Hotel Berthod - Courmayeur, Italy 

Stayed at Hotel Berthod with my husband, and our son and daughter-in-law, for a few days skiing following recommendation by their friends. Amazing value for the price - we chose B&B in superior rooms for 65 euros per person. Had a comfortable room with the biggest bath ever, and an excellent, varied breakfast. The family were very friendly and obliging, particularly Signora Berthod, and the man who looked after the bar in the evening was delightful, even helping us find the ball bearings we kept losing from a wooden spinning game! We also loved the local sparkling wine at 16 euros a bottle. There is a sauna and plunge pool available at extra cost, which looked nice, and the hotel has free parking. The only downside is that the hotel is a good 10 minutes walk from the cable car, (you can leave skis at the top of the lift) but it is only about two minutes from lots of good restaurants and bars. Also, like so many hotels, the lighting in the bedroom was poor, and made reading difficult.

This was our second visit to Cormayeur and on our first trip we stayed at the Hotel Select which we found inadequate so we looked at other Hotels and found the Hotel Berthod. It has an excellent location just off the via Roma and as such is close to restaurants, bars and shops and a 5 minute walk to the gondola (we leave our skis and boots at the on mountain storage which is highly recommended). The Hotel is family run, very clean and serves a good buffet breakfast. The rooms vary from small to some slightly larger suites. We opted for the suite which comprised a small lounge area and separate bedroom. Good value for money. Good views of the mountains and, best of all, a lift which is always a welcome addition in Italian Hotels. The management were friendly and helpful. Our only complaint was that the sauna and spa does not open until 4:30 pm which is a shame if the weather is bad. An improvement to the Hotel's service would be to organise a better value transfer from Milan. We find the transfer from Milan airport to Cormayeur using ATS to be good but each time the return trip has been chaotic, cramped and late. We have booked again for 2007.