We had a fantastic time staying at Antoine's apartment. We were two adults and two children (8 and 11) and booked this apartment last minute because our travel plans changed. Antoine was very communicative and answered all my questions quickly and easily. We arrived late on Wednesday when the receptionist for the hotel is off, but the keys to the apartment were readily available. the apartment itself, was small, but had everything you need. There was a full bedroom for my wife and I and then bunk beds for the children. If you have not stayed in an apartment like this before you might be surprised that you have to rent sheets and rent towels, but it is a do it yourself vacation and these costs were not expensive at all (total extra cost was 60 euro). The kitchen was well equipped and we were able to cook two nice meals. There is a small supermarket in the village, a larger one on your way into Courchevel and a more extensive supermarket (actually two) in 1850.
Getting to the slopes was easy. We rented our skis from Raymonde Sport, but you can also rent skis from other places. Renting from Raymonde worked out well, because we left our skis and boots in the shop overnight and then walked back and forth from the hotel. The walk into the village is about 5 to 10 minutes. There is also a shuttle, but we did not need to take this. The walk was fine. The town is very cute and has a few restaurants and a few stores. If you are also cooking for yourself, there choices are perfect and you do not need anything more.
In the center of town is the Gondala for skiing. This takes you directly into the hub of 1850. I would be hard pressed to believe that is much easier to get into the center of the ski lifts, even if you were staying in 1850 proper. The Gondola goes till from 8,45 to 7.30, so you can easily get up to 1850 before the most of the lifts start there. We did ski school for our children and we were a half hour early the first day. Because the lift is open to 7.30, you can get up to 1850 walk around have a hot chocolate (for a price) and still easily make it down. If you want to have dinner in 1850, you would have to take the shuttle back. That said, we would ski down to 1550 (despite a limited amount of snow, they kept the trail into town really well groomed). Change into our boots and head right back up the gondola.
All in all the apartment was great for quite a remarkable price. This is not a five star hotel but a place perfect for a family of 4.
