We stayed here over new year 2012. Staff were excellent, great kids club 4-8pm in the evening (for only 40euros), and the food was fab - we looked forward to what delights we would be served each evening. The resort didn't have much Apres Ski but the hotel bar was a good place to relax & there was a quiz or two in the evenings over the week - the kind of hotel you don't mind spending a lot of time in, and the views are awsome. You can also ski virtualy to the door. We would not hesitate in going back to this hotel 10/10. Thanks Langley.

Le Petit Prince had a makeover in 2010 and all reviews before then are largely irrelevant. It is a very good budget hotel which gives excellent value for money, is warm and comfortable with wonderful food and staff. The rooms are large and have plenty of storage space. There are no phones, TVs or safes in the rooms. A hairdryer was provided on request. The rooms have wet-room showers but no baths. The dining room is very noisy and could do with some measures to deaden sound - like carpets, curtains, etc. There is no ski/boot room to speak of but you are allowed to walk to your room in your ski boots(!) and leave your skis on the balcony and your boots in your room overnight. There was an odd smell in the stairwell and this was virtually the first thing noticed on entering the hotel - rather off-putting.
Langley, the Swedish owners of the hotel, provide ski guides for the first few days of your holiday. They show you around the slopes to familiarise yourself with them - a great (and unexpected) boon. The entire staff seem to want you to enjoy your holiday , are extremely pleasant and helpful. All in all, Le Petit Prince is a credit to the Langley organisation and a great no frills base for a skiing holiday for groups, couples and families.

Excellent food, comfortable rooms, plenty of drawers and hanging space, not overheated, clean, fantastic staff, good views,free wi-fi, well positioned for access to the slopes and with a shuttle bus stop at the door, overall highly recommended. But not perfect. The bathroom is an ultra-modern, trendy and beautiful wet room, but a stunning masterpiece of bad design. There's no shelf to put your things in the shower; the shower is separated from the rest of the room by a clear glass partition, and some people walked into the partition because it was invisible to them; there are gaps behind and below the partition and if you turn the handheld shower head the wrong way the water escapes all over the wall and floor; if you hold it another way it hits the towel rail and soaks all the towels; the washbasin is huge but there is a fixed tap over the middle of it that gets in the way when you bend over to wash your face. Whoever designed this evidently never tried to use it! The lighting in the dining room is so dim that it is sometimes hard to admire the gorgeously presented food, and the dining room is incredibly noisy because it has a magnificent stone floor and nothing to deaden the sound of animated conversation, and of course everyone shouts to make themselves heard which aggravates the problem. There was also an occasional issue with noise from the bar late at night, and in particular with noise from the pool machine.

Last year we stayed at Tignes 2100 Hotel which was operated by Swedish company Langley.
We had such a great experience there, that for this years ski/snowboard trip our criteria was:
1) European destination
2) Half board basis hotel (no chalets)
3) High altitude resort (to increase the chances of there being some snow)
4) Be operated by Langley
5) Not cost too much
6) Have a short(ish) transfer time from the airport.
Le Petit Price in Alpe d'Huez seemed to fit the bill nicely.

The first bit of good news was that the coach dropped off us off just outside the hotel, so there was no arduous trek across town (Hotel Splendid in Sauze d'Oulx) or up a vertiginous flight of steps (Tignes 2100 Hotel).

The next bit of good news was the décor – my wife and I gave each other a look which could be translated as: “have we come to the right hotel?”. We later discovered that the hotel had been refurbished just over a year ago, but it still looked very fresh.

LOCATION
The location is a bit hit-and-miss.

On the plus side it's within spitting distance of the La Grande Sure lift, so as long as you can manage a (quite gentle) red slope, the lift is about 100m below the hotel. If you don't fancy starting on a red slope, there's a bus stop directly outside which will take you to the main lift area. You can also (almost) ski back to the hotel. Another plus was that the hotel is cut into the hillside so (as far as I could tell), every room faces down into the valley and has a balcony with superb view.

On the minus side, the hotel location is a bit isolated from the town centre. There is a bar, restaurant, hardware shop and boucherie pretty close by, but the main commercial area is a 10-15 minute walk away, or a short bus trip (free to ski pass holders). The upside of the location is that there wasn't any rowdy street/bar noise that you'd find in the centre of a ski resort.

BEDROOM
As we stepped into our ground floor room we experienced another 'wow!' moment. We've been on 7 or 8 European ski trips over the years and the rooms have ranged from the very basic (cheap pine-clad walls, thin carpets and beds with mattresses with about as much padding as the average handkerchief), to the traditional Austrian (wardrobes with twee alpine murals painted on). Le Petit Prince's rooms were straight out of the Scandinavian school of boutique ski lodge design. Not only did everything look great, but there were clever design touches and a feeling of obvious quality. Ski hotels are going to take a pounding from clumsy oafs like ourselves banging heavy ski boots and equipment about, but the room seemed to be totally unscathed. The bedroom door was very heavy and probably very fire resistant, which meant it was good at keeping out exterior noise. Curiously there was no spy-hole in the door. This didn't bother me too much as the hotel felt very safe (you need to key in a 4 digit code to enter the hotel). The walls were mostly clad in very contemporary-looking white washed-pine and were liberally garnished with various hooks and cargo net storage pouches, all of which proved to be very handy for hanging up jackets, trousers, gloves etc.

According to the hotel schematic on the back of the door (showing the fire exits), our room was the smallest on the floor, but it didn't feel at all cramped, even with a snowboard, ski bag, boot bag and suitcase jammed in.

The room was warm and draught-free. This can be attributed to the triple-glazed patio doors through which not even the tiniest hint of a draught could get through. There was also a small radiator in the corner which was ideal for drying boots and gloves on.

As is typical for an Alpine hotel, the bed was made up of 2 single beds which were locked together to make a double, which means there's a small gap between the 2 single mattresses. The mattresses were very comfortable after a hard day on the slopes.

The bathroom was of a decent size but it only had a shower, which is common for a ski hotel. The fixtures and fittings were of a high quality and there were no issues with either water pressure or temperature.

The balcony was large enough for 2 plastic chairs and there was enough room left over to store our skis and snowboard. This proved invaluable because on most afternoons the sun was warm enough to melt the ice off our equipment.

The hotel has free wi-fi which extended to the bedroom. This came in handy as the room had no TV (or telephone, alarm clock or safe), so we used the connection to stream radio through a laptop.

SKI/SNOWBOARD STORAGE
Unlike most ski hotels, there isn't a dedicated boot/equipment room (technically there is, but it's unheated and unlocked, so you're advised not to use it). You're encouraged instead to remove your boots in the entrance lobby and store your equipment on your balcony. This wasn't much of a hardship because the lobby area was spacious enough to remove your boots in. We adopted the regime of letting the sun melt the ice off our skis/snowboard on the balcony, and warming our boots by the radiator overnight. On the odd day where there was no snow, we kept our skis /snowboard in the room, placing them on towel to avoid damaging the floor.

FOOD
The dining area was quite understated. There was a large monochrome photographic mural of a skier in a dynamic pose covered the wall at one end of the room and various stuffed animal heads at the other. There were large windows with panoramic views across the valley. The windows were lacking the full complement of grouting normally required to hold a pane securely in place, therefore they let in a bit of a draught, but considering how warm the room got when it was full of would-be skiers at breakfast time, this was a blessing.

The breakfast choice was comprehensive, fresh and tasty. On offer was porridge (a bit dry and salty), yoghurt pots, muesli, nuts, fruit, fruit juices, tea, coffee (typically French – i.e. strong and tasty), dried meats, boiled eggs, a choice of delicious breads, cheese, pâté etc.

One thing we weren't expecting at breakfast was a member of the hotel staff giving a daily weather and ski conditions report to the assembled guests. We've never seen this done before, so it was a surprise, but a welcome one.

We were on a half-board basis, so we had a delicious 3-course meal every evening. As we sat down we were given a bowl of tasty artisan bread and a dip (olive oil and balsamic vinegar, mushroom paté, that kind of thing). Our servers would replenish the bread without hesitation if asked. The menu only showed a single option for each course, but our waitress/waiter asked us each night if we had any allergies or dislikes and told us there was another option available. The food was well-presented, and very tasty. The portions were just the right size.

Each day there was a recommended wine to match the meal. The prices ranged from about €18 upwards, so if you're on a tight budget don't feel obliged to accept the recommendation – the waiting staff weren't pushy at all, even though they were being encouraged to 'up-sell'. The wines we did try were good and would probably represent fair value if bought at a restaurant in town.

The service was great – our servers were friendly and attentive. One night we were looked after by someone who was a bit less experienced than the others, but this was easy to overlook as their friendly and apologetic manner overcame their shortcomings.

LOUNGE/BAR
The bar / lounge area was a very comfortable place to spend time in. The view of the valley at sunset was amazing. After sunset, the heat and smell of the open log fire and the subtle lighting made for a very relaxing atmosphere. There was an eclectic mix of furniture (i.e. unmatched but in deliberately planned way) , including sofas, wing-back chairs, stools and bean bags.

Barman / manager Jesper could mix a good cocktail (as long as all the ingredients had been delivered!). The prices seemed reasonable considering the poor Pound to Euro exchange rate, although happy hour pricing made the après-ski more palatable.

FACILITIES
There isn't a pool, sauna, steam room or gym – but we didn't expect there to be at the price we paid and I'm not sure we'd have bothered using them anyway!

There's a small car park, but like most of the other guests we had a coach transfer from the airport.

STAFF
The staff were wonderful – exactly the same (high) levels of service which we'd previously experienced at a Langley hotel. Everyone was very friendly, helpful and spoke good English.

CONCLUSION
Langley have raised the bar for Alpine ski hotels again - when can next stay at one?