Les Carroz in the Grand Massif

January 30, 2011

A HIDDEN GEM – LES CARROZ IN THE GRAND MASSIF

by Liz Owens

It never ceases to amaze me how Les Carroz has remained such a well kept secret. It is such a hidden gem! It seems that this secret is out though….this January edition of the Easyjet magazine has featured it as as one of ’4 fabulous European ski resorts’ ‘to slope off for a ski break’ http://www.ink-live.com/emagazines/easyjet-inflight/2011/jan/

It is renowned for having some of the best snow in Europe despite being a medium height resort. Even now after a whole month without significant dumps of snow, you can still ski right back down to the bottom into the village whilst many other resorts have become unskiable low down. This is not only due to its micro-climate, being in such close proximity to Mont Blanc but also to the phenomenal abilities of those tending the slopes whilst we are relaxing at the end of a hard day’s ski. Visitors from other resorts are amazed at the condition of our slopes!

Les Carroz is in the Grand Massif, just 45 minutes from Geneva and one of the closest resorts time-wise from the UK so is great for short breaks too. No long transfers! If you leave the UK on an early morning flight you can be skiing the very same afternoon. It has heaps of stunning skiing for all levels within the tree-line and has 265km of marked pistes and loads of fabulous off-piste to explore too. It is a short ski over to Flaine for high altitude skiing giving it access to one of the longest runs in Europe, a 15km blue run through the most magnificent nature reserve. An absolute must is stopping halfway down and being picked up by Lolo from the Chalet du Lac de Gers. She’ll throw you a rope and pull you up the mountain behind her skidoo to the cosy restaurant with the most amazing views and wonderful meals!

P9020127

The Chalet du Lac de Gers in autumn.

Having recently moved away from Les Carroz after 9 wonderful years, I now appreciate fully how spoilt we were there and realise all the true splendours of this beautiful village nestling on the mountainside. Each year there is more investment and each year more thought goes into offering the visitor a huge variety of activities to choose from whilst maintaining its authentic Frenchness.

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Posted by Gareth

Build costs

April 27, 2009

Chalet Arnica in Samoens

Chalet Arnica in Samoens

This chalet was built by one of the Alpine Property Team – Denis Barbier – he has his own chalet building business.

Another common question answered. This should go in the “FAQ’s”!

Costs can be fairly accurately worked out on a euros/m2 rule. Our rule of thumb over the last few years has been 2200 euros/m2 (excl VAT – in French this is “Hors Tax”), now the prices are coming down – I was quoted 1850 euros/m2 recently, we won’t know if this new price is accurate until some chalets have been built! The lead time is generally April til Dec, the building period! Note added 28/April/09, We are not convinced by this new lower “benchmark”, though we would like to be! Trying to get a straight story off a tradesman is not easy, time will tell.

These figures are assuming you use local tradesmen (expensive) and a traditional method of construction, they can be reduced by using “kits” brought in from elsewhere.

So for a “typical” 5 bedroom chalet. The build cost would be between 170 x 2200 =375,000 euros plus TVA = 448,000 and 170 x 1850 = 314,000 plus TVA = 375,000

And for a 4 bedroom chalet at 120 m2 the costs would be between 315,000 and 265,000 euros.

Don’t forget the cost of the land, the stamp duty and notaires fees. For a list of the plots of land we have for sale click here.

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Posted by Gareth

Moving to the Alps

March 30, 2009
autumn-walk1

Autumn walk '08

We often get asked about how to go about setting up a chalet business in the Alps. Often the underlying question is “I’d like to come and live in the Alps, how can I make a living?”. Obviously the subject is pretty vast and there would probably be a market for a book on the subject. There is certainly a market for loads of magazines and websites. Here follows my “quick” reply.

  1. There are many ways to earn a living whilst living in the mountains. One of them is to run a catered chalet business. It may be the least profitable though, especially when you take into account the hours involved.
  2. If you happen to have a million Euros in cash handy then it is a fairly reasonable way to spend your time. You invest the money in a chalet, you make a living from the income the business provides and if you invest wisely (and if the market plays ball) your capital investment can grow.
  3. If you are very handy and speak reasonable French you could buy a renovation project (200,000 to 400,000 Euros then 100,000 to 200,000 Euros on materials), you can then renovate yourself and turn your investment of time and money into something worthwhile. Don’t imagine you can get away without speaking French though; you’ll have to deal with planning applications, French tax, French regulations (health and safety etc), French electricians and your neighbours! Employing builders to do the work and taking out a large mortgage can really mess up the finances.

If dead set on the “Chalet Business” route then consider:

  1. Getting a job working for someone else. You’ll get to know the business, make the mistakes for someone else! You’ll get to know the area too and might find yourself a property when “on the ground”.
  2. Taking 3 months off to tour around the Alps, start with getting to know the areas you might be interested in, then home in on one and concentrate your search on that. Start after the February holidays so that’ll leave you with March/April/May, you’ll be getting serious towards the end of the season – just when people have a bit more time to spend with you. Come to think of it – May can be a bad month – too many bank holidays – difficult to get the local population to concentrate!

autumn-alpine-walk

Autumn walk '08

Within Alpine Property we have a lot of expertise in your area of interest. All the businesses mentioned are “legit” French business – none of them are “British” businesses operating in France!

  • Steve Norris – MD, fluent French speaker, actually seems to enjoy French bureaucracy. Loves France more than the French – oddly that is quite an unusual trait amongst the British Ex-Pats In France. Second business www.alptitude.com
  • Gareth Jefferies – Ops Director, second businesses www.endlessride.com and www.endlesstrails.co.uk
  • Lee Massey, second business, project managing new build and renovation projects.
  • Claudia Buttet, Dutch/French/English speaker, project manager, chalet builder, long time estate agent.
  • Denis Barbier, fist of all a chalet builder (it’s in the blood), http://www.alpes-chalets74.com/knows everything there is to know on the subject.

So as far as tradesmen are concerned we can certainly point you in the right direction. It would depend on which area you settled. For the Portes du Soleil it would be Claudia, Lee or Gareth that can advise. For Samoëns it would be Denis. If you settle on Chamonix or Megève it would be Jean-Christophe Skiera or for the Aravis, Emma Casanova (her second business is chalet and apartment management). If it was Les Carroz then Richard Owens (another with a good relevant second business – http://www.lacortiena.com/.

The pictures of the “Autumn Walk” were taken on a walk above Morzine in November ’08, Steve and Gareth “bunk off” work for the day. We were back at our desks by lunchtime! All the pictures can be found here.

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Posted by Gareth

Golf in the Haute Savoie

February 25, 2009

JC Skiera is very keen on a number of sports, one of which is golf! Here is his review of the golfing opportunites around our region (the Haute Savoie) of the Alps.

Chamonix : an interesting and very playable course set in stunning scenery. Not that posh in comparison to some of the others but expensive green fees in peak season (July – August), circa 65 euros, cheaper the rest of the time. I am a member so I’m a bit biased. Really nice restaurant and friendly staff.

Megève : definitely posh but less interesting as a golf course, the greens are often in poor condition. High green fees.

Annecy : two courses around the lake : Talloires : expensive in high season, a short but hilly mountain-type course kept in excellent condition, especially the greens (which are notoriously small). Giez : longer and more playable “parkland” course, worth a visit, friendly atmosphere and decent pro-shop (a rarity).

Evian Masters : splendid championship course with fantastic practice facilities but very expensive in Summer. Best time to play is just after they’ve had the Ladies Masters.

Esery (near Bonneville along the M40 motorway) : really nice and fairly challenging parkland course, super fast and very big greens, superb club house, shop and restaurant. Absolutely worth a try.

Divonne : haven’t tried this one but my mate who is a scratch golfer says it is better than Evian.

Bossey (at the foot of the Saleve mountain near the Swiss border) : very challenging course, Jean Van de Velde is a regular!

Aix Les Bains, 30 minutes from Annecy, old parkland course with character and in good condition. Playable throughout the year.

The 2 others are Flaine and Les Gets, useful if you are staying nearby but not really comparable to the others.

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Posted by Gareth

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