French property in Savoie - Elegant triplex ski chalet apartment. 4 bedrooms. Sunny terrace and great views. St Martin de Belleville.

The ground floor has been fitted with an attractive flagstone floor which is also very practical. The large entrance hall has plenty of space to hang coats, and off this there’s a spacious boot and ski room with boot warmer. Also on this floor are a good sized laundry and storage room, a WC, and the entrance from the generous double garage.

Moving up to the first floor you arrive at a really lovely open plan living area of 56m2 - this is a really pleasant space. The oak floor and open fireplace add a cosy and warm feel whilst the designer kitchen adds a very elegant edge. There are large doors that lead out to a south west facing sun spot with stunning views to the vallée des encombres. It really is a very light yet welcoming space.

Above are the bedrooms, 4 decent sized rooms, all with en-suite showers and above these are two mezzanines which are enormous. One perhaps could be for children making the bedroom into a family suite or perhaps for storage, but the second is a large area of over 15m2 (in additons to the 157m2) and has several possibilities. All the bedrooms and bathrooms are well fitted out.

Outside there is room for a Jacuzzi and al fresco dining. This is a lovely spot summer and winter.

Rentals in St Martin de Belleville are reliable and there is potential for this property to provide a return.

In all a great ski apartment about 2 minutes drive to the 8 man gondola of St Martin de Belleville that has been exceptionally well finished and is ready to be furnished, lived in and enjoyed.

St Martin de Belleville
Picturesque, unspoiled and with endless skiing on tap, St Martin de Belleville is the perfect ski resort if you are looking for a taste of authentic France combined with state of the art skiing.

Clusters of traditional chalets and original Savoyard farmhouses are dominated by the close mountains with chamois and wild boars roaming free in the surrounding forests. St Martin was voted a “Top Ten Picture Postcard resort” for its pretty, traditional architecture and stunning Alpine scenery, it’s interesting to note that the commune have had the foresight to bury all the electric and phone cabling which means that not only does it have a clean uncluttered look, but you are unlikely to lose power when the snow hits!

Based at 1400m and directly linked into the vast Three Valleys network by an 8 person gondola, it offers unlimited, world-class skiing. As an added bonus Val Thorens, officially the highest resort in Europe is situated at the top of the valley offering great skiing from November to mid-May. St Martin also has some of the best and clearest runs in the Three Valleys; red run Jerusalem is a favourite with many, and the off-piste powder fields have to be experienced to be believed.

In the height of summer during July and August the valley is host to walkers, nature lovers and adventure seekers who arrive to enjoy the traditional and less traditional mountain activities along with the colourful mountain meadows and beauty of the contrasting vibrant green against snow capped mountains. It is also a near neighbour to the Vanoise Park, a protected area of outstanding natural beauty.

The Belleville valley has a lower key nightlife than its glitzy neighbours. Having said that, it boasts two Michelin starred restaurants, one being situated three minutes from St Martin, the other in Val Thorens (boasting the youngest ever chef to be awarded a star). St Martin itself has several friendly bars and restaurants which retain a mountain village atmosphere with prices to match. It seems ideal for ski and mountain lovers looking for an authentic atmosphere a little apart from the crowds, and out of season it still has life and enough year round residents to stop it feeling like a ghost town.

The neighbouring valleys of Meribel and Courchevel have enjoyed considerable growth on property prices over the last decade and the Belleville valley is now experiencing the same kind of impact as skier awareness grows. In particular the popularity of the valley as a place to buy is growing due to the highest resort in the Alps, Val Thorens, being situated at the top of the valley offering some security in these uncertain times as we wait to discover the actual results of global warming.

THREE VALLEYS SKI AREA.
A beautiful place all year with highly defined seasons and quiet and tranquil out of the ski season when the crowds have gone home, and then suddenly once again each winter the mountains of the Three Valleys come alive with people enjoying this vast ski area..... the largest linked skiing in the world.

The Three Valleys ski domain provides more than 600km of runs and probably the same again off-piste. In fact it should now be called the Four Valleys with the link into Orelle (Maurine Valley) which can be accessed by ski from Val Thorens. This has also opened up some extraordinary off-piste runs.

The Three Valleys provides direct links between the ski resorts of St Martin de Belleville, Les Menuires, Val Thorens, Méribel, Mottaret, La Tania, Brides les Bains and the four Courchevel resorts, la Praz, 1550, 1650 and the world famous 1850 (probably the most expensive ski resort in the world!) – and now Orelle, in the fourth valley - all under one ski pass offering on-piste skiing from 1300m all the way up to 3200m. As these figures show the Three Valleys offers huge altitude differences favouring long run skiing. It has an ultra efficient, state of the art ski lift system, quality piste preparation and a dense artificial snow making system (1920 snow cannons) complementing the excellent natural snow cover.

However, if you are not a fan of downhill skiing or like some variety during your stay then you can also roam the domain at your leisure on foot, hiking along the marked trails, or using the pedestrian ski lift passes. Many trails have been created especially to enjoy the increasingly popular snowshoeing sport and to discover the valleys from a new perspective: flora, wildlife, monuments, and spectacular scenery. There are also many cross-country skiing tracks that are prepared and maintained each day. These allow you to take in the breathtaking scenery and provide the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the mountains away from the pastes.

The property in the Three Valleys is extremely varied from the uber luxury chalets of Courchevel 1850 with their own helipads and underground pools to the cramped ski apartments, designed to get you skiing as cheaply as possible. Then there are the village properties ranging from tiny mountain barns to renovate and mountain houses sandwiched together in untidy yet charming rows through to imposing buildings that may once have been a monastery or village hospital perhaps – and then there’s everything in between.

An interesting and wonderful area all year round, there is much more here than the snow sports, and yet it is this that draws the crowds.

Type

• Holiday Home
• Apartment
• House
• Commercial
• Ski Apartment

Location

• Village
• Mountains
• Ski resort

Features

• Mains Drainage
• Walking distance to shops
• Garage
• Close to ski resort

Conditions

• Habitable