Exuding a style befitting the brand they have cultivated on the snow of the French Alps over the decades, La Folie Douce opened their first hotel in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc this winter. Core La Folie Douce values include amazing guests with high-altitude clubbing and excellent cuisine, principal values which has seen a slew of competitors trying to muscle into their upper-end of the hospitality market. A new breed of hotels in the French Alps includes the Fahrenheit Seven properties, with their prime locations in places like Courchevel and Val Thorens, offering ‘experience stays’, with contemporary dining, slick interiors and a tempo set by ambient rhythms that build as the day progresses.
For years the masses of après skiers in the French Alps have been craving more of the same from the terraces of Val d’Isère and Les 3 Vallées. For safety reasons, 17:00 was kicking-out time at La Folie Douce and the party abruptly stopped. La Folie Douce Hotel Chamonix offers something different, with its customary après ski on the lower slopes of the Le Brévent sector of Chamonix. But when they are ready, guests can now move indoors with the hotel bars and dining rooms offering unmistakably La Folie Douce hospitality through day and night. There are artists performing gymnastics from the hotel ceilings and musicians playing to crowds of visitors.
Serious style rules the rooms and the corridors of La Folie Douce Hotel with mind-bending 3D carpets leading to the spa area, whilst the bar and dining areas feature distressed-pomp walls and fixtures. Location-wise, La Folie Douce Chamonix enjoys possibly the best location in the Chamonix Valley, with a ski-in / ski-out skiing and just a short walk down to the fabled centre of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. Never again will 17:00 seem like the end of the world – La Folie Douce Hotels will continue to amaze their clients well into the night.