Hotel Jafferau

“Normal”

We stayed at the hotel with 3, one 4-year old child and two adults. In the end the holiday was "Just OK". Here below a wider description of the stay: There's only one road to the hotel, it's a bit an "isolated" way, but even when snowing a lot there is a "snow-cleaning" machine (from the village... more

We stayed at the hotel with 3, one 4-year old child and two adults. In the end the holiday was "Just OK". Here below a wider description of the stay: There's only one road to the hotel, it's a bit an "isolated" way, but even when snowing a lot there is a "snow-cleaning" machine (from the village?) to take the snow away. The location of the hotel is very handy, from the exit of the ski-room you're 20m away from two ski-lifts (one chairlift to go up, and one gondolas to go down. The gondolas can be used to go to the "Jafferau" parking, to take the bus to the larger Bardonecchia ski-domain. There is NO slope to go to one domain to the other, you have to take the bus.) There is also a (new) restaurant, forget the name of it, right at the gondolas, with at the first floor cold food (sandwiches, cakes, ...) and at the second floor a self-service restaurant with fresh (local) food, a bit further more info about this restaurant. We had a "normal" room, with a two-person bed and one sofa-bed, turned into bed-mode for our child, with a SICK view. The mattress on the sofa-bed wasn't really that thick and you could feel the springs through it, luckily it was for a child and he had no problems with, for an adult it would have been different. There still was enough space for moving around & hooks drying your clothes. The radiator in the bathroom is an "open" one with panels, this way you can put some cloths between the panels for drying them faster. The heating / air-conditioning element in the room wasn't working properly, the temperature was always (very) higher than programmed, but this wasn't such a big bummer. What was a big bummer was the fact the water temperature constantly changed when you took a shower: from ice cold to liquid lava. Really not handy, foremost not with a child under the shower. We also had one day there was for a moment no water at all, I think it lasted for 15 minutes or so. We had half board and we were glad we had chosen this formula instead of full board. The food wasn't really good, just "OK" (even slightly less then "OK" I guess). I don't blame the cook for his skills, meat was always well cooked, presentation was (most of time) OK, the menu was original, but it's more a problem of having the goods / ingredients I think. We often had the same things coming back every evening or like canned carrots, peas, ... . Also funny fact: sometimes as dessert you had the option "fresh food", if you were lucky you got a nice dish with sliced fruits on it, otherwise you just got an orange, kiwi, apple,... NOT sliced with a knife to cut it on your own :) So during the noon we went eating to the restaurant just near the restaurant, the one I talked at the beginning of my review, where it was much better and cheaper than the hotel itself. The bar in the hotel is not really looking glamourous, it's just right next to the reception, but the barista is very friendly I try to do his best, even if he ( too ?) hasn't a lot of different bottles to make fancy / classic drinks / cocktails. At the lowest level you have the garage, ski-room, a wine bar / disco and the spa facility. For the garage they ask 20 euro A DAY to keep your car there, no wonder no-one parks his car there but at the outside of the hotel. The ski-room is big enough, with security camera's and a good working heating system. There are NO special drying element for your shoes you like often see in other hotels, but personally I don't need that. For the spa there is a sauna, I think for 5 persons but I was every time alone there, a steambath that I think needs a good cleaning job because it smells not good and a swimming pool. For the pool you need to get a ticket from the reception otherwise you can't enter the pool, no idea why because it's apparently "for free", but you really need that ticket or the guy at the pool won't be happy ;) That particular guy is, for me though, in first instance a bit rude and unhappy with his job, but afterwards I somewhat like to appreciate him. I think for this person the biggest is (as with most staff of this hotel) the language. They speak Italian and a (very very very) other words in English or French. Near the pool there is a whirlpool, where the heating is broken, so you can enter it but it's ice cold (but it's good for your muscles ;) ) . The defect of the heating seems not to be recent, looks like last year it was already the same from. There is also a massage parlour where a woman works there, she has a somewhat 'odd' massage technique (quite brutal imho) and it's very hard to communicate with her: French, English,.. she doesn't understand a thing. If there is one thing I really did not liked at the hotel was that the hotel owner (an older guy, I guess something between 60-70 years) and his family smoke in his office like a coal factory, while leaving the door open of his office, which is right next to the reception, this way almost the entire first floor smells like cigarettes. Even with everywhere in the hotel icons "smoking prohibited" they still do this. I have seen other staff members been smoking, but they did this at the outside of the hotel, not on the inside. Also: big respect to the maids for the cleanness of the room & corridor, excellent work and really nothing to say about it except it was outstanding. Edit: and there is supposed to be WIFI but the coverage is very poor so don't except you will have internet :p

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“Warning ”

The hotel itself is warmly decorated & charming, and well-situated at mid-slope; the food is mediocre but the waitstaff are pleasant and responsive. The front desk, though, is a different matter. Unprofessional, incompetent, and sadly, dishonest. WARNING: they will try to invent all sorts of cha... more

The hotel itself is warmly decorated & charming, and well-situated at mid-slope; the food is mediocre but the waitstaff are pleasant and responsive. The front desk, though, is a different matter. Unprofessional, incompetent, and sadly, dishonest. WARNING: they will try to invent all sorts of charges on your bill & give you an unpleasant surprise at checkout! Keep track of all your room charges so you know what's yours & what isn't! (Also, as bar charges are with no name or signature, just a room number, there's also the opportunity for other clients to put their charges on your bill.)

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