Tignes les Boisses
Location: French Alps
Type of village: Hotel
Year of opening: Winter 1958/59
Year of closing: 1977
For those interested in a bit of background: We all knew the legendary Club Med in Val Claret , which became a Belambra resort in the winter of 2021/22. There was also Brevières between 1991 and 2004; a former Aquarius that became a Club Med in 1991. Some of my readers know these two villages well, or very well, and they will soon have their own pages on the website.
But let's go back in time a little if you don't mind, because Tignes had another Club village on its grounds.
Located near the Tignes dam, in the Boisses area at an altitude of 1800 meters , Club Med opened its second ski resort in France in the winter of 1958/59, somewhat hastily.
The hotel "La Grande-Motte" was leased by the Club . It appeared in the first Tridents under the name Super Tignes.
The village did not really open until 1961, the year in which the resort's facilities were a little more developed than in 1959.
Initially a chalet-style hotel, the club has grown and expanded somewhat over the years. By 1970, the village consisted of 5 buildings. Four housed the guest rooms , while the last served as the village's central hub, housing the offices, bar, restaurant, and entertainment area.
The village has a mountain restaurant in Super Tignes (Alt: 2100 meters)
Village Chiefs
Marcel CONTAL opened the village in the winter of 1958/59.
The BASSET,
HERON , BATARD , and FELLAT families, among others, succeeded one another in managing the village. Patrick CHOTARD closed Les Boisses in the spring of 1977.
Some of them were not shy about pulling off exceptional pranks, like Jean Pierre Batard who, during the 1972/73 season, managed to cram 25 people into rooms in the Alpine Chasseurs barracks located not far from the club, making them believe there was a virus in the village. Unthinkable today, imagine that.
Today
The Val Claret closed in 2021, it is now managed by Belambra .
The village of Brévières became a MMV
Club Med is opening a new resort for winter 2022/23, still in the Val Claret area
More photos of Tignes Les Boisses here
Videos
Club Med "La Grande Motte" (Tignes Les Boisses) in 1959.
We see the village's first season.
Exclusive document
from Collierbar's archives, courtesy of Marcel Contal.
