Farewell Morzine, hello Avoriaz

After three decades of wonderful memories, it’s now officially time to say goodbye to Morzine and Les Gets. This decision hasn’t come lightly. Long a favourite for so many loyal guests; charming, lively, and full of nostalgia for many, both resorts will always hold a place in our heart. But ski holidays have got expensive, and we need to be sure of delivering the piste and the snow to your ski room door.

In truth, our journey up the mountain began some time ago. In fact, over ten years ago when our founder, Andy, first heard through the friend of a cousin of a friend whose dog had a friend who knew a friend, about a few plots of land potentially, just maybe, for sale in Avoriaz. Behind the slightly irritating and sometimes badly informed noise about climate change, we could see it was getting a bit warmer in the valley and it was time to move up the hill to find the snow.

It took a lot of coffee early doors, wine at lunch and pastis at sunset, but eventually we agreed the purchase of three building plots bang in the centre of Avoriaz. We weren’t brave enough to break ground straightaway. First of all, we bought, gutted and renovated the top floor of an apartment block with a friend and made three apartments (really, really nice) out of sixteen (really awful); to be sure we all loved the resort. But that’s an adventure to be told another day. We fell in love with the resort and our guests did too.

So emboldened by the joy of our guests we pondered hard about what to build. We burnt the midnight oil, exhausted the architect’s pencil and drained the planning council’s patience until we had seven Avoriaz chalets of every size and shape, each of elegant design with breath-taking views and plenty of pools, hot tubs, saunas and steam rooms with après-ski indulgence of every description. And of course, the most important thing of all, a piste with snow at your ski room door, at 1850 metres altitude you’d expect nothing less.

Check out the view from our chalets in Avoriaz here:

Imagine Narnia, then put it on top of a mountain at 1800 metres altitude and bathe it in sunset on top of a blanket of cloud. Watch our noises of Avoriaz video for the sound of the magic.

Avoriaz is in the centre of the Portes du Soleil and at the top of the mountain, the other resorts circle it like horses on a carousel, it’s always the first resort to open and the last to close. With car-free streets and stunning clifftop views, only the bells of the horse drawn carriages disturb the serene charm and calm of this fairy-tale mountain retreat. Then there’s the billy bonus; the convenience, altitude, infrastructure and vast ski area of a world-class winter destination. What’s not to like?

As we complete our move up the mountain from Morzine to Avoriaz, we’re hitting new heights right across our collection of chalets. The average altitude of our chalets climbs to 1,967m, with every single bed above 1,800m. That’s your snow guarantee, from us to you. You only get a few ski days a year, time on the hill with family and friends is priceless, and so much more enjoyable with snow under boot. Why risk it?

To everyone who stayed with us over the last 35 years in Morzine, thank you. Whether it was your first chalet holiday or your tenth, you were and always will be a part of our story. Hopefully we can persuade you to turn the page and enjoy our next chapter; just a gondola ride away, our luxury Avoriaz chalets have everything you loved before, with just a little more snow.

À bientôt en haut de la montagne.