St. André Cafè Restaurant In Antey-saint-andrè

24/04/2024: Pleasant mountain hotel, comfortable environment. Very friendly and helpful staff, central location convenient for a walk in the town. The room is very welcoming, mountain style, but at the same time modern. Reasonable price.

19/04/2024: We arrived in Champoluc unplanned, having skied down from the top of the Zermatt ski area intending to stay in a mountain hut up in the Monta Rosa but were unable to make it due to weather conditions and time. Having initially struggled to find anywhere to stay (it was a Saturday afternoon during the school holidays!) we were talking to a man who, as it turns out, was from the Ski Club of Great Britain. He was staying at Hotel Castor and advised we call them for a room. When we called there was no availability but, as we were close by we decided to pop in for a beer while we figured out what we were going to do. We were welcomed into the hotel and the staff very quickly got us our beers and then proceeded to insist that they would get a room for us. They did just that, provided a nice big room for the 3 of us with great facilities. Having been on a long and sweaty ski tour we looked quite disheveled so we appreciated not being turned away at the sight of us! We ate in the restaurant that evening and found the staff and the owner very helpful and friendly. The food was great, particularly breakfast which ranks well up in my 'Top 10 Breakfasts' rankings. The wine selection also was fantastic, all of the wines we had were local to the Aosta Valley. In the morning the owner and his son, a ski instructor, helped us plan our 'escape route' back over the Swiss border, giving us invaluable advice on snow conditions and landscape enabling us to access the Cervinia ski area from Saint Jacques, just up the road from Champoluc, where we were kindly dropped by the hotels shuttle bus. We are incredibly grateful to the whole team at Hotel Castor for taking us in and looking after us when we needed it and we hope to come back to visit again. Next time hopefully planned and with more than 1 spare pair of socks with us!