The Best Mont-Blanc hotel group, under the direction of MD Blaise Angehrn, is without doubt the foremost hotel and business tourism company in the Chamonix Valley with its four properties: one 4* hotel, the Mont-Blanc (40 rooms), and three 3* hotels, Le Prieuré (91 rooms), the Alpina (138 rooms) and La Croix Blanche (35 rooms). Their property list is set to increase at the end of 2009 with the addition of a new 4* hotel: Hôtel les Drus, which the group, owned by the Morand family, Blaise Angerhn and Swiss shareholders, plans to open in time for the 2009-2010 season.

We have just put in for planning permission and if we’re successful then we’ll be building the hotel in Les Praz, on the former site of the Hôtel Les Lanchers and a community holiday centre , explains Blaise Angehrn. The project will cost 15 million euros, with the hotel establishing itself at the top end of the hotel market in Chamonix, which currently offers only 120 4* rooms between five properties .

Situated next door to the golf course, Les Drus will have 120 rooms, a large 650 m² spa centre, a gastronomic restaurant, a 60-space covered car park, a meeting room for 130 people and three break-out rooms. Architect Renaud Chevallier has chosen stone and glass to make the most of the exceptional views overlooking the Drus and Aiguilles mountains of Chamonix.

With the addition of this new property to its portfolio, Best Mont-Blanc will be able to strengthen its position on the meeting and seminars market. In 2007, we organised 120 events for between 10 and 300 people, which was 15 more than we organised in 2006, and they made up 12% of our turnover which was 11.5 million euros, estimates Blaise Angehrn. Our clients were mostly French companies from the sports, pharmaceutical, financial, insurance and industrial sectors . The average length of meetings is three nights, some of them last five! They are usually planned for January, May, June and between September and Christmas.

We’re able to offer seminar organisers the choice of about 20 meeting rooms, most of which are modifiable, explains the Best Mont-Blanc boss. The two largest facilities are at the Alpina with capacity for 400 people and at Le Prieuré with a room for 300 that can be divided into three. The others can also be adapted to suit whatever capacity is needed, from 10 to 40 people. And, if necessary, we can also use Le Majestic conference centre which can hold up to 600 people .

Le Prieuré, which is open year round, and the Alpina, with its 420-cover restaurant offering panoramic views, are the group’s two properties best equipped to handle seminar business. The Alpina and the Mont-Blanc are closed between 15 October and 1^st December, whilst La Croix Blanche is closed in May. This means that we always have a minimum of two hotels that are open at any one time and the possibility to open others quickly if there’s a need, adds Blaise Engehrn.

We believe that there is a demand for another hotel and our figures for 2008 are looking good, because we’ve already reached the same level as in 2007. Obviously the Mont-Blanc effect helps us enormously on the business tourism market. However, we’re not happy to restrict ourselves to just accommodation and food. We can also get involved in organising the activities that accompany a seminar, working in partnership with the Compagnie des Guides, the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc, Évolution 2 and the Lyon-based agency operated by Guillaume Brochet who sets up events based on local heritage or sustainable development and which are ideal for team building .

As far as rates go, Best Mont-Blanc offers a semi-residential day with 3* accommodation, one meal, breakfast, room hire and refreshment breaks for 189 € in the winter high season, 149 € in mid-season (from 1^st June to 31 August), and 119 € for the rest of the year.