Chalet Etoile is a recently-renovated traditional wooden chalet of 260m2 over 3 floors. It sleeps 13 in 7 bedrooms (3 double, 3 twin and one single) with 5 bathrooms. The spacious open-plan living area on the middle floor leads out through French doors onto a south-facing terrace with fabulous views of the mountains. On the lower floor is a home cinema with 42” flat-screen TV, a wide selection of DVDs, Wii and karaoke. The chalet has Wifi.
The well-equipped kitchen has everything you need to cater for your party including larder fridge, two ovens, Nespresso machine, 3 fondue sets and 2 raclette machines. There is a chest freezer on the terrace plus a small freezer in the TV room. For summer, there is a gas barbecue on the terrace. With underfloor heating, a wood-burning stove in the sitting room and two hot-water boilers to choose from, your warmth and comfort is guaranteed! The chalet is an easy 5-minute walk from the ski lift and shops of the village and the free ski bus stops within 50 yards of the chalet. There is parking for 2-3 cars.
Entertainment and eating out in Grimentz: If you want to self-cater, Grimentz has a large Co-Op plus a smaller village supermarket with a great deli. There is also a butcher with top-quality meat and live fish and deli options like cooked chickens, paella and raclette. There is a bakery/patisserie selling an extensive range of delicious fresh bread and pastries and tarts.
However, if you don't want to cater for yourself, there is a catering company in the village (Valet d'Anniviers) which will deliver delicious, home-cooked meals to the chalet, ready for you to serve.
Alternatively, there are 5 hotels in the village with restaurants plus a pizzeria and a creperie - all within walking distance of the chalet - so you can eat somewhere different every night if you wish.
Further afield are the Michelin-starred Terminus restaurant in Sierre in the valley plus the Bella Tola restaurant in St. Luc, both of which are well worth a trip.
There are four bars in the village – Chez Florioz at the base of the pistes is the après-ski bar with live music, Bar Domino at the bottom of the village is a new, sleek bar with cosy sheepskin seats and great views, The Alpina Hotel in the centre of the village has an indoor bar plus a buzzy outdoor apres-ski bar with live music. Le Country (also in the centre of the village) is the late-night option and is right next door to the disco club Shaddock.
At peak times, the Shaddock disco takes over from Le Country and is open until the early hours.
Summer activities in and around Grimentz: There are endless opportunities to walk in the valleys and mountains of the Val d’Anniviers – anything from a stroll around the village or into the neighbouring villages to day-long hikes with lunch in a mountain cabane or longer trips staying overnight in the cabanes along the way. The chalet is equipped with several Guide Books for walks of every level.
There are also over 100km of mountain bike trails in the area and bikes can be hired in the village.
At nearby Vercorin (10km) is Switzerland’s biggest tree-top trail of zip wires and rope bridges and in Niouc (10km) is Europe’s biggest bungee jump. In Zinal (5km) you can hire giant-wheeled scooters to take up the mountain in the gondola and then race down! There is canyoning in the rivers of the valley and the rock-climbing experience of the Via Ferrata – a series of fixed metal hoops in the cliff face above the Lac de Moiry in Grimentz.
For calmer activities, there are tennis courts, mini-golf and a wonderful new swimming pool with spa area (including sauna, hammam and steam room) in neighbouring Zinal.
Getting there .. . and some rules: The closest main airport is Geneva from which the chalet is a 2 hour 15 minute drive or 3 hour train and bus ride away. You can also fly to Zurich (3 hour drive) or Basel (3 and a half hour drive) or even Milan (approx 3 hour train/bus). STOP PRESS! Sion Airport which is only 35mins drive or approx 45 mins on the bus is now hosting several flights a week from London City airport and other regional airports like Bristol, Manchester, Southend, Luton and Southampton! Check out Powdair.ski
All the major car hire companies operate from all the Swiss airports.
If driving, Grimentz is accessed from the main Valais Autoroute E62. Exit at junction 29 (Sierre Est) and follow the road up the mountain into the Val d'Anniviers. From Calais it is approx 8-9 hours' drive. You will need snow tyres and chains in the winter.
Please note the following rules to keep the chalet lovely:
No outdoor shoes (and definitely no ski boots!) in the chalet please - slippers provided. No smoking anywhere in the chalet. One well-behaved pet by agreement and at a weekly cost of £25 to cover the extra cleaning
