We have taken over Les Chardons, a sweet little family hotel in one of the best positions in Val d'Isère. We are running it as a proper YSE chalet.

Les Chardons is ten seconds' walk from the church, at the very heart of Val d'Isere's quaint and quiet old village. It is mere metres from the snow square, nursery slopes, drag lifts, ski schools, ski shops, bus stops, hairdresser, baker and candle-stick maker. Guests here will spend more time skiing, eating and drinking and less time travelling around than anyone else in Val d'Isère.

If you wonder why you've never noticed Les Chardons, it is next to the Hôtel Bellevue (which you've probably never noticed either) on that little lane which leads from the Tourist Office roundabout to the church. Very few people and even fewer vehicles use this road, and it really is astonishingly silent. Even the church clock doesn't chime at night.

Inside, the chalet is much more comfortable than one might imagine from its slightly plain exterior. Our first guests have been bowled over by how nice it is.

The dining room has always been charming. We just removed the net curtains, table cloths and aspidistra, and put in good, solid, wooden tables and an industrial strength Nespresso machine! There are big tables for chatty people and little tables for grumpy people, and they all fit together, so if you meet other grumpy people during the week, we'll join the tables and you can all be grumpy together. Our regular star chef Scottish (so known because of all the Scotts we have employed, he is the only actual Scot) is leading a team in the professional kitchen which aims not just to match the food in our smaller chalets, but surpass it. We'll see...

The sitting room is full of deep sofas, and we've left the former bar so that guests can keep their own drinks in its fridges. We'll get the hooch in if you like. We'll even pour it. But you drink it! It's all at supermarket prices. There is no cheaper or more convenient way in the Alps to develop cirrhosis.

And there's the snug, a second sitting area with full HD Sky+ for those of you who don't want to miss the Test Match/News/America's Next Top Model or whatever.

There's a ski/snowboard locker and a room containing nothing but boot-warmers and glove-warmers. If you are accustomed to the pleasure of slipping your feet into warm, dry boots, wait until you put on warm, dry gloves!

The bedrooms aren't huge, but they're very comfortable, with modern bathrooms, good lighting, brand new handmade curtains and big, thick duvets. Some have balconies, and all the rooms' views range from good to fabulous. If views don't do it for you, eight bedrooms ( 2, 3, 4, 5, 14, 15, 16 & 17) also have little flat-screen TVs with British Freeview.

Ten rooms have en-suite showers and loos (actually, some of them are baths, but those wonderfully short baths only an Oompaloompa could stretch out in, so most people treat them as showers).

Six more bedrooms are in pairs, each room having its own shower-room and basin, but with a single loo for both rooms on the landing between them. To some people it is very important to have their wc in their bathroom. Others however, particularly of the long-suffering wife variety, are quite glad not to! Anyway, for having to share a loo we give the four guests in each of these 'suites' quite a generous discount.

And there are eight single rooms, with no supplement. You may need to read that again. As well as having space for 32 guests in pairs or couples, Les Chardons has eight rooms for people travelling alone, who are normally faced with the choice of sharing with a stranger (who may snore, bore or worse) or paying to keep the other bed empty.

In fact, the eight single rooms comprise six twin and two double rooms, but we are treating them as singles because they don't have the same facilities as the other rooms. Five have showers and basins, three just bidets and basins. There are two communal showers and three wcs on the landings. The question is whether you'd rather have a loo and share your bedroom, or get your own room but share a loo!

Better still, during school holidays or when a single group books the whole chalet, a second person can stay in these single rooms half-price. We can't promise this extra person a flight, but with a saving of up to £700 he probably won't mind taking an easyJet or Jet2!

Chalet Les Chardons is unique in Val d'Isère: a large chalet for keen skiers who are also keen foodies. It is selling out very quickly.

Who wants to stay at Chalet Les Chardons?

• Obviously ski clubs and schools.
• Anyone who wants to bring forty or so close friends for a fortieth/fiftieth/ninetieth birthday etc. (NOT stag parties!!!!)
• People who travel alone, and normally have to pay a supplement to get their own room, or take pot luck with their room-mate.
• Parties of three, five, seven etc, for the same reason.
• Couples who would like to join a chalet.
• People with children, who would like their kids to meet other kids during school holidays.
• People who want to meet other people because they don't like to ski alone.
• People who don't want to meet other people, and prefer to eat alone!
• People who just want to be in the centre of Val d'Isère and never again have to take the bus.
• People who like the idea of sitting in a comfy sofa to watch rugby/tennis/cricket/Formula 1/poker on Sky on a wide-screen HD television.
• People who want a TV in their bedroom with lots of Freeview channels.
• Pretty much anybody, in other words, except people who can't enjoy skiing without wellness centres, jacuzzis, saunas, hairdressing salons, butlers, chauffeurs, party planners or entertainments providers!