Samoens / Flaine - ski in/ski out

A snowHead

Hi all

Any recommendations on ski in/out accommodation in Samoens or Flaine?

Never been to Grand massif but quite fancy it; however looking at some of the Samoens hotels, they look like they're a ski bus away form the lifts. Do either resort offer ski in/out options?

Many thanks

Olly

A snowHead

The vast majority of the accommodation in Flaine itself is ski in ski out as it sits in the bottom of the bowl which is the main ski area.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Samoens is at the bottom of the valley, unless you stay at Samoens 1600 (which isn't really Samoens), so it isn't set up as a ski in, ski out resort. Flaine, as @TQA, says, is basically a ski in, ski out resort, although it is worth looking at exactly where your accommodation is in the resort, as some is nearer the bowl than others.

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I stopped at Samoens 1600 this year, very convenient and proper ski in, ski out but it's very (very) quiet at night. Nothing in the way of a supermarket either so have to drive down to Samoens town to get supplies.

As we had small children with us it worked out very well as only a couple of minutes from ski school and didn't matter that it was quiet at night as all they did was play in the snow outside, which to be fair they couldn't have done in Samoens town, as there wasn't any!

If you want a proper resort and ski in, ski out for Grand Massif, Flaine is the obvious choice. There's Morillon Les Esserts too but don't know what that's like to be honest.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Parts of Les Carroz and Morillon are also ski in/out.

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I would certainly consider Les Carroz over Flaine, which is ugly. Samoens is beautiful but the gondola is a walk from most places (I think?).
There's some lovely tree skiing in Carroz and you can be over in Flaine and Samoens very quickly via the gondola and a ski down.
The Milk Hotel ( http://www.milkhotel.fr/en/index.html ) at the bottom of Les Timolets is ski in ski out, and very friendly - I've stayed there loads of times. Nice little bar, good food, bit more upmarket than it used to be. There are a couple of other more expensive places just across from it, too.
There's another smaller place in the village itself which is also ski in ski out (50m nursery slope drag, ski down to the gondola), Les Airelles. It's cheaper than the Milk, and right next to an InterSport if you need ski hire, and better placed for going into the village for a beer, but it has no bar of its own (or didn't when I was last there a couple of years ago).

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Samoëns is beautiful?

After all it is free

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Ski in - ski out in Flaine is ideal but virtually all self catering. You can almost fall out of bed at the Panoramic (Flaine Foret) and onto Grand Van lift. Ski hire at Simonds Sports is a 3 minute walk and lift pass office in building. Spa supermarket 5 - 7 mins walk away. Flaine Montsoleil (Terrasses d'Helios & Terrasses D'Eos) far better quality accommodation, right on a green piste that links you easily into main area of Flaine - restaurant attached to each building - ski hire and Spa supermarket in Terrasses D'Helios. If you want a hotel Terminal Neige in Flaine Forum newly renovated and on Daily Telegraph list of places to stay in the Alps - short walk way from numerous ski hire and restaurants/ bars. Bear in mind Flaine is not a wild party resort but if you look carefully there are plenty of pleasant bars and good restaurants

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Flaine is set up for ski in, ski out to the extent that you can realistically ski down to many of the apartment blocks for lunch if on a budget. It's higher than Samoens village, at 1500/ 1600m so snow is more reliable. If you don't care about architecture , but want skiing convenience, then Flaine is better than Samoens imv, which is a more traditional proper village.

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The skiing is Flaine is almost as dull as the architecture and the link over to the good stuff in Samoens/Morrilon/Les C isn't much better...

I would vote for Morillon 1100

You know it makes sense.

To add to comments of northernsoulboy - Hotel Les Airelles is ski-in/ski-out, albeit at 1160m altitude, but the access to the Kedeuse gondola is very easy via a covered travelator/walkway which opened in January 2016, the button having been removed.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Does anyone know if any Vercland accommodation is ski in ski out?
One of my favourite Samoens blacks of all time 'Velarge' ends at Vercland and I've always wondered...

A snowHead

A snowHead

@red 27,

I would never ever say Onyx is dull...Or backcountry off Fred...or fresh powder on unpisted Faust...

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Freestyle, I don't think it's quite ski to the door but the Boule de Neige isn't far from the bubble.

I am struggling to understand why anyone would say the Flaine skiing is dull vs any of the rest of the area. A. There's loads of good off piste, B. Gers, C. The GM isn't so massive you can't ski the whole thing in a day...

Puzzled

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Flaine is great especially if you get up early on a day after a dump (of snow). Easy off piste for lazy people, even a couloir or two for the adventurous, and you're never far from a bar. Plus the reds and blacks at the top are nice fast cruisers.

@skier52 didn't know about the travelator, ta.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

In a weeks ski holiday, unless you are total beginners you could expect to ski all Grand Massif areas so it doesn't matter where you stay from that point of view. Personally although we are based at Samoens we tend to avoid skiing there in the school holidays as there are too many beginners and it gets congested, so we go over to Flaine if the weathers nice to enjoy the great views from the top, or Les Carroz if the clouds are down and we want to ski in the trees. Morillon has some of the nicest runs in open pasture and trees. You can eat well on piste in all areas. As regards getting around, the big game changer is the new fast chair from Les Molliets up to Tête des Saix which will make switching between resorts much easier hopefully. Where you stay really depends on what kind of holiday you like and if you want a nice village to walk round in the evening then Samoens is great for that, and you can walk to the gondola quite easily from the village if you rent your kit with storage at the lifts (I wouldn't want to carry it from the village). However it might be a bit far to walk with small kids who are tired, there seem to be lots of ski buses though. Morillon Les Esserts is ski in ski out and has a few eating options. The village in the valley is small so it's a short walk to the gondola. Flaine is functional and not remotely charming but if you will be spending your evenings in an apartment with friends, you might not mind. I don't know the village at Les Carroz.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@porkpiefox, good to know about the snow cannons! I'll check out bus routes from vercland down to Le cinema at Samoens to see if that's an option for us.

After all it is free

Thanks for all the replies - massively helpful !

@Freestyle, This is last year's timetable:

http://www.mairiedesamoens.fr/imageProvider.aspx?resource=23487&fn=Horaires%20SkI-BUS%202015-2016.pdf

I suspect you would have to change at the GME, as I don't think the Ligne Rouge stops at the cinema (could be wrong). We used the cinema stop in 2015, when we stayed in Samoens itself and I can remember that not all routes stopped there, so I suspect that might be the case.

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That's great - cheers, @porkpiefox,

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Samoens / Flaine - ski in/ski out

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