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When it opened in December 2002, L'Oxalys was a new departure for Val Thorens. Not the most glamorous place in the Trois Vallées - and among the ugliest, with concrete buildings rather than Méribel's wooden chalets - the resort suddenly had a well-designed hotel-apartment complex and a precocious chef, 25-year-old Jean Sulpice, who had spent four years working with three-Michelin-starred Marc Veyrat. Within three months of the opening of L'Oxalys there was already talk of Sulpice garnering at least one star himself, and visitors were skiing all the way from Courchevel to get a table.
The accommodation consists of 17 three-floor apartments sleeping eight, four apartments sleeping six and four apartments for two to four. The design is accessibly modern. The clean-lined, wood-and-limestone lobby is dominated by a fireplace that seems to be suspended above the pool and spa area. The furnishings - upholstered in lime-green velvet and beige leather - mix well with the warm taupes and browns of the lobby bar. The restaurant flanks the main lobby level and its 'cracked' Moroccan-style tableware is also in lime-green.
The terrace, which looks directly out onto the slopes, is certainly the best place to eat in the resort. The design of the apartment interiors is more straightforward, combining
limestone with grey slate, pine, fabrics in red and mustard, iron furniture,
contemporary light fittings and bowl-style bathroom sinks. The rooms have open fires, for which a bag of wood is supplied on arrival. The six-person Tower Apartment (number 12) on the second floor is the best, offering 180-degree views. If you don't aim that high, at least try to get an apartment with views of the Cîme de Caron peak.
CONTACT
L'Oxalys (00 33 4 79 00 20 51; fax: 79 00 24 39; www.montagnettes.com). Apartments from €1,405 per week, including one meal per person at the
restaurant, not including drinks
THE SKIING
Val Thorens is the part of the Trois Vallées ski area (see Le Saint-Joseph) which - because of its altitude - has the best snow. Its topography gives it some of the best skiing and boarding, too. Up above the treeline, it is exposed, however; so it suffers from high winds (which can close the lifts) and low clouds (which reduce visibility). Some of Les Trois Vallées' best intermediate skiing is local to Val Thorens: from the top of its Cîme de Caron cable car, there are long red runs and a wide black. Experts have plenty of off-piste terrain to explore on slopes that get the best powder in the area, including the Lac du Lou route off the Cîme de Caron. For beginners, there are nursery slopes at the bottom of the resort and some easy blue runs above it.
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