Les Fermes de Marie, MEGèVE

Compared with other world-class resorts we have stayed at (French Polynesia, NY, Park City, Zermatt, London, Sydney, Barbados, Hawaii…) it is hard to find justification for the price level of the room. Spa was the worst we have tried, nowhere near world-class anything. It was noisy, beds uncomfortable, clients smoking in the quiet area, no water, no amenities to speak of. I have been to many spas over the world and this was the worst. Location It is up a small hill just outside Megeve, right behind a cemetary. You have some views of the mountainside, but not much. There is a car wash 100yds to the rear of the property and there are other buildings pretty much surrounding the property, although nothing much closer than 100yds and mostly not in the line of sight. It is mildly picturesque, but nothing anywhere close to spectacular. The Room Supposedly we stayed in the best room in the hotel, room 821, but this retreat was far from quite and offered no exceptional amenities. The room is located directly over the kitchen delivery area which results in noise at night as it is by the entrance/exit to the hotel and noise in the morning as delivery activities start early each morning. Trucks are coming and going and voices are loud. In addition the kitchen exhaust is near the room and at 3am various smells from the kitchen enters the room. Room 821 is decorated nicely in rustic décor; however, none of the closet doors stayed closed, drawers did not slide, and one chair fell apart. The room is nice, but definitely not a four star room. There is no alarm clock (only the clock on the 13” TV), no CD player and the bed mattress is broken. There is no stand up shower in the master bathroom, and the hot tub is the only area where one can clean. Since there is no shower curtain, water tends to go everywhere. When filling the hot tub, the water has a sulfur smell, and on multiple occasions there was only enough hot water for one bath. In addition, the jets in the hot tub keep shutting off after 5-10 minutes. Even some of the basic amenities we are used to were not present, such as moisturizer and body lotion. In addition the maid failed to refill our mini-bar snacks and removed our fruit basket. The Restaurants The lunch and dinner restaurants are fairly good, but smoking is prevelant and there are no choices for those who prefer a light meal. The breakfast buffet was a disappointment, serving only a minimal breakfast with ham, cheese, fruit, boiled eggs and bread. We asked for plain omelets for three days before we finally were served one (however the omelet served was not plain but with ham and cheese) at extra expense above the half-board rate. Pool, etc The pool was fairly small, the indoor jacuzzi tub was also small and only about 85 degrees F. Only a small sauna, and no steam room (which is vital IMHO for a winter resort). In addition, both the pool and jacuzzi were constantly filled with toddlers (under 3 years old) making any kind of relaxation impossible. Atmosphere The hotel did have a nice rustic appeal, but the open areas were relatively small and there was very little imagination. In Zermatt our hotel had a large bar, pool table, indoor tennis... This hotel had; five bar tables, a small upstairs sitting area and that was about it. There was a large open area, but it was used for entertaining the children, of which there were many. Being in France, smoking was allowed everywhere and although the staff were generally nice they were not near the level expected. For comparsion we stayed at the Mandarin Oriental in Geneva for our last day and the staff were superb and attentive. For $900/night (2004) this was by far the worst hotel value ever.