La Croix-Blanche in Chamonix

My mother and I stayed at La Croix Blanche for 5 nights. The cost of the hotel is exorbitant for a very run-down hotel and particularly run-down rooms (especially the bathrooms).

The breakfast was mediocre for 17 euros a day - sub-par pastries (especially for France, which takes such pride in its viennoiserie), limited selection of foods, and flies on the food offerings.

Cleaning service was not attentive to the sign on the door requesting cleaning - we had to ask at the front desk constantly for cleaning and for more bathroom paper.

But the biggest problem is that we brought $60 USD of pastries as a gift for a friend, which we asked the hotel to keep in a freezer for us upon seeing the room did not have a small fridge/freezer (like most hotel rooms do). The hotel kindly agreed to put the pastries in the freezer for us, putting our name and room number on the bag with the frozen pastries. However as we were checking out, we were told that the bag of pastries was lost and that the manager could not be contacted. No responsibility was taken for the lost pastries, no apology was given, no compensation for the lost goods was offered. Horrendous service.

We would have been willing to come back despite the run-down state of the hotel and the limited breakfast offering, but the way the hotel handled the loss of the gift for our friends was abysmal. The lack of an apology and accountability is inexcusable.

I’m currently at this hotel and writing this review at 2:30am because it’s impossible to sleep here. Our room is sitting at 80 degrees F even with the (singular, small) window open. No AC, no fans, no airflow. Just the overwhelming noise of drunken tourists.

The beds are okay, pillows are very subpar. Rooms are barebones, which is okay, but in pretty poor condition - our bathroom door doesn’t close all the way.

The hotel itself is cute in a rustic way - old school ski chalet. We haven’t eaten at the restaurant downstairs, but we did get two very flat Aperol Spritzes from a rude waiter, which were… you know…. flat.

I’d say the location is great, if it wasn’t for the street noise. Bring earplugs, but they won’t help.

Rustic old building,, so don’t expect a comfy stay… I came for a couple of nights, so I decided to let go and live with what’s being offered… bad call, but no alternatives.

Avoid the Room 23 (nice view, but a disaster in terms of noises and clearly hearing everything around from the corridor and other rooms). At night there are moments when I thought someone else in the room..

1) I was not given the room I booked which should be in the highest floor. I mentioned it to the receptionist after checked-in, but they don’t seem to have much rooms available, and I was given a room with a balcony and nice view. Very acceptable at first sight.

2) my room was 23 just at the beginning of 1st floor stairs and i can hear everything happens outside the door, and from the rooms above and next to me.. I can clearly hear everything from outdoor, and indoor including showers, all walks in the corridor, chats, and much more.

Basically, the room lacks soundproofing and it is not good for relaxing time.. Although the view is nice from the balcony, yet hard to enjoy.