Swiss Alps

GAI MATIN A6

Southfacing, 80m² with large 18m² balcony, renovated in 2002

• 3 Bedrooms (1 southfacing with terrace doors onto balcony, 1 E, 1 N)
• 2 Bathrooms (1 bath, 1 shower)
• Separate Kitchen with E window; separate Dining area
• Living room with fireplace, terrace doors S onto balcony & E window
• Private cellar storage of approx 3m² in basement of chalet
• Communal laundry, ski room, sauna, lift.
• Parking bay in underground locked garage & additional outside parking

THE CHALET: High quality, very well run and maintained chalet in ideal location – quiet but within only 2 minutes walk of local Chesières shops, restaurants, deli-takeaway, ski-hire & bus stops to cable car and mountain railway. Within easy walking distance of all the resort’s facilities.

THE VILLAGE: Chesières is the original village next to which the Villars resort has grown. They are now one built-up area, but the Chesières end retains an attractive village character with many old timber houses, and is quieter. The old village forms a pleasing foreground to the view from our balcony.

WHY VILLARS? Villars is beautifully sited high above the Rhone valley, offering breathtaking views of the Alps. It exemplifies the charm of an old established resort that has a real life of its own, all year round

Being smaller and less famous than resorts like Zermatt or Verbier makes Villars more affordable, less crowded and less competitive – i.e. much more pleasant! At the same time, it is listed together with Gstaad, Klosters and St Moritz as “resorts that combine tradition with luxury” (see Investment).

• Highly accessible: “one of the nearest major ski resorts to Geneva airport” (75 mins by car or 2 hours by train/bus), making it “a perfect weekend destination” (see Buying), thanks to 300+ flights per week between Geneva and 24 different UK airports (Neue Zuercher Zeitung, Dec 2007)
• Open sunny site at 1300m (“snow guaranteed”) with spectacular panoramic views of Les Dents du Midi and the Mont Blanc massif.
• 140 km of pistes; connection to Les Diablerets glacier, e.g. for spring/autumn skiing; extensive off-piste; para-gliding; cross country; hiking; ski-touring; 2km toboggan run; maintained winter walks – see Villars website below for piste maps and more detail.
• Good indoor facilities: swimming pools, indoor tennis, covered ice rink (with active local hockey team)
• Excellent restaurants, bars, cafes, discos and boutiques; various cultural events and festivals
• Particularly suitable for families and groups of friends, since there is plenty for non-sporty members to do and it is easy for everyone to meet up for lunch on the slopes.

The range of summer attractions (see http://www.villars.ch/en/ ) “mark the village out as a dual season resort, with year round rental potential” (see Buying).

VILLARS, in the French-speaking Canton of Vaud, has more than just mountain pleasures to offer. The whole Lake Geneva region lies at your doorstep with its idyllic Lavaux vineyards and villages (now a Unesco World Heritage Site).

For culture, there is Lausanne, the capital of Vaud, with several art museums, Montreux, well known for its Jazz Festival, and the small medieval Martigny, with an intriguing and very distinguished arts centre cum concert hall (Cecilia Bartoli and Murray Perahia are only two of the many stellar regulars!).

Or there are the rural areas of Gruyère, the medieval cities of Fribourg and Bern, a gem of a walled town called Murten, on the shore of a small lake – the list of daytrips is endless.

For children, there are fun parks and, in summer, lakeside plages and waterparks.

But if skiing is really your main interest and you want to ring the changes, many resorts like Gstaad, Leysin, the Portes du Soleil, Verbier, Crans Montana and Zermatt can be skied as day trips, making use of combination passes.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1243

http://www.fusions.ch/lavaux/

http://www.lausanne.world-guides.com/lausanne_art_galleries.html

http://www.gianadda.ch/

WHY SWITZERLAND? For many people, owning a property in Switzerland is their highest aspiration and it speaks for itself that sales to foreigners are rationed. And where better to choose as a safe investment? No other country in Europe has such a reputation for stability – particularly relevant in the present economic climate.

WHAT THE PRESS SAY:

FT Weekend Property Report of 13 Nov 2010: “Investors are opting for traditional winter resorts in Switzerland and France which offer reliable skiing conditions and a stable, long-term investment…with Switzerland proving particularly attractive. In spite of the depreciation of sterling against the Swiss franc, buyers see Switzerland as a safe long-term investment with a stable economy and solid growth prospects.”

According to the Neue Zuercher Zeitung (23 Dec 2007), many Brits are pleasantly surprised how well property prices in supposedly expensive Switzerland compare with UK prices.

And in Hot property Glacier skiing in the 20 Nov 2010 FT, Villars is mentioned under "Five excellent options for extended seasons on the snow”. As they say, “For summer skiing, Glacier 3000 is half an hour's drive away”.

Savills Alpine Homes market analysis suggests that resorts have defied the global slowdown and they add that “In Switzerland, high-end agent Aylesford International says resorts that combine tradition with luxury have proved the most recession-proof, such as Gstaad, Klosters, Villars and St Moritz”.

For those thinking of relocating to Switzerland, Villars also comes recommended by the press. As Alex Koch de Gooreynd, of Knight Frank International, says of Switzerland, “The lifestyle is great, the crime low and the scenery fantastic. What's more, the rest of Europe is on your doorstep”. Because of the restrictions on buyers and the low level of development, prices have been stable.

The reasons WE chose THIS flat were:

• For LANGUAGE reasons we wanted to be in French-speaking Switzerland.
• ACCESSIBILITY was a big issue and Geneva airport, 1+ hour away, is served by several UK flights a day (business commuting is thus feasible, as noted in press reports).
• INVESTMENT: Villars is consistently tipped as a good investment choice and although other criteria were as important for us, it was reassuring to know.
• OLD VILLAGE: we both preferred the more typical Swiss look and feel of the Chesières end of the resort, especially with so many shops conveniently close.
• The GAI MATIN CHALET impressed us with its solid construction, good acoustic separation between flats and above-average ceiling heights. Clearly well run, it was telling that several people live there all year round.
• 1st FLOOR CORNER FLAT: With windows on 3 sides, it is light and sunny from dawn to dusk. Being able to nip down to the ground floor to use the laundry room, sauna or cellar, it feels like being in your own 2-storey house.
• THE VIEW! This is perhaps the most remarkable thing about the flat. What a 180°panorama! – all our visitors say they could just sit there for hours, enjoying the ever-changing spectacle.

BUYING IN SWITZERLAND

There is no single rule that applies to all of Switzerland – you buy in a particular region or Canton (e.g. Vaud, Valais, etc) and different Cantons have different laws about buying permits for foreigners. Even within Cantons there can be big variations between resorts. A recent report states:

“If you want to keep things simple then do your property hunting in the charming mountain village of Villars. The rules for foreign property investment are more relaxed here as it's located in the Vaud region. There is a wide choice of chalets and apartments available and the lack of re-sale restrictions makes this resort a safe investment. It is one of the nearest major ski resorts to Geneva airport making it a perfect weekend destination. Snow is guaranteed for skiers and snowboarders and the summer activities available here mark the village out as a dual season resort with year-round rental potential”.

This is quite a recommendation! In addition, the waiting list in Villars for foreigners’ buying permits is at present only about 3 months.

The flat is for sale either unfurnished or, if desired, partially furnished (e.g. with bed bases, sofa, bookcase – price to be negotiated)

Please note that the earliest date for TAKING POSSESSION of this flat is 6 MAY 2011.

THE VENDORS: I’m Swiss but have lived in England for nearly 40 years with my English husband. We decided to buy our Villars flat in 2002, when I inherited some money. We didn’t just want to invest the money – we wanted to be able to enjoy our investment, so a holiday flat in Switzerland seemed the obvious choice.

WHY WE ARE SELLING: We realise that our skiing years are no longer unlimited and we are beginning to feel that we’d like to explore some other resorts while we still can. My architect husband also has some ideas about a small seaside project in Italy, so we might take our capital and put it into that…