 Poster: A snowHead
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We're kind of hooked on the valley town, different resort every day, kind of trip.
Has anyone ever stayed in Cluses or Sconzier....they look well placed for the French side of PdS, Grand Massif and Chamonix.....any hotel recommendations or other thoughts?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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and La Clusaz, Megeve, Combloux, Le Grand Bornand, Les Contamines, St Gervais - sounds like a good choice. Sallanches could also be considered as a valley town to stay in.
Sorry can't help with hotels as it is a long time since I have been to the area - but I do remeber the skiing very well.
CP
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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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homphomp, I have only drive through Cluses, never stayed there. It didn't look the most appealing town to stay in from the routes I have taken through.
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I would concur with hat T bar says about Cluses looked a bit ugly never stopped there.
I have a friend who has stayed in Samoens and drove easily between Morzine, Les Gets and Morrillon. If you get up at a reasonable time the drive is only about 45 mins Morzine to Morrillon and you get a full day at your chosen. I guess you could choose any of those places and that will give you tonnes to choose from including Avoriaz.
Friend mentioned above did stop in Cluses for a kebab late one vening en route, said it was quite tasty. 
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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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homphomp,
It's a bit of a dump, I stayed twice (Notaire's office) when sorting out buying a place in Les Carroz, If you want to stay in the valley and get to Grand Massif, Chamonix, Megeve, la Clusaz etc I would defo go for Sallanches. If you just want a place to rest your head every night they have an IBIS which is cheap, a little away from the main town next to a big carrefour (which must have the best view from the carpark of any supermarche going - Mt Blanc).
Clusses can also be a bit rough, when we get the weekly shop we take the extra 10min derive to sallanches, the Carrefour in Cluses has a suspcious number of Security Staff all over the place.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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NorthWestFace,  sounds like one to avoid then!! We'll take a look at Sallanches, would be more than happy with an IBIS!
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Sallanches is a good base to explore loads of resorts, however it can be really busy on a saturday (in and out) so choose your times to get up and down (especially if you are thinking of going to Megeve/Praz/Flumet/Les Saisies etc), be prepared to queue right through town and up the main road toward combloux. Having said that, you can be in a resort pretty quickly in any direction due to it being close to the A40. Chamonix is about 20 mins away but watch for the police in the last service station before the long bridge up into the Chamonix valley - regular speed traps...
If you wanted to ski the Savoie side, you can also stay in Albertville which also has Formula 1/etap etc etc and is close to the Main route to Moutiers or I guess you could combine the two?
Sallanches also has a big weekly market and some resturants/takeaways in the centre nr the river.
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Hmm...IBIS is fully booked for the days we want to be there (it is Xmas after all!). There seem to be a number of other nice hotels in Sallanches...can anyone recommend a good one?
skinutter, Won't be there on a Saturday so that's not a problem....stayed in BSM last year so want to stay further up this time as we fancy Grand Massif area - it's a couple of years since we were there, so we're keen to go back.
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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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I've stayed in Samoens and it's a lovely town and if you stay there you can spend a day on the Grand massif and then leave yourself a couple of hours to do the amazing run from the top of Flaine all the way down to Sixt - takes an hour and 5 to do it and Sixt is the next town over from Samoens so you jump on a bus back home. That run is called Cascades and is only open when there's enough snow but if it is, you should really go for it - it's great. I agree with all comment about Cluses - dull and unappealing.
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homphomp, Try Taninges ... better access to both PdS and Grand Massif than Cluses (which is a dump apart from the centre) and cheaper than Samoens although the drive through Cluses to get to Chamonix/Megeve is always a pain ... if you are going to drive and look to save money then anywhere along the Autoroute Blanche could be OK ....
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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eEvans, Yes we're driving...but it's not about saving money. As it's early season we want to be based where we can access a number of resorts and "go with the snow" Tangnines and Samoens both out for that reason, we want to be by the autoroute to access a whole load of places within a reasonable drive.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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homphomp, Not about money? Why not stay in Geneva then and put a few Swiss resorts into the mix?
CP
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CP, Not all about money....but I'm not a millionaire! 
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You know it makes sense.
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homphomp, .. or Montreux/Sion/Conthey/Sierre and access all the Valais resorts
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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eEvans, I'll take a look....I've always fancied the Valais area.
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Poster: A snowHead
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homphomp, well Annemasse then .. closer and no tourists there !
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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homphomp, Sorry, it was a bit tongue in cheek. But the reality is that you can find reasonably priced hotels in Geneva. The paquis area, near the station ( and red light district which is not that red if you get my drift ) has some for example. There are plenty of good and not expensive ( I did not say inexpensive deliberately ) restaurants as well.
I used to live and work just over the border in the Pays de Gex and we had a wonderful choice of ski areas that could be reached within 1.5 hours ( or so, on a good day ). If you were lucky enough to get snow low down on the Geneva plain then the skiing on the Jura can be very pleasant and only 15/20 minutes drive away.
CP
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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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CP, We've got the Jura on our list to explore later in the season (probably mid-Feb) when there's a better chance of snow...planning on basing ourselves in Les Rousses or down towards Gex...any recommedations for hotels round there would also be welcome!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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CP, Very useful! We haven't started detailed planning on this one yet, apart from having a ferry crossing booked! We'll only have five or six days so thought we might spend two in Les Rousses and two/three down by Gex as none of the areas seems big enough for more than a couple of days of fun! May well PM you when I've got more of a plan to ask for specifc info if that o.k.
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FAQ
s here that lived in the area at the time - some closer to me than could be described as being comfortable.
