Chalet Roc d'Orsay looks over to the snow capped mountains at 3000 metres heigh opposite you and then down the 1300 metres across the Rhone valley and to Mont Blanc in the far distance. Every day gives a different vista with the change in weather bringing a new view from the chaise longue by the large window at the front of the chalet.
We bought Chalet Roc d'Orsay for its magnificent views and that it is 5 minutes drive from the main ski lift in Villars sur Ollon, 10 minutes walk away from local shops and just 1 hour and 20 minutes drive from Geneva airport.
Villars is situated at 1400 metres in the French speaking part of Swiss Alps, with a small, typical traditional Swiss village feel (population about 5000). There are around 270 km of pistes for all skiing and snowboarding abilities that link over to the slopes of Gryon and to Les Diablerets, Isenau and Glacier 3000. There is also a snow park called '1984' that allows freestyle skiing and snowboarding. The village has many smart shops and restaurants, also a big sports complex, a luxury spa and two world famous Swiss boarding schools, Collège Alpin International Beau Soleil and Aiglon College.
Oh, for the keen golfers, the Villars Golf Course could be a fabulous challenge! 18 holes, Par 70, Altitude 1600m!
A few years ago we gutted the entire inside of the chalet and replaced everything on the top 2 floors in traditional Swiss style with a modern touch. The middle floor is the main living floor. It has an open plan kitchen, and in the centre is a fireplace.
The top floor has 3 bedrooms. The Master suite has a large bathroom with Jacuzzi bath and a satellite TV. There is also a fireplace in this suite. However we don't recommend you to leave the fire unattended at any time nor go to bed with the fire on. This applies to the living room fireplace too.
The main guest bedroom has a queen size bed. Both Master suite and this guest bedroom have French doors to the balcony giving spectacular views down the valley.
The smaller guest bedroom has a "cave like" hand painted Swiss single bed built into the wall and will sleep 2 (when you pull out the bed hidden under the cave bed). This room is designed for accommodating kids. The second bathroom on this floor serves both guest rooms.
Below these 2 floors at ground level there are utility room (with laundry facilities) and boiler room. There is another entrance from this level where you could leave your ski gears.
Roc d'Orsay is a very typical Swiss ski chalet, most rooms are rather cosy by American standards. If you are used to large space and very high ceilings, you'd better tune yourself into Swiss measurement prior to arrival :-)
It is approached up a flight of steps from the car parking area below and is in a quiet residential area. There are few other chalets around but none that impair our privacy.
We use the chalet all year round for its access to skiing but also for summer recreation in Villars and easy access to the many mountain walks in the area. Chalet Roc d'Orsay is our own home. We humbly ask you to take good care of her as if she was your own.
Basic housekeeping rules:
- strictly no pets
- strictly no smoking, no lighting the candles
- strictly no shoes indoors
- please ONLY use BOTTLED water for the coffee makers (because the water is very hard in the mountains, the calcium will kill the coffee makers in no time)