Posted by
sf-admin onLast Updated 12th August 2019 at 1:45 pm
Our Story…
Family suites are a cornerstone of the Ski Famille chalet programme. All of our family chalets have at least two family suites and some have all-suite layouts. But for the uninitiated … what are they and what makes them so good?
Contemporary bedroom
The opportunity to create family suites first came about in 2006 when we were approached by the owner of Chalet Le Marjorie in Les Gets. At the time the building was laid out as six self-catering apartments. Bar one or two walls that had to be retained, we were presented with a blank canvas upon which to create a brand new chalet sleeping up to 22 guests. Our existing chalets at the time had quite a mix of rooms for families. Most (although not all) were en-suite, but families needed to either share an open plan family room or book a double and a twin next to each other.
We knew that both options were, for many families, a compromise. Few of us share a room with children at home and the prospect of doing so on holiday isn’t always an appealing one! On the flip side it is nice to have children nearby and easily accessible when staying in an unfamiliar property. The solution was obvious; a parent’s bedroom, a separate children’s bedroom and a nice bathroom all rolled up together in a cosy package behind one door. We set to work with Cedric, the owner of Le Marjorie, and created a great layout with four spacious family suites plus one triple and a twin. Le Marjorie is still an important part of our Les Gets programme and is as popular as ever. The chalet now includes an improved and expanded dining area, playroom and a new terrace with hot tub. The exterior has also been updated and there is a new high tech heating and hot water system.
The family suite concept has gone from strength to strength since that first project and, of the sixteen chalets we offer this season, nine were built – or like Marjorie completely rebuilt – to our family focused designs. The other six have all seen extensive modifications to allow the creation of family suites and, just as importantly, dedicated playrooms. We’ve looked at dozens of potential chalets and building plots over the years, but if there isn’t the scope to make a property properly work for families we walk away. The ability to create family suites is absolutely crucial to this process; it is clearly the type of room that families want to book.
Chalets generally don’t have many identical rooms and inevitably some of the suites we have created with chalet owners have become real favourites.