Visitor reviews for St Martin de Belleville Ski Resort
(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
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October 16, 2014
Henning from Denmark
I totally agree that we must keep this gem a secret :-). We have been in St Martin, end of January, for almost 10 years. Staying at the beautiful Chalet Gypse ski-in ski-out and with max 20 persons at the lift opening at 09:00. You will get used to the bitter cold in the St Martin; 2 chairlift since the sun is still below the ridge.
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St Martin de Belleville Ratings
Overall: 4.4. Based on 14 votes and 8 reviews. Vote
Access: 4.2
(1) At least one overnight stop, (2) requires a whole day, (3) requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns (4) arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon, (5) there is a main airport within an hour of St Martin de Belleville.
Public Transport: 4.4
(1) There are no buses or taxis to St Martin de Belleville, (3) there are slow or infrequent buses / trains available, (5) getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections.
Scenery: 4.9
(1) An ugly resort in a bland setting, (3) average mountain views and resort, (5) a spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town.
Accommodation: 4.9
(1) No places to stay in/near St Martin de Belleville, (3) a few places to stay in the resort, (5) a wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets.
Cheap Rooms: 3.7
(1) No budget accommodation available, (3) just one or two hostels so book ahead, (5) several cheap hostels and pensions available.
Luxury Hotels: 4.2
(1) No luxury accommodation available, (3) just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead, (5) several up-market hotels in St Martin de Belleville.
Ski in/Ski out: 4.9
(1) The ski area is located far from any accommodation, (3) a free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip, (5) Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.
Childcare: 4.6
(1) There are no child care facilities at St Martin de Belleville, (5) the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche.
Snowsure: 4.6
(1) Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing, (2) is often closed due to a lack of snow, (3) occasionally suffers from a lack of snow, (4) rarely suffers from a lack of snow, (5) St Martin de Belleville is snowsure even in the poorest seasons.
Snowmaking: 4.8
(1) St Martin de Belleville relies entirely on natural snow, (3) there are just a few snow cannons, (5) there are snowmaking facilities on all pistes.
Snow Grooming: 4.6
(1) There are no snow groomers at St Martin de Belleville, (3) occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state, (5) all the runs at St Martin de Belleville are groomed daily.
Shelter: 4.0
(1) there is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut, (3) there are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close, (5) St Martin de Belleville is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close.
Nearby options: 4.9
(1) If snow conditions are poor at St Martin de Belleville, it will be poor everywhere nearby, (3) there are good alternatives within an hours drive, (5) other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions.
Regional rating: 4.1
(1) St Martin de Belleville usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region, (3) has average conditions for the region, (5) usually has the best snow conditions in the region.
Lift Staff: 4.8
(1) The staff at St Martin de Belleville are rude or unhelpful, (5) lift staff at St Martin de Belleville are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help.
Crowds/Queues: 3.9
(1) the resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues, (3) it is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays, (5) it is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare.
Ski Schools: 4.8
(1) No ski schools available, (2) one or two ski schools but local language only, (3) a few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors, (4) plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available, (5) excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors.
Hire and Repairs: 4.9
(1) Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex. (3) there are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance, (5) good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible.
Variety of pistes: 4.9
(1) The ski runs are featureless and unvaried, (3) the ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week, (5) St Martin de Belleville has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain.
Beginners: 4.5
(1) Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard, (3) a few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week, (3) Vast areas of gentle terrain.
Intermediates: 4.9
(1) No intermediate terrain at St Martin de Belleville, (3) intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days, (5) vast areas of cruising runs.
Advanced: 4.6
(1) Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders, (3) enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste, (5) Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week.
Snow Park: 3.5
(1) Not even a kicker at St Martin de Belleville, (3) average sized park quite well looked after, (5) huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails.
Off-piste: 4.4
(1) No off-piste worth mentioning, (2) off piste is out-of-bounds, (3) some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days, (5) a vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days.
Cross-country: 3.8
(1) There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around St Martin de Belleville, (3) there are some cross country trails available, (5) the area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails.
Luge/Toboggan: 3.3
(1) No designated luge or toboggan runs, (3) there are toboggan runs that open quite often, (5) St Martin de Belleville has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages.
Mountain Dining: 4.8
(1) Nowhere to buy food by the pistes, (3) some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive, (5) there is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets.
Eating: 4.5
(1) Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop. (5) A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants.
Apres-Ski: 3.9
(1) Nothing to do, not even a bar, (3) there are a few bars in the resort but nothing special, (5) clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere.
Other Sports: 3.2
(1) No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts, (3) resort has just a small public swimming pool, (5) resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool.
Entertainment: 3.8
(1) Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here, (3) the non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week, (5) the resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports.
Winter Walks: 4.3
(1) Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails, (3) a couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails, (5) extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities.
Ski Pass Value: 4.1
(1) A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available, (3) the ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts, (5) ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area.
Value (National): 4.3
(1) Overall, St Martin de Belleville is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money, (3) overall represents average value for money, (5) overall offers the best value resort in the country.
Value (Global): 4.4
(1) Overall, St Martin de Belleville is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world, (3) overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries, (5) internationally the resort offers excellent value for money.
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January 10, 2014
Carol Verrier from France
We had ski holidays in Courcheval and Mottaret for several years and having skied into St Martin many times we decided to give it a try as our holiday base and we loved it.
While keeping the small resort feel it also has lots of apartments available to rent, nice hotels, good restaurants and friendly bars. Great for a growing family.
We love it so much we bought our own place here and believe me, it's a lovely place to visit in the summer too if you like walking. -
November 03, 2013
Paul from United Kingdom
Shhhh, don't tell everyone… ! Let's keep it a secret :o)
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December 25, 2012
Wendy Dave Simpson from United Kingdom
We have been going to St Martin for about 7 years now.
Lovely village and not too noisy, great for families.
Would highly recommend great location.
Looking forward to holiday 28 December 12.
Visit Dahlia pub in village, nice friendly staff. Great place to relax at end of day.
St Martin, the place to be! -
October 01, 2011
Helen James from United Kingdom
We love St Martin (St Martin de Belleville). It is absolutely as we imagined - a small, pretty mountain village that has retained it's charm & character, yet has everything you could wish for, including a beautiful spa & 2* michelin restaurant.
The gondola whisked us into the heart of the skiing, which was perfect but we also had the benefit of the really quiet local slopes. There was so much doom & gloom about the snow last year, but not a problem for St Martin & the vast 3 vallees to ski in. Can't recommend St Martin highly enough, but then again maybe that is the charm, that not so many people know about it!
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September 12, 2008
Sarah from United Kingdom
If you want to go to the 3 valleys but avoid the crowds-go to St Martin. After a season in Les Menuires, skiing the whole 3V area, St M was by far my most favourite place. At the end of the day, the run back to the village is always a pleasure, especially if you go via Jerusalem-even in high season this glorious red run may well only have half a dozen people on it. Plus, after a dump of snow, there is great intermediate off-piste on the top half of the mountain above the village.
There are some lovely restaurants in the village itself, which is very attractive.
Only downside I can think is that, in high season, the queues for the 4 man St Martin 2 chairlift half way up can get very long from about 3-4pm as everyone who comes over from the other resorts have to get back. We stayed for half term 2008, and unlike other resorts at that time of year, the 9am lift queue was a civilised 5-10 mins max compared with 40mins elsewhere. I've also skied there on 24th April, and while it did get very mushy on the main runs by the afternoon, first thing they were great as everyone was avoiding the low resorts. Had the place to myself! -
January 27, 2006
Sam from United Kingdom
A lovely Place
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March 03, 2005
Sally from United Kingdom
St. Martin is a beautiful village set in the vast ski area of the three vallees. There is nothing better at the end of the day than cruising down the red run 'Jeruseleum' and stopping for a drink on the way down. Small but fun social scene. Once visited i promise you will be hooked!