morning when it's 5 degrees outside tests your mettle!
- On that note, it gets COLD here! Alain showed us a portable radiator on wheels when we checked in, which we fished out and plugged in... No dice. Maybe this was down to operator error, but we couldn't get it going! We wrapped ourselves in the plentiful duvets instead.
Aside from these things, we really enjoyed our visit, and would definitely recommend Alain's place: it's great value and in a little corner of paradise. Maybe just pack your own towels...