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Méribel-Mottaret ~ Mottaret ~ Meribel-Mottaret |
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MOTTARET - Location |
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Mottaret is one of the six major ski resorts in the Three Valleys ski area and is at the top of the central valley. The combined Three Valleys ski area is the largest linked piste domain in the world. |
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| Location of Mottaret - Valley Map | Location of the apartments in Mottaret |
| Mottaret's full name is Meribel-Mottaret and is sometimes considered to be part of Meribel. However it is an independent resort and is three kilometres further (higher) up the Meribel valley from Meribel centre. It is linked to Meribel by a free bus service but is in a more advantageous position for skiing in the Three Valleys. | |
| At 1700m it is one of the higher resorts in the Alps. With direct access to Courchevel and Val Thorens as well, Mottaret is a good location for convenient snow sure skiing. The season in Mottaret generally runs from the first week in December until the last week of April. | |
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Mottaret is all about convenient skiing, with fast access to the rest of the Three Valleys. Nearly all the accommodation is either ski-in/ski-out or is no more than a couple of minutes to the slopes. The central lifts running out of Mottaret go directly to the peaks of the valley. Mottaret is so well located that it is as quick or quicker to get to the top of the Courchevel valley than from any of the Courchevel resorts including Courchevel 1850! |
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History & Development |
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Mottaret consists of two main areas separated by the central piste area: Le Laitelet and Le Chatelet. Mottaret was developed in 1972 as a satellite of Meribel. The initial development centred on Le Laitelet and then Le Chatelet was developed in preparation for the 1992 Olympics. Le Laitlelet (with Le Hameau at the top) rises up the east facing side of the Valley. The smaller Le Chatelet is situated on the west facing side of the valley just at the entrance to the Parc de la Vanoise nature reserve. |
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Mottaret's official name is Meribel-Mottaret and it is administered from Meribel-les-Allues. Even though Mottaret is quite different in character to Meribel and is a substantial resort in its own right, the tourist office for Mottaret is part of the Meribel tourist office. There is no separate tourist information dedicated to Mottaret. |
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General Accommodation |
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Mottaret is a purpose built resort that consists of mainly self-catered, ski-in ski-out accommodation. All the development in Mottaret has to follow the same wood-clad, low-rise chalet style of building as in Meribel. Hence there are no large concrete buildings that can be found in some new resorts. There are approximately fifty residences with apartment accommodation. They vary in size from about twenty apartments upwards. In addition there are five hotels and about twenty chalets. This site advertises several apartments in the centre of Mottaret in Le Chatelet. |
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Guide to skiing |
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| Mottaret's major asset is its central location in the vast ski area of the Three Valleys and is best suited for intermediates and experts looking to make full use of the expanse of the Three Valleys. In Mottaret there are 21 lifts serving approximately 80km of piste. In Meribel there are a further 26 lifts serving another 80km of piste, with about 600km of pistes in the Three Valleys as a whole. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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For beginners, as well as the blues and greens in Mottaret there is also easy access down to Meribel for the extensive nursery slopes there. |
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| For intermediates Mottaret gives the fastest access to all the best skiing in the Three Valleys, making trips into the other valleys very easy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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There is a huge amount of off-piste possibilities in the Three Valleys. There is extensive off piste from Mont Vallon and Mont de La Chambre. Also there is the fantastic Aiguille de Fruit off piste route, that enables about two hundred uninterrupted turns and which finishes by Lac Tueda just by the apartments. Also see the piste maps and further guide to skiing: |
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Mottaret and Meribel - THE DIFFERENCE! |
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| Mottaret and Meribel are essentially separate resorts that are located 3 kilometres apart in the same valley. There is a free bus service connecting the resorts and it is very simple to ski down to Meribel from Mottaret or to take lifts from the centre of Meribel up either side of the valley and then ski down to Mottaret. However the resorts themselves have different strengths. | |
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Mottaret typically attracts seasoned skiers and families looking for good value and ski convenience in ski in/ski out self catered accommodation. Being further up the valley it is quicker and easier to access the other valleys. |
Meribel is the home of the traditional catered chalet holiday with a buzzing night life for the young in the centre of Meribel. The skiing offers plenty of nursery slopes for beginners and access to the Three Valleys. |
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For a number of reasons Meribel and Mottaret share the same tourist office function. All literature is produced under the name of Meribel and the tourist office in Mottaret is administered from Meribel. There is no literature separately produced for Mottaret. The lack of tourist information dedicated to Mottaret means that most guide books do not mention Mottaret at all and those that do only include it as an off-shoot of Meribel. This has meant that Mottaret has not established its own identity which is a pity since it is in such a good location. |
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Transport - Local Free Meribus service |
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The local Meribel and Mottaret buses are free and run throughout the season. There are four services: |
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The Mottaret service route: Meribel - Le Chatelet - Le Hameau - Le Chatelet - Meribel
The first bus down to Meribel in the morning is at 8:40am. The last bus back from Meribel, leaves Meribel centre at 11:30pm. The bus runs every half an hour leaving Meribel centre at quarter past and quarter to the hour for most of the day. The first bus from Meribel to Mottaret leaves at 8:20am. The last bus returns to Mottaret at 12:00 midnight. |
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