Some things are being modified, others are added.

Here are the new plans.

The Façades

Sectional Views of the Main House

The Floor Plan of the Main House with the wood fired oven in the middle

The Floor Plan of the Guest House

With these icy temperatures, construction works for the Maya Guesthouse in Nax have come to a standstill. We had to think of new ways to continue working until the snow melt to be able to guarantee the opening in October. On the other hand, we are continuously looking for possibilities to improve the quality of the construction and our ecological balance.

We had the idea to move the construction somewhere where the weather plays no role, into a hall.

This is how it goes:

Wood has been delivered at our carpenter Fussenegger in Buchs.

…they unloaded the wood…

…some was for the building with the guest rooms…

…and some for the main building.

Then the wood was stocked elsewhere…

…and then used to build the roof.

Even the rooms are being built in this hall, and not on the site in Nax.

One can recognize the doors on this picture. Straw bales will fill the spaces next to them.

You can see the big window, and the so-called straw window.

(the straw window is explained in our post (http://mayaguesthouse.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/the-clay-walls-of-the-maya-guesthouse/ )

These openings in the walls will let the good properties of the straw bales come into the rooms.

Finally the walls will be plastered with clay and the floors  tiled.

All of the eight guest-rooms, complete with their baths, the doors, and the windows, will be put on a truck and brought to Nax to be inserted between the straw bale walls.

This is the first time this is being done in straw bale construction.

Of course, one can say that this is rather daring way to maneuver around our challenges. Building a hotel with straw bales on 1300 meters which doesn’t need heating is daring as well. Still, the Maya Guesthouse will be something unique and for our guests, something very special.

If you try to book a hotel room  you will get to the point where you want to know what you are going to pay for one night.

You have to check whether your stay will be on or off season. Will there be weekend or holiday surcharges? Single or double occupancy? Is the view on the mountains or the kitchen wast bin? During the week of Christmas or the end of November? …..

Finally, one gets the impression that the hotel is always trying to take advantage of you (try to get a room at the end of September for the Oktoberfest in Munich and then try to keep the faith in the good in people).

In the Maya Guesthouse you will not have this problem. There will be just one price the whole year. Christmas or Easter, the end of November or the beginning of the summer holidays, weekends or Wednesdays, one night or three nights, single or double occupancy  the room will always cost the same. Finally a word about the kitchen waste bin: The view from your room will always be what you see in the picture above. Guaranteed!

In about a month, our site  www.maya-guesthouse.ch will be operational and then we will set the price for one night.

In our recent post

https://mayaguesthouse.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/how-the-excess-heat-will-be-used-in-the-maya-guesthouse/

we explained how we will use the excess heat to warm the shower water in the Maya Guesthouse.

Here is the diagram:

Snowshoeing and cross-country skiing/skating

Put your snowshoes or skis under your feet and out you go directly into the nature! If you can’t bring your own equipment we can offer cross-country ski and snowshoe rental.

Espace Mont-Noble (Distance to the Maya Guesthouse 100m)

Within walking distance you find the tourist centre Espace Mont-Noble. They offer:

A Baby Lift

Baby Lift: Perfect for children and beginners. Start  skiing on this light slope. The Swiss Ski School (Ecole Suisse de Ski de Nax) offers courses for groups or individuals. For more information: www.snowsports-nax.ch.

100 Meters  of Sled Slope

-Slope for Sleds or Bobs: Enjoy the specially prepared slopes for sleds and bobs.

Ice Skating

-Ice Skating: Make a few rounds on this natural ice rink.

Snow Tubing

-Snow Tubing: An adventure and chilling experience. A slope with raised edges in the curves is built each year. Tubes and helmets can be hired locally.

…last but not least

Curling

- the Café Espace Mont Noble: After all these efforts you deserve to relax on the terrace and enjoy local specialities.

The Télé Mont-Noble Ski Lift (Distance to the Maya Guesthouse 3 km)

Skiing in untouched nature: The Télé Mont-Noble (www.naxmontnoble.ch), the ski lift of Nax with its 35 km of slopes is only 3 minutes drive from the Maya Guesthouse. You can get there by car or bus. Ski rental and courses of the Ecole Suisse de Ski de Nax (www.snowsports-nax.ch) are offered as well.

Ski mountaineering: For the adepts of ski mountaineering Nax is the perfect place. Every Thursday evening the slopes and the restaurants of Télé Mont-Noble (www.naxmontnoble.ch) are open for snowshoeing and ski mountaineering.

Dog Sledding: A unique experience. For more information click here.

Paragliding: Have some extra adrenaline and admire our unique landscapes from high up. Contact the center of paragliding in Evolène: www.parapente.ch.

Ice climbing: Climb on the frozen waterfalls and creeks of the Val d’Hérens.”Hérens Montagne” will accompany you on the various sites from the instruction to extreme routes.

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Do you wish to have more information about the various activities? Please feel free to contact: www.valdherens-tourisme.ch and www.mont-noble-tourisme.ch

We will dedicate one post for each course. Today we will start with the one right next to the Maya Guesthouse.

The Golf Club de Sion (Distance from the Maya Guesthouse 12 km)

This is the golf course of Sion, the capital of the Valais province. It is located just minutes from the city centre, right in the heart of the Rhone Valley.

Surrounded by the hills of Valere and Tourbillon with their medieval castles, overhung by terraced vineyards and dominated by mountains, this 18-hole course provides an extraordinary panoramic view.

With 300 days of sunshine a year this region benefits of an almost Mediterranean climate and the course is practicable for most of the winter. The Golf Club of Sion cultivates a relaxed atmosphere where visitors are most welcome.
The flat ground of the course, bordered by the river Rhône in the north and by the woods of the Borgne in the east, presents interesting technical challenges. It is a pleasant course to play for all golfers, regardless their handicap. The architect Peter Harradine did not introduce unnecessary or artificial barriers, which only cause great frustration to the majority of players.

The fairways are wide, the greens generous and the natural features of the site, such as existing trees, the canal or the prevailing wind were taken into account to provide a wonderful experience in an authentic setting.

Source and direct contact

http://www.golfclubsion.ch/fr/

This winter, the TGV Lyria des Neiges service will run from 11 December 2011 to 1^st April 2012 with three return services per week, from Friday to Sunday. It would take you only 5 hours and 20 minutes to travel from Sion (just 15 minutes away from the Maya Guesthouse) to Paris.

The TGV Lyria Linie Paris-Lausanne goes further to Brig connecting the Swiss cities of Montreux, Aigle, Martigny, Sion, Sierre, Leuk, Visp and Brig directly with Paris. From the train station in Sion the bus will take you straight to Nax.

You could leave in the morning from Nax, take a “petit café” au Fouquet’s on the Champs Élysées and be back in the evening just in time for the traditional cheese fondue at the Maya Guesthouse!

…and tomorrow we will write the post ” How do You get from the Eiffeltower to the Maya Guesthouse in only 5 Hours and 20 Minutes?“…

The whole thing can be imagined as follows:

We will have a wood fired oven…

…in which we will regularly make pizzas…

…and bake fresh bread.

A wood fired oven stays hot for a very long time. Even after 24 hours the inside is 120° C hot.

This excess heat we will retrieve to heat water.

Then we will have a wood stove…

… which will be used for cooking of course…

…and to heat water.

From April until October this will be the task of our solar thermal system.

It would be too hot heating with wood inside a straw bale house in summer.

By the way, we will build a second wood fired oven outside.

To make sure our guests get freshly baked bread even in summer.