In Monêtier-les-Bains, a village in Serre Chevalier set at roughly 1500m altitude, about fifteen kilometres north-west of Briançon, naturally heated water rises from the earth. The Romans knew of it already, and the village owes the second half of its name to it. Since 2008, it has fed Les Grands Bains du Monêtier, an aquatic leisure centre of 4500m² where one bathes in the open air, facing the peaks, even in the depths of winter.
Les Grands Bains du Monêtier in practice
- Where: Route des Bains, in Monêtier-les-Bains, in the Serre Chevalier valley.
- Booking: online only, and essential year-round to guarantee entry.
- Duration: time slots of 2 or 3 hours at the Grand Bains, 3 or 4 hours at Spa La Rotonde, changing room and shower included.
- Ages: no access before 9 months; from 9 to 35 months, morning only, 2 hours maximum; under 16s accompanied by an adult; Spa La Rotonde from age 16 onwards.
- Dress code: swimming costume only, beach shorts forbidden, hair tied back.
- Reduced mobility: depending on the establishment, lifts serve the various areas; the pools at the Grand Bains have no water-access equipment, that of Spa La Rotonde is equipped with such.
- Opening hours: these vary according to season and school holidays, to be checked on the official website before booking.
Stabatio, the place conducive to healing
According to the establishment, the earliest records show that the Romans knew of the springs from the 4th century. The village was then called Stabatio, “place conducive to healing”, and the river itself is said to have taken its name from these waters: the Aquisana, “the healing water”, became the Guisane.
The present name arrived in the 11th century: around 1020, monks from the abbey of Novalaise founded a monastery, and Stabatio became Monasterium, from which “Monêtier” derives. The springs, meanwhile, remained abandoned from the end of the Roman Empire. It was not until 1715 that a physician and an apothecary exploited them again, with pools and baths. In 1786, Louis XVI decided upon the construction of a thermal establishment.
Recent history begins in 1999 with the Small Baths, a pool of 80m² and three balneotherapy baths. The Grand Baths succeeded them in 2008.
Water from the depths
The water of the Grand Bains comes from surface water that has infiltrated and is warmed by contact with an underground magmatic structure before rising again. It springs forth at over 40°C at the Font Chaude spring, then is filtered and iron-removed and cooled to feed the pools, around 37°C.
The establishment describes it as naturally heated water, rich in calcium, magnesium, iron and minerals, to which since Antiquity have been ascribed gastric, rheumatological and dermatological virtues. Today’s Grand Bains are not a medical cure centre: it is a place of wellbeing that revives this thermal water.
The Grand Bains, pool by pool
The Grand Bains Area brings together the principal pools:
- The Roman Trilogy, three pools inspired by ancient thermal baths: the caldarium, hot, between 38 and 42°C; the tepidarium, between 28 and 34°C; the frigidarium, cool, between 15 and 20°C.
- The musical grotto, where music, lights and heated water, between 35 and 40°C, interplay.
- The mineral pool, for more intense hydromassage with mineral salts.
- The amphora pool, with tempered water, designed to prepare muscles before exertion.
- The hammam, the open-air sauna with moderate heat and heated marble.
- The outdoor pool, in the open air, with its jets and bubbly beds, an open view over the mountains and a solarium in summer.
On Wednesday morning, from 10am to 12pm, the “Morning Play” time slot sets out floating aquatic games in the large indoor pool for families.
Spa La Rotonde, from age 16 onwards
Reserved for those over 16, Spa La Rotonde strikes a quieter note: immersive sensory pool, sparkling water pool, cascade at 42°C fed by the spring, panoramic sauna facing the peaks, hammam, outdoor jacuzzis, snow room, salt space and tisane room. Entry includes a linen kit, dressing gown, towel and slippers, as well as access to the Grand Bains. A treatment and massage space completes the offering, and the restaurant La Terrasse des Grands Bains allows you to extend your session, preferably by booking by telephone.
The AEC tip. Book your time slot online as soon as your stay dates are fixed, particularly during school holidays. After a day’s skiing, an evening session at the outdoor pool eases the legs before dinner. With young children, aim for the morning: it is the only time when under-3s are admitted.
Where to stay
AEC Collection selects and represents prestigious chalets and apartments in Serre Chevalier, in Monêtier-les-Bains and in the neighbouring villages of the Guisane valley. Booking of the baths and treatments is done directly with the establishment, on the Grand Bains du Monêtier website. Our agents help you select the chalet from which to reach the slopes in the morning and the hot water in the evening.
Water that the Romans already knew of, snow-covered peaks all around, a steaming pool in the cold air: in Monêtier, the end of day has a taste of holiday one does not forget.
