We stayed here at the beginning of February and have to say it is a good hotel but one or two minor things that could be rectified easily would make it excellent.

Out of 7 nights we had 3 nights with top class food but unfortunately the other 4 meals were distinctly average and almost as if it wasn't the same chef , which we suspected it wasn't. The service is very inconsistent and it depends on which waiter you end up with as to what kind of service you get.

Rooms were good although very hot and couldn't keep windows open as it was so noisey between 1am and 4 am as the Fitzroy is right opposite the Malaysia nightclub.

The hotel seems totally dominated by Russian guests, not surprising as they are the ones with all the money, everything is expensive but no more so than any other French, Austrian or Swiss ski resort and we actually found some of the drinks in the hotel were cheaper than outside. Although we made the mistake one day of asking for 1 extra tea bag and were charged 5 euros for it, my advice is take your own.

Val Thorens itself ,in our opinion, has deteriorated since we last went there in 2004 and now seems to be modelling itself on St Anton with apres ski bars on the slopes starting
the booze run at around 3pm every day along with live music, however not in the same league as the Moosewirt in St Anton. One thing we didn't like was finding empty beer bottles and cans strewn all over the blue run down from Plein Sud.

In fairness the skiing in Val thorens is great with plenty of choice for a week and we would go back again but maybe would consider another hotel unless there were some great bargains on offer like we had at the Fitzroy.

Overall we would recommend the hotel Fitzroy but it does need to make one or two improvements.

Stayed here at the start fo February 2011 with my friend and anual ski buddy. Between us we are very well travelled and have skied and stoped in some of the best hotels and resorts so given the 'hype' as potrated by Crysatl ski holidays thought we were doing the right thing, despite some of the earlier poor reviews..
This hotel has some very good poimts but a lot of very bad points and here is an honest opinion.
Good points: The food is exceptional, they have a young head cheif who is adventurous and skillful, not quite michelin - but she is definatly heading in the right direction. The location is true ski in ski out - best location of any hotel i have been in. Hotel is modern, clean, tidy, lovely bar area, restaurant and pool. Rooms are not the biggest, but very adequate, lovely bathroom and nice view over the slopes
Now the bad points:
The wine list is extortionate with the cheapest bottle at £45, next one at £55, then £75 and the remainder at £80 plus. we complained about this and the level of arrogance recieved was ridiculous. We had various excuses including they had sold all the cheaper wines and were waiting for new deliveries but didnt know when they were coming, - doubtfull given it was a well thumbed printed wine list. The somellier conviniently side slipped himself out saying that he didnt buy the wine, or set the prices. Must be the only somellier in the world that has no control of the wines, and he also doubled as a food waiter so his qualifications could be questionable. We did take the matter further and tried on 4 occassions to speak to the hotel manager/owner, and despite asking reception for him to make contact he conviniently avoided us for the wholle week. Bar prices similar - Gin and tonic £8.
2nd night we were greated by the sommelier who gleefully told us that he had reduced the prices - all the £80 wines to £70 not very helpfull. We did note then that wine by the glass was reduced to £7 per glass, equivilant to £35 per bottle, but the same bottle on the menu was £55, we questioned this and were told that was the price, and that we were the only guests who noticed it! - anyway it didnt matter as wealthy russian guests would pay it.. We asked for 5 glasses, and could they be left in the bottle but this was refused. The russian guests may have the money to buy expensive wines, but there is no middle ground for the guests that like a wine but dont want to be ripped off - Chablis started a £85!!! - the last night summed up the russian guests knowledge of wines and drinks as i watched them pay £97 for 2 x 30 year old malt whiskies - and watched in horror as they then added coke to them!!!!!
TV has 2 chancels in english, BBC news and Eurosport. On day 3 we had an influx of russian guests and mysteriously bbc news became russion news - complained to be told that the satelite must have moved!!! they would look into it, despite another 5 requestes nothing done.
Breckfast was good, when they remembered to order you boiled eggs, waited 25mins for 2 eggs one day. at times theye were understaffed and choice was slightly limited for the rating of the hotel - warm food was eggs. fried boiled or scrambled
Maitre d was arrogant at times, claimed to have worked in 3* michelin, but am sure the only stars he has ever seen were the 5* he recived for employee of the month at McDonalds when he trained there. He seemed to latch on the guests who ordered expensive champagne and were portraying themesleves as wealthy - everyone else was secondary, The staff under him were clueless and could all do with re-training.
shower broke, after 4 requests, no on came, so nick fixed it with an elastic band - genious which am sure given the attentiveness of the staff will still be there for years to come.,
Minin bar - see enclosed picture of the contents - this for a 4-5 star hotel, I rest my case!!!! ( all the cans in there were £5)
This hotel has many bad points which would be so easy to put right, and if they ever do get it right it will be a great hotel.
The only reddeming features id that we left it to the lost minute to book, and was reduced from the brochure price of £1500 (would have been suicidal if i had paid that) to £750!!! - so if you are going here this is what it can be had for, and we wrent the only ones that paid this price - so waiting can pay off!
The daft thing is that after all this we looked on the experiance as very commical, one previous review described the hotel as 'Fawlty Towers' - he is right there!!!, and if you look at it this way. we would go back here again!!
If you get the right deal, its worth going - but if you have to pay full price you will be very disspointed - and beware of the bar and wine prices

Having stayed in Val Thorens in some of the other hotels in the resort, we decided to go to the Fitzroy this year, despite the mixed reviews, due to some really good deals being offered by Thomsons and the hotel. (Substantial discounts and free local lift passes.) The hotel ended up being a mixed bag and we both came away dissapointed with it compared to others in the resort.

The location is excellent, being right in the middle of the resort, next to the piste and in a good ski in - ski out position. The main bars and restaurant are not too far away and the ski hire shop is a very short walk across the piste. Val Thorens is our favourite ski resort and even when the snow was a bit slushy down in Les Menuires or Courchevel the skiing in Val Thorens was good.

The hotel itself was nicely furnished with a really cosy bar area, swimming pool and sauna - all three of which were great for relaxing in after a hard days skiiing. The rooms were very well furnished, always kept clean and had nice balconys. The food in the restaurant was excellent. There was a set menu every night with choice of 2 starters and 2 mains. If you didn't want this there was also an a la carte menu which you got a discount from. The wine list started from about £35 per bottle though. We did get a bit bored of eating in the restaurant (mainly the poor service) and so ate out on 2 occasions.

Sounds ok so far, but the nice hotel was severly let down by the poor service given by the staff. Everything was too much effort and the staff had no interest in the customers and generlly appeared to be unhappy. One particularly notable example we saw was when one customer in the bar who had a broken leg asked a waiter for the telephone number of a local taxi firm to take him to his hotel. The waiter refused to help him, told him that he would need to walk to reception himself to ask them and then carried on clearing glasses. This attitude was typical across most of the staff that we came across in all areas of the hotel who just weren't interested in helping or doing things for customers.

If we'd paid full price and not got free lift passes, we'd have thought that the hotel was over priced and very poor value for money. With the deal we got, the hotel was average value for money (certainly not good compared to the other hotels in resort) and we both left loving the resort and skiing but not the hotel. With that in mind we wouldn't consider going back to the Fitzroy, there are much better hotels in the resort.

The team of staff was great, welcoming and very professional. The dinners were excellent, five courses with delicious, interesting and beautifully presented dishes. The breakfast buffet was very good indeed and requests for items not on display were dealt with courteously and generously. One of us was unwell for a time and all special requests were graciously met. The staff were very kind. The spa area was good though not large; one of us used the hammam and the pool and greatly enjoyed it. The location of the hotel is of course excellent in relation to both snow and village, and the hotel terrace is a great place for relaxing and people watching at the end of the ski day. The lounge is comfortable and spacious. The valet service was efficient and friendly - on checking in, we turned round to find our skis had been spirited away to the locker and our luggage and jackets had been taken to the room most promptly. We had a nice room and were comfortable throughout, although the room was small-ish. Bathroom, slippers and robes were luxurious. Drinks were not cheap - what would you expect in a four star hotel in one of the best positions in the highest ski resort in Europe?