A retired couple, living in Bracknell, Berkshire. We have owned apartments in Combloux since 1991 and still have four that we let as well as one reserved for our own use. We spend a total of about 12 weeks per year in France.
In the early days letting was essential to help with the bills but for a few years it became profitable enough to pay off the mortgages. Recently it has made very little profit, but we have kept the apartments because we enjoy being able to provide good value holiday accommodation to British families.
We used to ski with our three children for one or two weeks every season but we didn't like hotels because they were expensive and they limited how we spent time together as a family, when we could run a hot bath, and when we could snack or eat together. We avoided those problems by renting apartments but found that standards and value for money were something of a lottery. We also hated all of the baggage handling and waiting around for taxis, buses and planes so we would drive all the way to popular resorts like Verbier, Flaine, Val d'Isere, Meribel, Hinterglemm, Ischgl. Then we got smarter...
We discovered Combloux in 1991, and bought our first two apartments - which we now call B and X - the following autumn. The winters are superb but the summers are absolutely stunning, and it is the easiest resort to drive to and from.
At first we let the spare weeks through Pied à Terre (Bernie and Tina). Then in 1994, we advertised in "Chez Nous" magazine and began to take our own bookings. In 1997, we became one of the very first travel dot-coms because the internet was coming of age and would enable us to provide much better information and facilities than traditional advertising. Our website www.bycar.com quickly came to account for 90% of bookings. Unfortunately it was obscured by the expensive brand advertising sites like "Owners Direct" and we have been forced to advertise with them, but we still maintain our own websites which put service and usability before profits.
Late in 1997, we bought studio C from friends; and in summer 1999, we bought apartment A. In 2001, we introduced a 24 hour facility for key collection and deposit, which was a timely response to the increased availability of cheap flights. Summer holidays peaked in 2003 - the year of the heat wave - the following year French holidays generally dropped by 50% and have continued to decline until last summer. Meanwhile, many Brits have taken advantage of cheap flights to go further afield not realising what they are missing on their doorstep.
When we first came here, Combloux was a well kept secret. Over 95% of visitors were French and English voices were rarely heard. In the village, we frequently visited Dudu's bar, and Pinnochios pizzeria run by Bruno and Lena, while the locals packed into the small Postillon Tabac.
A big change took place in 2001 when Thierry closed the Postillon and bought and developed the ground floor of the old Warens hotel, across the street. With a large interior, separate paper shop and attractive outdoor seating area, this is now the most popular meeting place and has made a profound improvement to the village. Dudu's run down hotel was bought and redeveloped to become the Joly Site. and the pizzeria was expanded and renamed "la Stala".
In the summer of 2003, the new plan d'eau, ecological lake was opened and made big national headlines as the first open air swimming pool of its type. It has a superb site with the same magnificent views of Mont Blanc that made the "Hotel Mont Blanc" in Combloux one of the most exclusive holiday destinations of the 1930s.
Before 2002, we used to take beginners to the green and blue runs from the top of Mont d'Arbois and Bettex. The Combloux skiing was more limited because there was no way down from Les Salles for people who were not confident on red runs. Then Combloux began to change.
The mountainside between Mowgli and la Cry was reshaped, excellent facilities were put in for children and beginners, and parking for an additional 500 cars and 16 buses was created at le Brons - which incidentally gave easier access to our apartments. Combloux and all the neighbouring resorts introduced the hands-free lift passes, which we now regard as basic necessities.
In the summer of 2003 the old Princesse lift was completely dismantled and replaced by a new eight-man gondola, which provides very much faster and easier access to Mont d'Arbois. And in the winter of 2004 the link to la Giettaz (Tete de Torraz) was opened. The extra 25 kms of pistes provide an interesting excursion for all grades and some good steep slopes for the more sporting skiers. A new six-man chair made the Christomet area more accessible with a new four-man chair back to Summet des Salles. Combloux also opened an additional black run, forking left off Porrez, around the newly built "Auberge de Porrez".
In the winter of 2008, at a total cost of 12.5M€ , the three old chair lifts in Combloux were replaced by a modern six-man chair which whisks skiers to the top of les Salles in 6 minutes; a permanent snow park was created; and 50 snow cannons were installed. The 90 kms of pistes between Combloux, Megeve Jaillet, and la Giettaz (previously the "Jaco" liftpass) was renamed "Les Portes du Mont Blanc". This forms part of the "Evasion Mont Blanc" area that also includes the Rochebrune and Mont d'Arbois areas of Megeve, St Gervais and les Contamines.
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