We stayed at Peter’s chalet for 7 nights and 8 days in August, 2019. In our opinion, this is the “must stay” place when you are visiting the Lavux region by Lake Léman in Switzerland. The chalet itself is located in Chardonne, which is midway up Mount Pelerin, behind the city of Vevey. It’s readily accessible from Vevey train station by either bus and cable car, or even by walking from the train station to the cable car (about a 5 minute walk, all flat). Chardonne is midway up the mountain, giving absolutely spectacular views of the lake and surrounding mountains. The chalet is at the edge of the tiny village of Chardonne, which has a small grocery store, as well as a great bakery and a couple of restaurants. Chardonne itself is accessible to many local attractions - Lake Leman which has a great walking path, Montreux (where the British rock band, Queen’s mountain studio is located) with it’s quiet glamor, the quaint villages in the local mountains and of course the fantastic mountain hiking areas.
The chalet itself is a beautifully renovated 100 year old Swiss style three story chalet located in the middle of the UNESCO world heritage vineyard area (Lavaux region). The views from the chalet are absolutely amazing and picturesque. There were the magnificent Swiss and French Alps mountain ranges soaring along the far side of the lake, along with the cities of Vevey and Montreux below, and the lake with ever changing colors. It was wonderful to sit and watch the sun comes up in the morning on one of the many decks, or goes down in the evening. The chalet has all the modern conveniences - wi-fi, washer/dryer, dishwasher and microwave/oven. The bathrooms are beautifully finished, and the rooms are all outfitted beautifully.
Peter himself is an absolute “Super Host” and treated us like part of his family we felt. From our initial booking time, Peter was a great communicator, while we exchanged messages prior to our stay. The day we arrived, he welcomed us very warmly at Vevey station with a very nice smile (brought us cool bottled water) on the day we arrived after a long journey from Canada.
He was very organized and well prepared to have us as guests and the chalet was impeccably clean and nicely and charmingly decorated. Locally produced fruits, cheese, yogurt, Swiss chocolates and locally produced wine were prepared for us in the fridge and on the kitchen counter waiting for us. He also has prepared an excellent information book about the chalet and local attractions/transit options, which was very helpful.
On a personal note, Peter is a warm and genuine host. He’s a native English speaker but also speaks French fluently, and has a great knowledge of the many attractions in the region, having lived there so long. He and his family (we met his young son) seemed to genuinely enjoy the company of guests, and as he lives in a separate house on the property, he was close but also separate enough that he respected family space. Our daughter (11) had a very good time playing with his son (5), and they were fast friends almost immediately. We all felt that we were very well looked after by Peter and had a very relaxing stay at his house (we wish we had a longer stay there). We can say that this Switzerland trip was one of the best family trips we ever had, mostly due to our great stay at Chalet Barnardine, which was combined with Peter’s, excellent hospitality and the stunning views from his place. We had never got bored of looking at the spectacular lake and mountain views from our windows or large decks. We highly recommend to anyone particularly to family who wants to have an enjoyable and stress free vacation in Switzerland!