I stayed here during autumn for a few nights. A very friendly and warm hotel, run by the family Paccard, it looks pretty unassuming from the outside. The hotel is located along a small, quiet side road about 500 m from the Chamonix Gare SNFC station. You can choose either to cross the train tracks and walk down to town or to take the shortcut through the opposite car park to get to the other side of town. It was quite easy for me to find the hotel even in the evening, and there are ample private parking spaces in front of the hotel. There were no problems checking-in, I was shown to my room within 5 minutes.

Rooms - There are a few categories of rooms and I booked the double room facing the Mont Blanc for about 130 euros (low season). The room is quite spacious, covered with wood panels and fully renovated. There is a large dressing cupboard on the right as you enter, a bathroom with bathtub and shower and a small separate WC on the left. There is also a safe deposit box near the bed, a plasma TV opposite the bed, a table and chair next to the TV and the large central heating next to the balcony door. The room was warmly heated up even when it was freezing cold outside. The balcony is large enough for two sundeck chairs. The only problem I had - I was in the room directly below the large neon sign of the Hotel, and it was switched on very brightly during night. They have a central heating, and sometimes, during the night, it can get too warm. The bright neon light can be slightly disturbing in the evenings. The bathroom and WC are completely refurbished with ample towels and they supply their own range of "Alps" toiletries and amenities set to the guests. Housekeeping came everyday at noon.

Dining - You can dine at the breakfast room for a few extra euros. I was glad that this was not some 2 croissants breakfast like the ones we get in Italy, Switzerland or in Paris. It was a huge buffet breakfast spread, with European breads, coffee and cheeses and America orange juice, bacon, eggs and ham. The breakfast room overlooks to the Mont Blanc and the little garden. As I learnt later, guests could choose to have their breakfast in the garden when the weather was warm. There was also a restaurant, where guests could have their dinner (well, dining and wine is Very, very important to the French, and I've heard some saying that they won't even stay in a hotel if there were no restaurants around!). I never tried the restaurant, but instead went out with the lovely American couple I met there out for dinner at the “La Brasserie le National” in the town centre, which served excellent traditional fare and wines. There is also a small bar in the lobby where you can sit and enjoy your wine with - Chocolat. They had a very impressive range of chocolat from a local Chocolatier.
It was a pity that I had to leave. Five days of mountain air and hiking did me really some good, and now I had to return to busy Paris. The Hermitage Paccard was one of the best family-ran hotels I've ever stayed in and I promised the Paccards that I would definitely be back sometime in winter :)
Defintately the crème de la crème hotel in Chamonix!