This was a great choice for us. The hotel is right next to the train station, and very close to all the shops and restaurants in the town. The room is large, comfortable and has a balcony with beautiful view. There is no fridge in the room, but there is a kettle and coffee/tea. The included breakfast was excellent. From the hotel you can easily walk to the gondolas. The Mount Brevelent gondola is a 20 minute (walk up hill). There are great hiking trails at the top, or you can just watch the paragliders. It's very easy to purchase a ticket for this gondola which opens at 8:15am. The Aiguille du Midi - Chamonix cable car is the main attraction gondola for Mont Blanc. it is very busy and you should purchase your ticket in advance. We were there in August, and the first few days were sold out for the time we wanted. This gondola is mainly for photos, but we saw a lot of experienced hikers (with ropes & ice pics). Chamonix is a great town.