St. Martin de Belleville

One of the best kept secrets in the Trois Vallees, St Martin de Belleville is a quaint, traditional resort only a few miles below Les Menuires. The least commercial of the Three Valleys resorts, St Martin is a world away from the nightlife of Val Thorens above it, and offers something altogether different in the world's largest ski area.

Having been a farming village until the 1980s, St Martin remains unspoilt with no purpose built eyesores tarnishing the resort. As a result, it has been allowed to retain its’ peaceful character. The striking 16th Century church in the centre of the village serves as its’ most distinctive building, while a selection of good local shops and restaurants offer more than enough charm.

A short way outside the village is La Bouitte, a 4 star hotel with its very own three Michelin star restaurant, one of only three in the French Alps. Within the resort there are a couple of good bars including The Dahlia at the bottom of the gondola and Pourquoi Pas? close to the central square.

As a part of the Trois Vallees ski area, St Martin de Belleville has an excellent amount of skiing on offer. The Trois Vallees is the largest fully connected ski area in the world, with 600km of marked pistes. The slopes in St Martin tend to be quieter than those in Courchevel, Meribel and Val Thorens, making it an ideal place to start the day.

The local slopes are mostly pleasant and long, with rolling blues and reds as well as a good amount of gentle, and often deserted, off piste that can be enjoyed by most skiing abilities. However the wider ski area can boast something for everyone.

The Couloirs in Courchevel offers exciting skiing for experts and a good selection of blues and reds across the ski area. The Jerusalem red run heading down into Meribel is usually quiet and is the best intermediate ski run in the valley. There are also a number of parks and boarder-crosses in the Meribel and Val Thorens ski areas which will keep teenagers happy. While anyone who doesn’t fancy going downhill can enjoy the 28km of cross country trails.

An authentic Savoyarde village, St Martin has plenty of year round residents making it perfect for dual season usage. Thus the many shops and restaurants are open in Summer, with some even remaining open in the off-season.

As with any good dual season resort, there are 200km of walking paths and 120km of mountain bike trails crossing varying terrains, all while amongst beautiful scenery. For additional activities you can try horse riding or head to Les Menuires for a multitude of options. These include everything from paintball, canyoning and white water rafting, to buggy rides and zip lining.

For those who would rather be pampered than hit by a paintball, you can once again head to the La Bouitte Hotel and hit the spa to enjoy the pool, steam room and/or a private treatment. There is even a crafts fair that comes along periodically along with some occasional live music.

St Martin de Belleville is a very traditional resort and its' properties do well to reflect this. The resort is mostly chalets or chalet style apartment buildings, all clad in wood and stone. Altogether it is a very nice place to be no matter where you are or what time of year it is. 

The current market in St Martin is characterised by new chalet developments with everything from smaller, semi detached residences to stunning stand alone chalets. There are also a few renovations of older chalets under development. The locations of these chalets vary between ski in, ski out above the village to more secluded spots below.

There are less opportunities for apartments in the resort as recently developers have opted for chalet developments. Despite this, there are still a number of resale apartments available dotted all over the resort.

St Martin has considerable plans to improve its' infrastructure over the next few years with a number of new facilities in development. There is to be a new 9 hole golf course completed in 2017, with an additional pitch and putt coming in 2018.

The biggest news is the brand new aquacentre located just outside the village. This will include a full spa complete with jacuzzi, sauna and steam room as well as a swimming pool. Due to open in 2018, this will provide the perfect place to unwind after a day on the slopes.