Water, heat, shade

Wellness

We don't have a spa in the brochure sense. What we have is a lake that is 7°C in April and 23°C in August, a jetty to get into it from, a wooden sauna built into the end of the boathouse, and a garden with enough shade to recover in. It has done for a hundred and twenty years.

The jetty and the lake

The swimming jetty runs twenty-two metres out from the boathouse, and a ladder at the end drops into about three metres of water. The lake is clean enough to drink, which people in Annecy will tell you within four minutes of meeting you, and they have a point.

Towels are kept in the boathouse locker; take what you need and put it in the basket afterwards. There is no lifeguard, the water stays cold until June, and the depth is marked on the ladder. The one rule is the obvious one: nobody swims alone after dark.

Hours

Jetty open 06:30 to sunset, May to October
Towels and the outdoor shower, the same hours
Two rowing boats for guests: ask at reception the evening before

the boathouse, the jetty and the ladder

Everybody swears the first time they go off the ladder in May. Then they do it again the next morning.

Marianne Fauvel, head of reception

The sauna, the garden, the rest of it

The sauna is lined with spruce, seats six and sits in the lake end of the boathouse, so you can go from 80°C to the ladder in about nine seconds. Between October and May it's heated every day from 16:00 to 21:00, and for the rest of the year on request. Book a slot at reception if you want it to yourselves, or turn up and share it, in which case nobody talks much.

The garden runs the width of the property under the plane trees, with six loungers, a hammock that has survived three summers and a hedge that keeps the Avenue out of earshot. On Wednesday and Saturday afternoons a masseuse from the town works in the garden room off the hall, and reception books her.

Walking from the door

The lake path, flat, any distance you like. North into Annecy takes twenty minutes, and to the south you can follow the old railway line for as far as your legs hold out. Neither has traffic.
Le Semnoz, 1,699 m, about four hours up. Start at the end of the drive and cross one road, then it's forest track the whole way. From the ridge at the top you look over the lake on one side and towards Mont Blanc on the other.
The Roc de Chère, two hours round. It's a wooded headland on the far shore with low cliffs over the water, and the lake shuttle gets you there in fifteen minutes.
La Tournette, 2,351 m, a full day. This is a serious mountain day, so you'll need boots and an early start, and reception can tell you whether the conditions suit you.

Small print for the water

Children

Under-14s must have an adult with them on the jetty at all times. The sauna is for over-16s, and we'll ask.

Weather

The jetty closes in a storm and stays closed for an hour after the last thunder. Mountain weather turns fast here, so we err on the cautious side.