This hotel is rated a 4 star but it is seriously lacking in sophistication. We are well seasoned travelers who only stay in 4 or 5 star hotels. We booked 1 month in advance for our last minute christmas trip and wondered why such a highly rated hotel with such qualified staff was still available... quickly found out when we reached the place. The "owner" is the son of the former owners, and trying to raise the stars by adding new amenities every year since his takeover 3 yrs ago, BUT is clearly not cut out for attending to high end clients. He made an art of offending guests over and over again. He said many times, if he does it for one guest he must do it for all guests!!?? I must say, the accomodations are clean and the seasonal staff employed is adaquate. The "seasonal staff" has really been the only highmark on the hotel... after all, one should expect a very clean room for over $600 a night. The rooms and the view are not spectacular. The food is okay. The hotel is quite far-- 28 minutes walking distance from the town center (not 5 minutes as they suggested-- we timed it) The problems occur continuously when dealing with the hotelier... Overall, the feeling is very negative from him.. as though he has an inferiority complex. .Here are a few of the many issues we had with him.. he allowed us to make an appointment to have the shuttle service pick our children up after ski school (this is a common service for most hotels in the valley) but then did not pick them up until we called 30 min later, saying they do not make appoinments, but we should call when we are ready. I called in an urgent situation and asked for my husband,he said my husband was outside, when I suggested he walk out the front door get him, he gave the phone to his secretary, suddenly unable to understand English. He would not give me the number to the local kindergarten, I had to get it myself. He insisted the water in the hot tub should remain the same temperature when we suggested it was a little cool (even wrote down the temperature on a paper for our benefit saying it is always the same... which did not make it any warmer) . When, on our first night there, we called for shuttle pickup, he said we were a half hour late for pick up, but they would do it anyway because the shuttle service was already out (nice)... then the next day, he pointed out that we should not call again for shuttle pick up after the appointed time because they would not pick us up again. He had a yelling match with 2 different guests in our presence.
I suggested, after several of these events in the FIRST FEW HOURS of our stay, that he did not seem happy to gave us as guests, he argued with us that we should not ask for the sauna to be turned up or call after the shuttle service is concluded for the day.-- This was a similar response to the yelling match he had with another of the guests. To me this all points to the fact that he is not the kind of host one should hope for when paying for a 4 star (US 5 Star) hotel who are expecting a high quality experience. I could go on and on about how unfortunate our stay has been, but the one thing I will say is that I wold never recomend this place to any one. This hotelier needs a wake up call... it is truly a garni with some fancy wrapping paper disguise. Too unfortunate.