Check in to the L’Hôtel, the theatrical, ultra chic hotel has been host to many a star including Johnny Depp and is reportedly where the famous Oscar Wilde spent his last days. After a much anticipated makeover from Jacques Garcia, the quirky, quant hotel oozes sophistication. Facilities include a private swimming pool for two and the much publicised restaurant and bar. The boudoirs are beautiful with the choice of staying in the Apartment, the Grande room, the Chic room or the Bijoux and Mignon.

Visit the website, www.l-hotel.com to see it for yourself and enquire into prices.

What I did miss out on though was enjoying the facilities of a great hotel. The Radisson SAS Nice is located on Nice’s famous Promenade des Anglais – the road that runs along the sea front. Its a bit further from the town center than many of the other hotels but it offers a bus shuttle service until 6 o’clock (unfortunately after that you have to take a 30 minute walk or get a taxi which can be quite expensive). The hotel makes up for this by being the only residence in the area to offer a rooftop outdoor private pool and restaurant/bar area. The food is great and you can have a lovely evening watching the stars twinkling over the ocean from up high whilst listening to some excellent live music.

The hotel has a gym and some spa facilities – something else which is hard to find in Nice – and bedrooms with balconies overlooking the sea. This is a modern hotel with recently refurbished bedrooms in a vibrant eclectic style…. there was a bright red chili pepper mounted on the wall in our bedroom. You can book a stay at this hotel via lastminute.com

Expedia have some great deals at the moment staying in the heart of the city, priced between £200 and £300, in either three or four star hotels. The Hotel Concorde La Fayette is a four star and looks modern and stylish, with some wonderful views over the city. Prices are around £270 staying from the 23rd of December to the 27th with excellent flights between London Heathrow and Paris.

Visit www.expedia.com to find your ideal Christmas break. After all, we are in need of well deserved break in the holidays!

We booked the Ferme du Lavay through Total Ski who run a lot of fully catered holidays. I must admit, this was my favourite part – having a chef cook breakfast, a four course evening meal and a cake in the afternoon every day. That’s right, no cooling on this holiday! Since the chalet was so large and there were 17 guests staying at the time we also had a cooking assistant and a cleaner, all staff worked for Total Ski.

Chalet

The chalet was just as you would imagine accommodation in the Alps to be, it looked like a wooden cabin from the outside and was snug and cosy inside. Ferme du Lavay can sleep up to 24 people therefore you can get a gist of how large this chalet is. There are three floors in total, the ground floor with three bedrooms, the middle floor with a huge lounge area, kitchen, dining area, two smaller bedrooms and a bathroom for these two rooms to share. The entrance to the chalets is also on the middle floor. The top floor consists of three larger bedrooms all with a double bed and at least one single bed.

Below is a name and description of each bedroom:

Ground Floor

Room 1:Tahoe – Twin bedroom with en-suite
Room 2: Steamboat – Double bedroom with en-suite
Room 3: Whistler – Family room with a double bed, 2 bunk-beds, kitchen area and en-suite

First Floor

Room 4: Mammoth – Double bedroom
Room 5: Heavenly – Twin bedroom
Shared bathroom

Second Floor

Room 6: Aspen – Double room with two single beds and en-suite
Room 7: Vail – Double room with single bed and en-suite
Room 8: Snowbird – Double room with single bed and en-suite

The middle floor excluding the bedrooms had recently been refurbished and it was gorgeous. We were a little disappointed with some of the bedrooms and bathrooms which also need a bit of a lift but overall it was lovely accommodation.

Food and Drink

If you like your food and you like a bit of skiing I think you’ll probably enjoy staying at the Ferme du Lavay. Each morning breakfast is served between 8 and 9 and you have the choice of cereal, croissants and other pastries, scrambles eggs and bacon, bread with jams and marmalades, tea, coffee, fruit juices. To be honest I thought it was amazing! Then off you go for an exhausting day on the slopes, get a bite to eat on the mountain, then on your return to the chalet a delicious cake will have been prepared and tea and coffee will be on the side.

Quick catnap and a shower and you’re ready for dinner! First up is canapés, then up at the table for a starter, main course and dessert and as much wine as you can get down.

Below is some of the food we enjoyed during our stay:

Starters

Soup and bread
Prawn salads

Main Courses

Duck
Chicken stuffed with avocado, stilton and taglaitele
Salmon risotto
Pork
Beef
Most dishes were served with vegetables

Desserts

Trifle
Summer berries pot with cream
Apple strudel

Ferme du Lavay and Les Gets Gallery