Four-Bedroom Apartment, Sleeps Eight

Sleeping

Four bedrooms. Four king-size beds. Beautiful mountain views.

Each of the four bedrooms takes a king-size bed, and each has its own window and daylight. That is the whole point of the layout: four couples, or two families, can share the apartment without anyone drawing the short straw.

Every bed is a Hypnos, which is why guests tend to write about how well they slept rather than about the skiing. The master bedroom is panelled floor to ceiling in pale oak with an upholstered headboard. The other three are lighter, with white walls, framed alpine prints, wool throws in olive, rust and ochre, and reading lamps on both sides.

Fitted wardrobes in each room, with hanging space and shelves, and a ski locker in the basement of the building, so eight people's kit never ends up living in the hallway.

The third bedroom, with a king-size bed, a fluted cream headboard, chocolate-brown cushions and lit lamps on both sides. — Third bedroom.

Living

One room that holds the whole party

The living room runs into the kitchen with nothing between them, and takes light from windows on two sides. A deep olive sofa, a pair of round bronze coffee tables, a soft patterned rug over wide oak boards, and a television that is there if you want it and easy to ignore if you don't.

It is a big enough room that half the party can be reading while the other half is cooking, which is not true of most four-bedroom apartments at this size. There are plenty of warm blankets for the sofa, and a cupboard of games for the afternoon a storm comes through.

Kitchen and eating

A kitchen equal to eight dinners

Fully equipped, and fitted in soft taupe with a stone splashback and a brushed-brass tap: built-in oven and range, induction hob, microwave, dishwasher, extractor, fridge, kettle and coffee maker, with open shelving for glasses, bowls and plates enough for the full party.

The dining table is a single live-edge walnut board with black cross-back chairs. Eight places, all at the same table. Cooking for a group only works if the kitchen and the table can take the whole group at once, and this one can.

The supermarket is twenty metres from the door, which makes a food shop an errand rather than an expedition.

The kitchen run with a built-in oven and coffee machine under warm shelf lighting, opening straight onto the dining table. — Oven, hob and coffee machine, under the shelf lighting.

Bathrooms

Three bathrooms in stone and slate

The walk-in shower behind clear glass, tiled in dark slate against pale stone, beside the backlit mirror and oak vanity. — The walk-in shower.

All three are finished in large-format pale stone with a band of dark slate, floating oak vanities, stone basins and backlit mirrors. Two have deep baths, which is what you want after a full day on the glacier. The third has a walk-in shower.

Three bathrooms for eight people is the ratio that makes a ski morning work. Nobody queues, and nobody negotiates for hot water at eight o'clock. Robes, towels and a hairdryer are provided, and there is a washing machine and tumble dryer for the week's kit.

Outside

A balcony you will not want to come in from

A large covered balcony runs the full length of the apartment, above the village roofs and facing straight into the mountains. It is furnished for sitting rather than standing, with deep woven lounge chairs, low tables and enough shelter to stay out in falling snow, which is when it is at its best.

It looks onto the Mischabel wall. In the morning the light comes down the face before it reaches the village. In the evening the summits hold it for another twenty minutes after the street below is already in shadow, and by then nobody is in any hurry to go inside.

The large covered balcony of the apartment, with wrought-iron railings, looking over the snow-covered roofs of Saas-Fee to the peaks beyond. — The balcony, over the village roofs.

The covered balcony running the length of the apartment beneath a dark timber soffit, with woven lounge chairs and mauve cushions along a wrought-iron balustrade, a pair of low round tables, and the roofs of Saas-Fee below. — The whole length of it, under cover, with the village below.

A round woven lounge chair with a deep mauve cushion and a low round side table on the balcony beside the glass doors, looking out over larch woods and a chalet roof across the valley. — The corner by the doors, where the sun arrives first.

Layout

How the apartment fits together

Four bedrooms, three bathrooms and one long open room, all on one level at the end of the floor. The living room runs to nearly forty square metres, the bedrooms are between eleven and fourteen each, and the covered balcony along the front adds another twenty-five.

Below is the architect's own drawing for apartment B4. It is the quickest way to settle who takes which room, before anybody has started packing.

Architect's floor plan of apartment B4 on the second floor of Residence du Glacier, showing four bedrooms and three bathrooms arranged around a central entrance hall, an open-plan living room, dining area and kitchen along the front, and a covered balcony running the full width of the apartment. — The architect's plan of apartment B4. The labels are the original German: Zimmer is a bedroom, Bad a bathroom, Dusche the shower room, Küche the kitchen, Wohnzimmer the living room, Balkon the balcony.

What's included

What is waiting for you

Four bedrooms, four king-size beds
Hypnos beds and mattresses
Sleeps eight
Three bathrooms: two deep baths and a walk-in shower
Open-plan living room and kitchen
Fully equipped kitchen
Walnut dining table seating eight
Oven, induction hob, range and microwave
Dishwasher
Coffee maker and kettle
Washing machine and tumble dryer
High-speed internet throughout
Television in the living room
Large balcony facing the mountains
Balcony furniture for long afternoons
Lift access to the apartment
Ski locker in the building
Fitted wardrobes and storage for kit
Bed linen, towels and hairdryer provided
Plenty of warm blankets
Games for the children
Cleaning supplies provided
Oak floors, underfloor-warm and quiet
Smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors
Non-smoking, no pets
Four minutes' walk from the slopes
Car-free village location
The whole building newly renovated

Practical

The particulars

Everything you would want confirmed before you commit a week to it.
Sleeps	8 guests
Bedrooms	4, each with a king-size bed
Bathrooms	3: two with deep baths, one with a walk-in shower
Address	Residence du Glacier, Blomattenstrasse 2, 3906 Saas-Fee, Valais, Switzerland
Distance to the slopes	A four-minute walk through the village
Nearest supermarket	Twenty metres from the door
Ski storage	A ski locker in the basement of the building
Lift	Yes, to the apartment door
Parking	In the car parks at the village entrance. Saas-Fee is car-free.
Nearest station	Visp, then the postbus up the valley (about an hour)
Check-in / check-out	From 3pm; check-out is flexible
Managed by	SaasFeeHolidays.com, in the village
Open	Winter and summer

Check-in is from 3pm and check-out is flexible. Keys and the tourist-tax registration are handled by SaasFeeHolidays.com, in the village, and confirmed with you before you travel. See how to book.

Photographs