If you want to go to the most expensive ski area in France (Mottaret) during the peak season as we have to, but are not lucky enough to have the cash to pay for expensive accommodation, then the Le Hameu ticks all the right boxes for ski in - ski out, locality of slopes, shops, ski hire, free transport to Meribel and a bar which has a happy hour with a roaring fire. We have stayed there 3 times so far and we have booked for Feb half term this year. The apartments have always been clean and warm, with lots of hot water and very quiet. Last year we stayed in the Pierre Vacances by the ski meeting area in Mottaret and to be honest with you the accommodation was smaller and we had a long trek up lifts along balconies and then up more stairs to get back to our apartments, and of course, we had to do all this with our luggage on arrival and departure also. Admittedly the Hameau does need serious refurbishment and if we booked with a tour operator and paid masses for it, we would be annoyed, but we book independently and pay about half of what the tour operators charge.