 Poster: A snowHead
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Resort: Arinsal, Andorra
Dates: 20 - 27th Dec 2009
Tour Op: Neilson
Hotel: Crest, 3*
Travel: Belfast - Toulouse
I have over 20 weeks under my belt spanning 17 years, but decided to go on a budget this year and give Andorra a go. Other options came upin Soldeu, but Arinsal was pretty cheap at £330.00 H/B for Christmas week, and I was curious so went with an open mind. I chose the Hotel Crest as it was right beside a new 6 man chair, with a blue run right back to the hotel. I knew the slopes were limited compared to other places I have been, but was just happy to get away for Christmas at a reasonable price.
Left my home at 2.00am for the Belfast flight to find 3 inches of snow in my yard and it was still falling. Made it to the airport in 2 hrs (45 miles). After check in we got loaded onto the plane (Thomas Cook) and sat on the tarmac for 3 hrs waiting for the runway to be cleared and the plane to be de-iced. Luckily I got an emergency exit, so plenty of leg room. Pilot was very good and kept us well informed as well as organising us extra coffee.
Stress free flight and arrival in Toulouse. 4 hr transfer to Arinsal. Had been watching the cams and reports and wasn't expecting to see much snow on journey, even in Pas de la Casa, although the ski runs looked ok. On Arrival in Arinsal there was no snow in the village (1500m). However they had done a superb job with artifical down to 1550m, so I could ski right back to the Hotel. Had a few beers and vodkas in the Hotel (Very cheap. Pint of beer was 3 Euro) and went to bed.
The skiing:
It snowed or rained 5/6 days, so vis was crap. Generally got a soaking on the chair lift upto 1900m and wished I had booked a hotel in the village where there is a gondola to wisk you to the ski area, however no piste back down to the main village. On Christmas day the sun came out, but it was boiler plate after the rain. Due to the crap conditions I reckon my skiing went back a few weeks. The skiing above Arinsal consists of a few runs in a bowl all leading back to a complex at 1900m, although there is a nice run back to The Crest hotel through the trees. A cable Car takes you to the more interesting area of Pal. If Arinsal is La Rosiere, then Pal is La Thuile, without La Rascard. Some lovely tree lined runs, although not much vertical.
Mountain Food:
There are no family run restaurants or Huts as in AUSTRIA, juat a load of crappy burger joints all branded with Vallnord. The food is truly awful on the mountain and although cheap it is really shoite. Many of the staff in the "restaurants" are rude and poorly trained. There is no smoking ban, so the eateries smell terrible.
The hotel:
Hotel Crest is the worst hotel I have ever stayed in. The decor is dated, the roof in the central lobby leaked. The food was awful and may have been responsible for my food poisioning on day 3. Although the rooms are OK, the rest of the hotel felt grubby and had a smell of cigarrette smoke mixed with BO and burnt cheese. I nearly puked after visiting a toilet on the ground floor. The bog looked like someone's back bottom had exploded into the bowl several days ago and the bog brush was covered in dried in shoite and bog roll. There were people smoking throughout the hotel and the only haven away from this was our bed room.
Disaster Strikes:
On tuesday I had battled through the snow all morning, then went for a nice lunch in the village. After lunch I decided to do a few more runs in the blizzard. As I descended through the snow and fog I felt very nauseous, and just wanted to get the run finished ASAP. Dumped the skis and into the hotel. Just made it to the bog in time, where I let rip. Diahorrea I have never seen the like of!!!!!!! Thankfully that was the end of the runs, but felt like crap for the rest of the holiday!
The people:
Although I found the lifties to be very helpful, I found most other locals to be rude and cheeky. On Christmas day we decided to ski over to Pal and take the gondola down to La Massana for lunch. On arrival the village was dead, and didn't feel like a ski town, but we found a hotel anyway. So we asked the woman on reception if they did lunch. She told us yes, but not till 1pm. OK, we'll have a drink in the bar? She shook her head, and said "No Ski Boots". fair enough we said, we'll take them off and leave them in the lobby. She said "No" (All with a very rude attitude). At this point I walked out. We skied all the way back to Arinsal and had lunch in El Moli (Run by a lovely Sweedish lady).
Summary:
Crap conditions
Crap Hotel
Cheeky locals
Smelly smoke everywhere
I had the craps
Worst holiday ever
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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johnboy, sorry to hear your holiday wasn;t great, but thaks for posting - I was just eyeing up some deals to Arinsal but reckon I'll give it a miss, thanks!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Sounds pretty bad!
Had a bad experience in Arinsal back in 2001. Hotel appeared to be okay, but I had food poisoning within 2-3 days. Spent a day throwing up, and a couple of days getting over it. It was my first ever trip. I'm amazed I kept going on skiing holidays 
The next year we went to Pas and had a much better time. Snow was a bit better, hotel was definitely better (still pretty poor), but they still had the problem with smoking.
Never been back to Andorra since. There's a reason for that. Just like the old saying says, "You get what you pay for".
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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nbt,
I had a pretty crappy experience, however if I had stayed in a better hotel and had good conditions I would have been more positive about the place. Spending alot of time in a hotel room, feeling sick over Christmas would depress anyone.
I have a real issue with smoking in public places and found this particularly annoying.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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johnboy, me too, I have enjoyed France a hell of a lot more since the smoking ban came in.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Shame you had a bad experience.
We went in March last year to the same hotel, and we all thought it was great. Friendly staff, food was ok. Rooms were large we had two bedrooms between 2 of us.
You made one big mistake in not visiting Acalis though!
I do agree with the restuarants on the mountain though, they are not great.
With the snow conditions Andorra, usually is great in the 2nd half of the season.
Soldeu is the best resort in Andorra covering the Grandvalira mountain range, alot more runs and linked between canillo, El tartar, soldeu, graug roig and pas de la casa.
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I have had some really great times in Andorra and I would not dismiss it because the OP's report. We have had a metre of fresh powder and had excellent food, service and cleanlines in a budget hotel.
Writing off Andorra as a resort (I would also have chosen Grand Valira over Vallnord) because a holiday costing £330pp for Christmas week proved to be worth what it cost would be a big mistake. Also, as said, any check on Andorra's historical snow conditions will show that by far their best snow is from Mid Feb through to the end of March, when the equinox storms roll in off the Atlantic.
Its a shame the OP had a bad time, but you can pay considerably more peanuts and also have a bad time in Austria or Canada.
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bar shaker,
There was plenty of snow, but bad vis and rain. The conditions were crap, but you can get that anywhere.
Main grips were:
Crap Hotel
Crap Mountain food
No Smoking ban
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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RachelQ,
Yes, would like to do the Birthday Bash, but may not be able to due to a new job.
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FAQ
You'll just have to have another holiday soon to make up for it 
