 Poster: A snowHead
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Peisey Vallandry
Club Med
11th Feb 2013 to 15th Feb 2013
A brilliant week in and around Peisey, Vallandry and Les Arcs!
Our second ever family ski trip, my wife and children (aged 10 and 7) were joined by two other families (both with children of similar ages) and also met up with a fourth family out there, who were staying in an apartment. Skiing abilities for those of us staying at Club Med ranged from complete beginners, through to a mix of lower and higher intermediates (ESF levels 2B to 3B).
I hope that the following is of use to anyone who is considering Club Med and/or Peisey Vallandry.
Preparation
Details of last year’s holiday can be found here: http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=86952 . Since then, my family and I’d had a few lessons and sessions at Hemel in an effort to keep our skills up, probably a total of about 5 hours per person and with the most recent session being in January 2013.
My wife and I had also bought our own boots, from CEM, which proved to be an excellent decision as they performed faultlessly all week.
Journey outbound
We flew from Gatwick to Geneva with Thomson airlines, who were massively better than Monarch, who we used last year. Check in was quick and efficient, departure was more-or-less on-time and the plane and crew were all fine. Getting through Geneva airport was also very easy and slightly preferable to Grenoble, which we’d used last year. From there, it was a relatively painless 2.5hr coach transfer, and we all arrived at Club Med by early-afternoon. Overall, 10/10.
Hotel
Overall, the Club Med hotel was excellent.
Our room was good, slightly bigger than those in Serre Chevalier, clean and comfortable. The only downside was that the family room sleeping arrangements for the children involved two sofa beds arranged in an L-shape, rather than two proper single beds, as we’d had last year. It was however, all perfectly comfortable and I’d rate it as 8/10.
The food in the hotel was really excellent, even better than in Serre Chevalier and once again the buffet style arrangement worked well; queues for particular dishes were rarely more than 2 or 3 people long and it never felt like you had to wait for your meal. Popular dishes never ran out and overall everyone in our party, from adults to children, enjoyed the food. Although the restaurant was busy, there was never a problem getting a table and after a couple of nights the waiter attending to what become 'our' area, Hasan, automatically laid out a table for 12 along with our preferred choice of wine etc., which was a nice touch. Food hygiene standards seemed impeccable too, and nobody in our party suffered from any illness during our stay. 10/10.
Aside from skiing, there was a fabulous pool (half indoors, half outdoors so you could swim whilst snow fell around you), a nice ‘lounging area’ by the bar (where there were normally pancakes, nibbles, etc. to be had) consisting of large sofas and chairs, and all the other facilities you would expect (gym, sauna, spa, etc.). In terms of evening entertainment wise, there was always something going on in the theatre; the kids generally enjoyed it but the adults took the opportunity to unwind with a drink before opting for an early night ready for a full day’s skiing. 8/10.
Overall, the staff at the hotel were very good and things operated very efficiently. The only slight downside is the fact that the GOs are expected to sit with you (inc. at mealtimes) and make polite conversation and, whilst they were all very pleasant, generally one would prefer simply to be left alone. Having said that, this is the ‘Club Med way’, the GOs themselves would generally move on pretty quickly and overall it certainly didn’t detract from the holiday. Eric Lejeune, Resort Chief was always seen around the place and certainly seemed to have things running smoothly. 9/10.
As ever, the all-inclusive option worked very well and there was really no need to spend any money at all during the week. Overall, I would recommend Club Med Peisey Vallandry to anyone.
Equipment
Once again, we opted to rent from Club Med directly, although this year my wife and I had our own boots, although some of our friends and all of the children rented.
Unfortunately, when picking up equipment on Sunday early evening, the queues were horrendous! Firstly, despite having issued everyone with a numbered ticket corresponding to your allotted time slot, kit was a free-for-all. Secondly, whilst boots and skis were dished out quickly and efficiently, there were only two people on hand to adjust bindings, which resulted in a huge bottleneck and turned what should have been a 20 minute long process into an hour long (at least) ordeal. Having said that, returning skis etc. at the end of the week was very efficient and was completed within 5 minutes (in contrast to Serre Chevalier, where that took about half an hour). 5/10.
The boot room itself is located within the hotel, which was very convenient and the quality of the rental equipment seemed high. Each room is assigned a locker, in which you can store up to four sets of boots (on warmers), skis and poles. This system worked pretty well, although it would have been nicer if there had been a few more benches (and a few less lockers) in each section, to make putting bots on/off easier and quicker. 7/10.
Skiing
From the boot room, you walk up through a short tunnel right onto to the slopes. After putting on your skis you then ski about 100 yards directly down to the fast 6-person Peisey chairlift. Perfect (other than for complete beginners)! Queues were rarely, if ever, longer than a couple of minutes. You are also directly at the entrance to the Vanoise Express, so the location really couldn't be better. 10/10.
Dropping the kids off into ski school on the first Monday morning was unfortunately unnecessarily fraught. With too few staff on hand and lots of bemused children (especially the first timers), it was stressful and chaotic. Happily, thereafter things ran very smoothly, but it was a shame that they had not got off to a better start. 6/10.
Lessons were all via ESF, and our party ranged from a first timer ‘Flocon’ child to a relatively experienced ‘3B’ adult. My wife, two of our party, and I ended up in level 2, which meant skiing blues and reds. On the first morning, all the level 2s (2As and 2Bs) were brought together and there was “a small selection” to divide us up by ability. We chose to stay together and ended up in the middle 2A/B group, with instructor Frederick. Frederick was excellent, spoke good English and filled our days with a mix of drills, faster runs, long tours, etc., so that we all felt our skiing really improved and we got to know the resort much better. Group size fluctuated a bit over the week, but averaged 6 or 7 people, which was perfect. In terms of the skiing, we spent plenty of time on and around the Derby lift on the first day or two, but eventually skied over to Arc 1950 one day and Arc 1800 the next. Lessons also included a morning in La Plagne and we all became quite happy on reds (Morey, Aigle, Ours, etc.). At the end of the week, Frederick said we should sign up for 2A next year, which was nice.
Our two children were in the 2 Étoile group, led by Arthur and almost entirely filled with English speaking children. They had a brilliant week, bombing down reds, tackling some blacks, jumping over bumps and whizzing in and out of the trees alongside the main pistes. Their skiing ability came on in leaps and bounds during the week and they had a brilliant time; they all loved Arthur by the end of the week.
Feedback from our friends and their children in their various classes were positive too. Overall, 9/10 for the ESF lessons.
Unlike last year, we took a bit more time off this time to ski as a family (or families…), which was wonderful. The resort never really felt too busy, but the last Saturday was exceptionally quiet and we all had a fantastic day skiing deserted slopes together, in glorious sunshine.
Weather
Most days were overcast, with light to moderate snow, and occasional sunny spells. Consequently we became acquainted with the dreaded flat light (hate it) and foggy conditions (visibility dropped to just a few metres, on occasions); all excellent for our learning curve. The final day say a cloudless sky and fabulous conditions, which we all made the most of.
Journey inbound
Our journey home was incident free and Thompson airlines did a great job, MUCH better than Monarch’s efforts last year.
Overall
We had a great holiday and we were all sad to say goodbye to Peisey-Vallandry. It had been a fabulous week, in a super hotel, with great company.
Random thoughts?
I wouldn't recommend Club Med Peisey-Vallandry to complete beginners, as the nursery slopes are up the mountain; Serre Chevalier, with green runs directly outside the hotel, was far better in this respect. Also, although Club Med truly is ski-in, ski-out for most people, the last 300m or so of the run home are rather busy, steep and icy, especially in the afternoons when the snow has been skied off. Consequently, for very nervous skiers and anyone still relying on a snowplough, it could be a little off putting.
Conversely, we thought that Peisey Vallandry, and Les Arcs generally, was an intermediates paradise. The lift system was fast and efficient, the pistes well signposted and graded, and the whole grand scale of things was fantastic – we all felt that we’d skied for miles and miles; loved it.
The Club Med format of lessons all day is very tiring and I’m glad we all missed a few here and there to ski together and make things more relaxing.
Your own boots make a big difference and are well worth it.
Overall, we had a brilliant week with Club Med in Peisey Vallandry (and Les Arcs generally). Everyone’s skiing really improved and we all loved the place. I recommend it to anyone other than complete beginners (who, in my opinion would be better off at Club Med Serre Chevalier, where the nursery slopes are more easily accessible). Final score? 8/10, with points deducted only for the painfully slow binding adjustment process on the Sunday and poor child drop off experience on the Monday morning. Don’t let that put you off though – if you are considering it then book it, as you’ll have a brilliant holiday!
chemistry
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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chemistry, We did a family trip to Club Med at Peisey Vallandry back in early April 2011. On the whole I would agree with 90% of what you say, and I'm delighted that you had a great time.
Our experience was pretty similar but our final conclusion was that we wouldn't go back there again.
1. Flights and transfers were excellent
2. Ski hire etc. was no problem at all. We had the foresight to spring from the bus direct to kit hire desk.
3. ski-in/ski-out were amazing considering the terrible lack of snow so late in an already disastrous season.
4. Food was good quality, but menu planning failed to respond to the 80 degree temperatures. Tricky for them I know, but you don't want the same food in that heat.
5. Ski-school - Not impressive, with ESF their usual charmless selves.
6. Club-med - kids club etc. - Very good, as always
So.... why wouldn't we go back? Well, quite simply i don't think the clubmed formula (which we love elsewhere) is quite as effective for a skiing holiday. All-inclusive is just not so relevant when all your entertainment is already provided by the mountain itself.
I don't want to eat in the hotel for every meal. (OK, I know it's not compulsory, but we have already paid for it).
I don't want to feel I'm so penned in by a hotel without much of a village around it.
It's quite expensive
It worked OK for us taking children for their first time, but we probably won't use them again.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Chasseur,
Thanks - I'm flattered you remembered my earlier effort! It was certainly a brilliant week, all the better for going with an even bigger gang this time and spending a bit more time doing what we wanted, rather than full days in the ESF lessons. All in all, I really felt our skiing improved AND we had great fun.
Overall, for us, the Club Med formula has worked well. Longer term, I think we'd like to become increasingly independent as we become more confident skiers (shades of what foxtrotzulu says), so the next challenge will be to find what suits us in that respect. Also, as we're restricted to half term, we'll probably have to avoid France next year as the UK and French holidays overlap.
As for being poor, well, you can't take it with you, can you?
Happy skiing all...already counting the sleeps until next year!
chemistry
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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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chemistry, the infectious enthusiasm was hard to forget - reminded me (and probably others) what it was like when starting 
Maybe if the bigger gang thing works, then look to take over a catered chalet for the week. Some have access to swimming pools and the like and then just manage everything else independently, perhaps. Plenty of options at any rate.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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chemistry, Great TR & glad you had a good time It's just behind our apartment, & we were bemused when it was first built, that they had created a huge wall with no windows in it, where any windows would otherwise have had a fantastic view of Mont Blanc. It makes the eating area rather dark & boring, I think. Out of interest, did you get out into the village at all?
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| Chasseur wrote: |
| chemistry, the infectious enthusiasm was hard to forget - reminded me (and probably others) what it was like when starting |
Kind of you to say! As you can see from the pictures, I had a stupid grin on my face for pretty much the entire week. My only regret is that I wish I'd started skiing at my kids' age and not 40!
More generally, if my trip report(s) inspire someone else to give skiing a go, I'll be happy; Snowheads has been very helpful to me, so I hope I can contribute something back to the community.
Lastly, Club Med has been a very easy (if expensive) way to introduce ourselves to the world of skiing and I'm glad we started off that way, as we're now hooked. Nonetheless, for the future, now we're all a bit more confident about how the skiing-lark works, a catered chalet idea is certainly something we'd consider and I'm already starting to think about the 2014 trip.
chemistry
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genepi,
Thank you.
Eating area was a bit dark, but (I'm ashamed to say) that I was mainly refuelling ready to get back out there, rather than enjoying the view/food. I did get out of the village a little, but not much. Also skied into and through ARC 1950, which was slightly surreal!
chemistry
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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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chemistry, top TR as usual. We quite liked Club Med in L2A last year, but did not manage to get out of the Club Med village much. One of the things will all inclusive was that we wanted to get our money's worth, but that meant we spent too long in the hotel. Catered chalet sounds like a top idea if you can get a suitably sized group together.
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| chemistry wrote: |
genepi,
Thank you.
Eating area was a bit dark, but (I'm ashamed to say) that I was mainly refuelling ready to get back out there, rather than enjoying the view/food. I did get out of the village a little, but not much. Also skied into and through ARC 1950, which was slightly surreal!
chemistry |
Did you stop for waffles from the waffle shop?
If not then your leader missed a trick as they are great! - and it's a great one for the kids to get to and back, although judging by what it sounds like Arthur taught them, they might be beating you into 1950..
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FAQ
Seriously, though, great to hear the 
