CGH Résidence & Spa White Pearl Lodge

Second stay at this lodge and 2 completely different experiences. No complaints first time round when we stayed in Jan 2023, but deciding to return was such a mistake. Standards have massively dropped. Staff were dismissive and unhelpful. Having stated multiple times prior to arrival that there would be 4 adults staying, we were still given an apartment with bunk beds. The Spa was completely over-run with children this time, including in the sauna and steam room, where they shouldn’t be allowed in. It was loud and dirty and not at all relaxing after a long day on the slopes. Staff also appeared to prioritise french residents over british. On one occasion it took us an hour to get the bill for drinks at the bar. We asked twice, then ended up standing at the bar being ignored for 15 minutes. The apartments are nice, clean and well supplied, it’s just a shame the service doesn’t really match the 5 star rating. Also having to sit and wait while someone checks off your inventory list and reviews your cleaning efforts at the end of the stay is pretty demoralising. I have emailed the company twice and contacted them on social media with no response. Would not rate this stay 5 star at all.

We were delighted that Plagne Soliel has a 5 star ski in/ski out apartment so booked through Inghams. Our initial impression was excellent. Lovely building, welcoming reception team and a fantastically appointed spacious apartment (we chose the two bedroom apartment for up to six). First the positives. Great position in Plagne Soliel - short walk the centre. Every aspect of the fixtures within the apartment were first class. Great sized rooms, big family dining table, large balcony, on suite shower room, separate bathroom and separate WC. The boot room on the second floor (we stayed in Grenat building) was quiet and had walk in ski lockers! We rarely saw anyone else in the boot room so never had to fight for a seat. The heaters in the locker were great. The spa and pool were also of a very high standard and gave a nice relaxing alterative on a day the weather closed in. The lift in our building felt like our own personal lift and we rarely had to wait for more than a few seconds for it to arrive. The hotel has it's own bar which is always a positive. Sadly, as beer drinkers, the two draft beers on offer were not to our taste so we did not really use this facility. In terms of ski in/ski out, as fairly experienced skiers this was ok for us, however the route in and out was down a short pathway and for ski in was slightly uphill. The walk is you stop on the piste is only probably 50 metres so not a huge issue. The run to access the hotel is a blue run with a pommel lift. There were a few negatives. On arrival in our room, when we entered the bathroom and shower room there was an unpleasant smell from the drains. We kept the doors closed and put up with the smell. On check out we mentioned this to the reception team and were told we were not the only guests to mention this. Given this is a 5-star accommodation I would think it not unreasonable for the hotel to let us know there is an issue when it was brought to their attention. I suppose from our side of things we shouldn't have done the typically British thing and put up with the smell without comment for a week. Second issue was the lack of a safe in our room (or if there was a safe we couldn't find it). We notified the reception team who said they would get someone to look into this and get back to us. This never happened. The final aspect we found a little unsavoury was the end of stay inspection and 'price list' for breakages handed to us on arrival. We always clean our apartments before leaving (as well as constantly during our stay) but have never before been provided with list of what must be done prior to leaving accompanied by the attendant penalty costs if we didn't. We had to ***** the beds, fold all the towels and then had to make an appointment for a member of staff to come to the apartment to inspect it before we left. It all felt very uncomfortable and not what we expected from a 5-star residence or experienced in any other self-catering accommodation we