 Poster: A snowHead
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At last I have got round to writing this brief report.
We left home early morning on Monday 22nd Dec to cross the channel on an 11 ish crossing. However due train breakdowns and the consequent disruption to service we did not get to France till 2.30pm french time, and thus not to Morzine till midnight ish!
Staying at Chalet Hotel Les Dents Blanche proved to be a good choice and our hostess Maggy greeted us with a friendly welcome, wine and tea, despite the late arrival before showing us to our comfy beds.
The chalet is furnished very comfortably with a cosy sitting room/bar providing a choice of seating from squidgy sofas to table and chairs. Most bedrooms have balconies and all are ensuite. Breakfasts and afternoon tea are largely self service, with a good selection of breakfast items and options of boiled eggs and porridge. The cakes in the afternoon were lovely and Morzine water makes a great cup of tea.
Dinner was 4 course, with the menu available in the morning, in case of any allergies or dislikes alternatives were provided. The delicious food was served with carefully chosen wines making a wonderful end to the day. Christmas day there were canapes and drinks in the bar followed by a traditional turkey roast etc and crackers that set us all off on a game of charades! The hotel was immaculately clean and cosy, the company was good and I would love to return there in good snow conditions.
Now for the bad bits of the holiday! The skiing! The snow situation at the start of the 2014/15 season was pretty dire everywhere and Morzine had none at all, The Super Morzine bubble which opened on the Tuesday before Xmas was conveniently close to our chalet and we were able to leave our skis (hired) and boots (our own) at the Caribou ski hire shop close to the base of the bubble allowing a pleasant short walk back to the chalet in comfy footwear. The free ski bus stops right outside the chalet should you wish to use it.
However the bubble and links going up to Avoriaz involved a fair amount of walking at the top because of the lack of snow. The resort very sensibly limited the supply of passes to those with booked accommodation but even so it was far too busy for my liking and I only skied on day one and on the last day when a little more snow had fallen (driving to Les Prodains cable car to avoid the walking in ski boots carrying skis between the lifts up to Avoriaz) The piste staff were doing a very good job of looking after what little snow was available. Up high the quality of the snow in the middle of the day was not too bad but there were simply far too many people boarding and skiing way out of control.
When not skiing there is plenty to do in Morzine and I thoroughly enjoyed driving round the area and wandering around the town. On Christmas Eve we parked near the tourist office and watched the entertainment, fire jugglers and lit up ‘angels’ on stilts, and Father Christmas`s arrival, then we had warm drinks sitting in the square whilst watching the firework display. The display was not quite as awesome as the one we witnessed there to celebrate the arrival of the millenium 14 years earlier but it was very entertaining and we were much warmer than in 2000 due to the mild weather.
It was a real shame we could not ski in Morzine because it is a lovely ski resort and we have previously enjoyed some superb skiing there!
We left on the Saturday mid morning (having just received confirmation that we had bagged some last minute accommodation) for La Tania as the snow was falling steadily.
We hit the first traffic jam getting over the pas to Les Gets, a bus appeared to have had an accident at the top, then queued most of the way up to Megeve all the time the snow fell steadily. We got down from Megeve relatively quickly our 4x4 Audi Quattro coped admirably with the conditions and we did not need to put chains on.
Traffic soon built up again however and we could hear on the radio that there were major problems with traffic and difficult driving conditions, emergency accommodation was being opened around Albertville and Moutier.
Hasty consultations with our maps, using our mobile hotspot to access traffic information and more maps, and phone calls to our chalet company (SkiAmis for information about the roads at resort level) allowed us to use the more minor roads and avoid most of the auto route hold ups. We only put chains on for the last bit up to La Tania. Hearing some of the stories reported on here, and from friends, I think we were very lucky, arriving somewhere between 2 to 3am in La Tania. I am very grateful to Christine (SkiAmis) for being available by phone all through that night and keeping us informed. We were greeted as we drove into the resort by the resort manager and provided with hot food and drinks by staff who had been up since 5am, before going gratefully to bed Others in our chalet continued to arrive right through the night and into the next day meaning the staff had virtually no sleep in 24 hours
Our stay in Chalet Christine was great fun. We have never been on a catered chalet holiday before and it was quite an experience Everyone staying there was very friendly and I would definitely go on another holiday of this type although not back the that particular chalet. New Years Eve was a disappointment because there was no special celebration meal planned but there was dancing in the square and a firework display at mid-night.
Location wise the chalet was too far from the ski lifts for my liking, fine if we could have left boots and skis in a rental shop at the bottom of the piste as we did in Morzine and have done elsewhere, but not a good walk in ski boots carrying skis. The dining room was simply too narrow and when the chalet was full you were literally trapped at the dining table. Wi fi was poor, very variable, only in some rooms and to book our crossing home we had to rely on our mobile set up. The beds were very comfortable, there was plenty of hot water and the staff were very friendly and helpful but clearly very young and inexperienced A couple of the dishes at dinner were very nice and most of the food was edible The wine served free with dinner was ok and the honesty bar not expensive. All in all for the last minute price we paid it was a good deal. The good company and the nice personalities of the chalet staff made up for a lot of the deficiencies. Given how willing and eager to learn the youngsters were I would guess the food and other minor things will be much improved as the season progressed. I can not fault the service provided on the night of ‘snowmageddon’
La Tania is not a resort I would return to, the runs back into the resort are not good and the blue would be a red in most resorts, it, and the green down, got very icy very quickly and most nervous or inexperienced skiers would not like it at all. On the plus side it is an easy drive to Courchevel which we chose to do several times, there is also a free bus service doing the route.
We left on the Saturday morning, staying overnight in Rheims and doing the obligatory supermarche shop Sunday morning before arriving at Calais, for once very early for our crossing. Despite our early arrival MyFerry failed to get us on our booked crossing and failed completely to provide a decent service. I have complained but they have refused to offer any refund and I will do my best never to travel with them again.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
| At last I have got round to writing this brief report. |
Best laid plans and all that 
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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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A mixed bag, @CaravanSkier, very useful reports. MYFERRY has some terrible reviews on Trip Advisor - yours might now be added!!
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