Pros:

* cozy room
* just 2 bus stops from Les Houches ski area

Cons:

* charged extra money for breakfasts that we did not have
* not very polite crew, often harsh
* hotel is being unfair with their hairdryer promises
* Wi-Fi Internet promised, but not available when we asked on reception
* No bathroom curtain, hence always wet floor

Seriously, I was very disappointed by being forced to pay extra money
for hotel's bad discipline. They charged us extra 4 breakfasts (38
Euro) that we did not have. On checkout I did not pay attention to the
extra money in the bill, my fault: not enough French words in
vocabulary. One day later we noticed the extra payment, visited the
reception back and suggested that this was a mistake. It is not a lot
of money, what drives me mad is the response from Nicole (one of the
two hotel owners). She expressed no tiny sign of regret. She behaved
as if it was me who committed any possible sin during the stay. She
said that she won't even bother to try to investigate what happened
because "the person responsible for this was hired for the high season
and has already left". I don't believe this. And she refused to call
this person to try figure out what happened. She behaved not
appropriately, was impolite and harsh. I think it was all set up
because (a) the breakfast was placed for the first two days of the 2
week stay (in hope everybody forgets what happened) and (b) there were
only 3 rooms occupied at that moment which makes it nearly impossible
to make a mistake as such.

One old lady in the hotel crew was explicitly not welcome. It looked
as if she hates us only for knowing English and not knowing French. I
hope to be wrong about this assertion, but I cannot think of anything
else. Maybe, it's in my face or clothes?

Venere.com mentions "Hairdryer on request" on the hotel page, but it's
not 100% true. In fact you have to *return* your requested hairdryer
to reception desk after use. This probably won't affect you on the low
season, but on the high season, be prepared. We could not discuss this
with hotel crew verbally, but after my email with all the details and
a nice request the issue was resolved with these exact words in
response: "We have 10 hairdryers for the rest of our rooms; our
clients seam to have no difficulty to return them each day;" No
difficulty, heh? this would not make a problem even for me on a 1 or 2
night stay, but for 2 weeks it is not convenient. Especially it was
inconvenient to feel you are followed like a criminal by the old lady
to take the hairdryer back.

Public description also lists "A Wi-Fi Internet connection is
available in the common areas". When we asked for Wi-Fi, we were lead
into some far room (breakfast area?), where WiFi is said to be
available from some third party. And we could not figure out the
payment method. And it looked like it's the wireless network of the
nearby bar. This is not exactly what I was hoping to see.

To sum up: I think the infrastructure of the hotel was good for our 2
week stay, but the owners are proactive liars which kills the idea
of a good stay.

Stayed here as part of a family inter-railing holiday.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay here, although the hotel was far from perfect. The room was snug for 2 adults and 2 kids, and slightly in need of a refurb (toilet seat falling off, light bulbs not working etc..), but it did have a small balcony with Mount Blanc in view!

The staff were slightly unfriendly, but helpful when necessary. I was over charged, for a breakfast we didn't have. There were no tea/coffee facilities in the room, which never goes down well.

The hotel restaurant was good, but expensive. With a 9 and 12 year old we had to look elsewhere if we wanted to eat together. Fortunatley there were plenty of options within a short walk, as well as a large supermarket just around the corner.

Buses to Chamonix and the ski lifts picks up & departs right outside the hotel, so we never had any trouble getting around, and the hotel is a short 10 minute hike from Les Houches train station.

Absolutely best of all was the heated outdoor swimming pool. The kids (and me) couldn't get enough of it, and swam 4 of the 5 days we were there. With Aquille de Midi and a snowy Mount Blanc as a backdrop, you couldn't ask for more.

Stayed here for 5 days in December/January 2003/2004. Small little family run hotel in Les Houches, a tiny town in the Chamonix valley. The hotel is definitely small and the rooms are tiny and cramped, but it is very charming. Walkable to the ski resort, about .5km away and walkable to "downtown" les Houches. The restaurant in the hotel was excellent and the owners were very accomodating. Overall a great stay and we loved our time in Les Houches.

The hotel wasn't outstanding but nice enough for the prices they charge. Contrary to other reviews, I found the staff to be fairly accomodating and friendly. When we had problems, the woman in charge promptly responded. This is a French run hotel with French staff, so you're simply not going to get this outpouring of friendliness that you might find at a bed and breakfast in middle America. As is fairly common with older hotels in France, we had a room (room 101) that obviously had a toilet and shower built into the room, which meant the whole bathroom was closer than you would have liked. The room had a slightly musty smell as well, but I guess we got used to it after a while. She charged us less than the posted rate, so either it's the discounted room in the hotel or she had lowered her prices. The view out the window was nice, breakfast was decent and the hotel restaurant served very good food, though we only ate their once b/c the atmosphere there wasn't really what we were looking for. If I go back to Chamonix, I'd probably look elsewhere first, especially for romantic trips, but I'd return again if no other options. Better for families than couples.