We were a party of 7 (5 adults and 2 children) enjoying the pistes in February half term.
Communication - the owner was excellent at emailing me back with answers to my questions.
Location - The apartment is in a house of a number of other apartments conveniently located just a short walk from town and the 3 stops from the ski lifts in both directions.
The walk up to the main road is a bit steep, but you'd expect that in a ski resort. The bus stop is at the junction of the road the apartment is on (Rue de Chemin) and the main road (Rue de Vonnes), which is approx 100m away.
We had two 9 year-old children with us and they walked that distance to and from the bus stop no problems with their ski boots on.
Ski bus: the bus we used ("I") is connecting the town center and the two lifts at Vonnes. They go every 15 minutes until the lifts close, then with a reduced time table. There is an extensive bus route connecting Chatel with a number of valleys. We did not use the SuperChatel, but opted for the two lifts at Vonnes, which were not busy at all (even in half term). The Portes du soleil and the Gabelou take you either into the top of the SuperChatel or towards Linga. They are both very good chair lifts.
Skiing: we had excellent skiing, as it had snowed just the week before we arrived. We had glorious sunshine and were able to explore the complete Portes du Soleil area. You get get to Switzerland, Avoriaz and through Morzine even to Les Gets. It is an amazing resort. I was very surprised how little queueing there was for the lifts for this time of the year.
Apartment: It does have 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a living/dining area and a tiny kitchen. Everything is there, but things are a bit on the small size. I suppose for a holiday it is fine. The kitchen is well stocked with cuttlery and crockery, plenty of of pots and pans to be self catering. There is oven, microwave, coffee machine, nespresso machine, kettle, toaster, grill in the oven, fridge, freezer, dishwasher. The fireplace is amazing and it is a real treat to have a wonderful open fire. We only did it one night, as the apartment is very lovely and warm without it. There was plenty of hot water for the 7 of us to use. The wifi was very useful, especially when we were all uploading our activities of the day, comparing speeds and achievements.
We have used the balcony a couple of times, when we got back from a long day of skiing, enjoying a beer in the sun.
All in all, definitely recommended
