Tignes Villages & Accommodation
The Tignes ski resort comprises four villages (or perhaps 5 depending on your point of view!), all ranging in size & altitude from the valley to mid-mountain. All four resort villages have direct lift & piste trail access to & from the ski resort, with many accommodation providers offering ski-in ski-out convenience.
Unlike its neighbour Val d’Isere, Tignes does have the same range of high-end hotel & apartment lodgings. The predominant accommodation type is a typically French ski resort array of apartments in both centrally managed resort-style complexes or privately owned & managed apartments. Hotels are overwhelmingly concentrated in the Tignes Le Lac sector.
From the valley to the highest point, the first village of Les Brévières is at 1,550m altitude, connected by lifts & pistes to the next village of Les Boisses (1,800m elevation). On the alpine plateau at 2,100m elevation, the main collection of resort chalets, apartments & hotels comprising Tignes Le Lac & Le Lavachet are now called Tignes 2100. A short way further up the valley, the collection of high-rises named Val Claret sits splendidly at 2,130m altitude, juxtaposed below glacier-draped Grande Motte.
To ponder the complete list of hotels, apartments, hostels guesthouses & chalets in the resort, search & book via our Tignes Ski Accommodation Listings page.
Which Village?
For the best access to the widest diversity of ski lifts & terrain, the resort village of Val Claret is the place to stay. If after some lively après ski action, loads of non-ski activities plus masses of restaurants & bars, Tignes 2100 - Le Lac is the place. For a traditional French alpine village stay at Tignes, Tignes 1550-Les Brévières is the only choice, but still a good one! For the best balance of affordability, quiet without the glitz, & access to lifts & slopes, Tignes 1800-Les Boisses is far & away the best choice. Lac-Lavachet village has some wonderful ski-in ski-out sidecountry terrain all the way down to the dam in the valley and could be the place to stay if interesting in skiing untracked glades & peaks.
Check out the Tignes Val Claret & Le Lac alpine villages map below.
Check out the Tignes Les Boisses & Les Brevieres lower valley villages map below.
Best Tignes Mountain Lodgings
Val Claret
If skiing first tracks is important to you, Val Claret’s location as the highest village (by the smallest of margins), makes it the best place to stay on the mountain at Tignes. All accommodation is only a few steps from a lift or ski run. The village at Val Claret is majority apartments with barely a handful of hotels (including the resort’s best) & a few fabulous chalets. The standard of apartment accommodation does vary widely within Val Claret. Aside from sharing the ideal location, several apartment complexes suffer from age, poor upkeep & small size. Renter beware! In poor weather, the village can feel like being stuck in a wintry Armageddon, but such is life in the mountains!
See here for the Tignes Val Claret village map.
The best hotel in Tignes is in central Val Claret. Hotel Les Suites - Maison Bouvier has all the 5-star juice to impress the most discerning amongst us but is also accommodating for anyone just wanting that special stay on the mountain. Complete with Michelin starred restaurants, fantastic bars, exquisite suites & a magnificent spa area, the hotel doesn’t come cheap, but sometimes an indulgence is warranted. At Tignes, this is the place to indulge!
Typical of the perfect location close to the lifts & slopes is the Belambra Club Tignes Le Diva - a sprawling, affordable 3-star hotel. Hotel La Vanoise has a prime ski-in position near the centre of Val Claret & provides simple, no-fuss affordable rooms, some of which are suitable for families.
For apartments in Val Claret, there is a wide choice. From stellar modern complexes like CGH Résidences & Spas Le Jhana the range degrades to several poorly rated complexes that are best avoided. Other centrally located, quality apartments in Val Claret can be found at CGH Residences & Spas Le Nevada.
Tignes 2100 - Le Lac
The sprawling Tignes 2100 is the true centre of the resort. Usually associated with the expansive building stretching along the landscape above Lac de Tignes, there are in fact several sectors within the village. Broadly split into two sectors called Le Lac & Lac-Lavachet, Le Lac is (not surprisingly) around the lake & includes the 'sub-villages' of Bec Rouge (lakeside) and Rosset (next to Toviere gondola). Numerous affordable 2, 3 & 4-star hotels are in the area as well as most of the bars & restaurants. Most accommodation is remarkably close to the slopes, allowing for ski-in convenience, and all are within a short stroll of a major ski lift.
See here for the Tignes 2100 Le Lac village map.
The main Le Lac building complex is the place to stay if looking for a lively (& sometimes noisy!) location close to a host of restaurants & bars. The complex is bursting at the seams with apartments plus at least one excellent hotel, the stylish & contemporary Langley Hôtel Tignes 2100.
Le Lac has the highest number of affordable (& some not-so-affordable!) hotels in Tignes (as well as bucket loads of apartments). The best of the bunch (if for no other reason than its pool!) is away from the main Le Lac building at the wonderful 4-star Les Campanules Hôtels - Chalets de Tradition. Nearby is the new kid on the block, the pricey, but stylish 5-star Hotel Le Diamond Rock. For location, location, location, the 3-star Hotel Le Levanna cannot be beaten - just across from the important Toviere gondola station. Other comfortable & more affordable 3-star choices include Hotel Le Gentiana, family friendly Hotel Le Refuge & the Hotel Le Paquis. If on a budget, try the under-rated Le Terril Blanc, nicely sited in a prime lakeside position close to the Chardonnet chairlift & away from the main clutch of buildings further around the lake.
In La Lavachet, next to the ski lifts are a few chalets (several of which are set up as guesthouses) and a mass of apartments of varying quality. Try the well-priced suites in a guesthouse like Chalet Le Cordava.
Across the road, on the sunny side of the village, several tastefully done apartment complexes are worthy for anyone seeking self-contained apartment/condo style lodgings in a ski-in, ski-out location. The 4-star Chalets Montana Airelles has lovely 3-bedroom apartments. Of similar quality, but with more diverse apartment offerings, is the nearby Residences Village Montana.
Tignes 1800 Les Boisses
The quietest of all the Tignes villages, much of Les Boisses started its life many years ago as accommodation for the construction of the adjacent l’Isere dam. The lakeside location is now fully integrated into the ski resort. Les Boisses is the place to stay for anyone seeking affordable lodgings but within easy access of the lifts & slopes. Les Boisses is one of the easiest of the Tignes villages to reach by rental car and is a good base from which to make day-trips to other Haute Tarentaise ski resorts.
See here for the Tignes Les Boisses village map.
Hotel Le Dôme is a quiet, affordable hotel in the original part of the village. The hotel rooms are some of the best priced in Tignes. It has a great restaurant & a small bar, all within 50m of the gondola & ski run.
For early seeking powder day worms or first track groomers, the excellent Résidence Club MMV l'Altaviva Apartments are in the ultimate location next to the gondola up the mountain and return ski run. Further away from the main ski lifts, but still essentially ski-out, the equally good CGH Résidences & Spas - Le Kalinda Apartments provide alternative self-contained lodgings.
Tignes 1550 Les Brévières
The lowest of the resort villages at 1,550m, Les Brevieres is also the most authentic & traditional. Retaining all its mountain village charm, the narrow road close to the ski lift base can be quite the experience after a deep snowfall. Les Brévières has numerous lodging options in its old sector, some more affordable than others, plus newer apartment & chalet/guesthouse offerings (in contemporary alpine style) rising above the village away from the ski area. In addition to a road, the upper village is connected to the original by a pedestrian funicular. All are within a short stroll of the slopes & the new gondola up to the resort. Sadly, the new gondola has reduced the amenity of Les Brevieres for keen first-track skiers & snowboarders. One of the lifts it replaced, the Sache gondola, went directly from the village up to mid-mountain terrain at 2,300m altitude. The new lift merely goes across to the next village of Les Boisses, requiring another gondola ride (& potential lift line) to get up the mountain.
See here for the Tignes Les Brevieres village map.
Along the main street of the village, Hotel Le Genepy provides a fun location to rest the head for the night. For self-caterers, the centrally located Résidence Santa Terra has a superb range of apartments for up to 10 people plus access to pool & spa facilities.
On the hillside above Les Brévières, aside from a host of individual self-contained apartments (view via the accommodation listings link at the top of this page), many of the beautiful chalets are set up as guesthouses providing private rooms, shared hot tubs plus breakfast & dinner. Examples include Chardons Sophia, Chalet Chardons Belvedere & Chardons Isabella.
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Best Accommodations in the Valley
Down the valley away from Tignes there are numerous off-mountain overnight lodging options, particularly if intending to day-trip or do a local ski safari. With a rental car, accommodation can be sought anywhere between Tignes & Bourg St Maurice. Our rock-solid guarantee, cheapest and best accommodation in the Haute Tarentaise includes: the Le Perce Neige d'Alicia Guesthouse & Bar (in Viclaire, just past Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise), and close to Bourg St Maurice & La Rosiere, the Auberge de Jeunesse HI Séez hostel. Both are either on, or just off the road to Tignes.
Anyone with a car can take advantage of one of our favourite Alps ski areas, the lovely Sainte Foy ski resort village. Perched above the valley only 13km from Tignes 1550 Les Brevieres, it is generally cheaper & once had reasonable availability throughout the season, but the secret is now well & truly out.
Search & book here for all Sainte Foy Ski Accommodation.
Below Sainte Foy ski resort, the small town of Sainte-Foy Tarentaise has the reliable Hotel Le Monal, however, the hotel is on the main road to Tignes-Val d’Isere so traffic noise can be horrific long into the night (particularly on weekends).
The tiny hamlet of Villaroger is a time-warped piece of paradise off the main thoroughfare but close enough to everything to provide a true French village experience whilst feeling a world away from the hoi polloi. The lowest point of Les Arcs ski resort, Villaroger has direct access to the ski lifts of Les Arcs & only 13km drive to Tignes 1550 Les Brévières.
Failing that, Bourg St Maurice may have something, but its funicular link with Les Arcs makes it attractive to the masses, hence availability tends to be low.