 Poster: A snowHead
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Just remembered the proper name - Rond Point.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| pam w wrote: |
| Sounds as though you might need to compromise something. What's your party size? Why is it so difficult to find accommodation to suit? What dates are you looking at? |
Hi Pam. Cheers for the advice/interest.
There're six of us and we want a catered non shared chalet. The one point everyone agreed on was that we want our own space and not have to cook and clean. It'll be late Jan next year. There seem to be very few 6 person chalets fullstop, and of those a good few were out of budget (there's a lovely one in Alpe d'huez, but it's £850pp), or in Val, which scares us  . Maybe i'm not looking in the right places - i've tried Iglu, SkiTotal, Alpine Elements, a few other places that slip the mind, and the grand total of places that fit the bill is 2. I might be able to convince people to skip catered accomodation if there was a cheap 6 person chalet/apartment that met every other requirement, but i'm struggling with this too and tbh starting to flag a little and just want to book something!
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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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howie, you could always rent a suitable self-catering apartment, and get a catering company to do the dirty work. For example this could be organised here http://www.eurekaski.com/accommodation-laguisane.htm but it isn't in a resort you want. Alternatively, post your requirements on Chalets Direct.
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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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howie, you could also rent a self catering apartment and go out to a restaurant for evening meals, which is likely to be cheaper than getting a caterer in. Breakfast is no problem, and if you have a slopeside apartment you can save a whole heap of money having a few basics in for lunch, too. A French resort of any size at all will have a "traiteur" where you can buy really good, ready-made, meals to serve yourselves. Cheaper than restaurant.
But if you want catered, you could consider a larger, shared, chalet. We stayed in quite a few of these, before we had our own place, and always enjoyed the company. If you are worried about the prospect of being forced into the company of uncongenial folk you could look at the "chalet hotels". Big enough that you don't have to socialise with anybody, if you don't want. We stayed in Valmeinier with Snowcoach, some years ago. Slopeside, very cheap, some easy local skiing in Valmeinier 1800 and lots over in Valloire, which is linked.
There are not many inexpensive catered chalets for only 6 people - it would be very hard to make a living with it!
The Austrian B & Bs might be an idea, too - in a reasonable size resort you'd have plenty of choice for evening meals, and the B & Bs can be pretty economical (need to be careful about location, though).
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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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| Hells Bells wrote: |
| howie, you could always rent a suitable self-catering apartment, and get a catering company to do the dirty work. For example this could be organised here http://www.eurekaski.com/accommodation-laguisane.htm but it isn't in a resort you want. Alternatively, post your requirements on Chalets Direct. |
Thanks for the suggestion - i'll give it a once over.
| pam w wrote: |
| howie, you could also rent a self catering apartment and go out to a restaurant for evening meals, which is likely to be cheaper than getting a caterer in. Breakfast is no problem, and if you have a slopeside apartment you can save a whole heap of money having a few basics in for lunch, too. A French resort of any size at all will have a "traiteur" where you can buy really good, ready-made, meals to serve yourselves. Cheaper than restaurant. |
I always thought a chalet host was good value - about £200pp for breakfast, tea, dinner, all the wine you can drink, and cleaning. I must admit though I haven't looked for cheap apartments and will take this on board.
| pam w wrote: |
| Big enough that you don't have to socialise with anybody, if you don't want. |
We're not grinches  but would like to slouch around with our feet on the sofa watching movies of our choice. You're probably right though that a compromise of some sort will have to be made.
| pam w wrote: |
| The Austrian B & Bs might be an idea, too - in a reasonable size resort you'd have plenty of choice for evening meals, and the B & Bs can be pretty economical (need to be careful about location, though). |
We have considered Austria. One place we were looking at was ...
http://holiday.skiamade.com/accommodation/?acco=9084
... in Ski Amade. A cheap B&B is something else I haven't considered. Back to the drawing board!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
about £200pp for breakfast, tea, dinner, all the wine you can drink, and cleaning
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exactly. That's why it would be hard to make a living doing it with a maximum of 6 bed spaces! A competent couple can easily look after more people than that, with fixed costs spread across more bums on seats (or sofas).
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La Plagne would suit your group. It's almost exclusively all blue runs, obviously of differing grades but loads of choice. There are also many alternatives to the ESF. Lots of ski in/out accommodation and providing you go to one of the higher resorts bullet-proof snow.
Outside of Europe and you simply cannot beat Whistler.
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howie, I have to say that Austrian Adventures seems to be great.
However, if you could manage with a B&B then I would suggest Pila, Italy is a good spot as it has loads of flat teaching space and then easy blue and red so would cater for all speed of learning. Very good teaching too. No queues for lifts at all during the week, it does get busier at weekends as locals hit the hills, but you loose one of those days traveling anyway.
We go to Della Nouva B&B which is right on the piste (ski in/out) and is really a 4 star hotel that just does not do evening meals. Plenty of other places to eat and they would look after you well as if your party was big enough you would book the whole place. You would have to be quick as it gets busy. We use Carole at Pilaski.co.uk to sort it all out other than flights & transfers (although she would sort transfer if asked). Fly to Geneva or Turin so every one should be able to get there ok. We do a week inside the £1000 budget but without lessons. Coffee on the mountain is only €1 as an example of pricing.
If you want more detail just ask.
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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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Have a look at La Plagne, it'll be perfect for your group who clearly need some confidence boosting.
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| SnowMonkey69 wrote: |
La Plagne would suit your group. It's almost exclusively all blue runs, obviously of differing grades but loads of choice. There are also many alternatives to the ESF. Lots of ski in/out accommodation and providing you go to one of the higher resorts bullet-proof snow.
Outside of Europe and you simply cannot beat Whistler. |
Cheers. La Plagne is on the list. What does EFT stand for btw?
I did have a look at Whistler - it looks amazing. Way, way out of budget tho!
| Jake43 wrote: |
howie, I have to say that Austrian Adventures seems to be great.
However, if you could manage with a B&B then I would suggest Pila, Italy is a good spot as it has loads of flat teaching space and then easy blue and red so would cater for all speed of learning. Very good teaching too. No queues for lifts at all during the week, it does get busier at weekends as locals hit the hills, but you loose one of those days traveling anyway.
We go to Della Nouva B&B which is right on the piste (ski in/out) and is really a 4 star hotel that just does not do evening meals. Plenty of other places to eat and they would look after you well as if your party was big enough you would book the whole place. You would have to be quick as it gets busy. We use Carole at Pilaski.co.uk to sort it all out other than flights & transfers (although she would sort transfer if asked). Fly to Geneva or Turin so every one should be able to get there ok. We do a week inside the £1000 budget but without lessons. Coffee on the mountain is only €1 as an example of pricing.
If you want more detail just ask. |
Nice one - I just did a quick search for Pila and it looks like a lovely little place. The piste map shows a couple of long greens that go right down the mountain - are they relatively easy to ski all the way down? There's some reds that cut through the trees too - i've always wanted to try that.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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howie, ESF is Ecole du Ski Francais - it;s the ubiquitous ski school all over france which gets varied reviews here.
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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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Hi howie,
This place would do you. I've stayed with Ski Beat a couple of times and they're a decent company. Meribel in January will be good for your group. I did all my BASI (instructor) lesson shadowing in Meribel and there is plenty of skiing for your level. The chalet's location's ok too - use the free company minibus in the mornings and take the free ski bus from outside whichever bar you're in for apres in the evening.
http://www.skibeat.co.uk/ski-beat-resorts-meribel-chalets.asp?id=12
And no, I don't work for them.
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Have a look at Montgenevre, Serre Chevalier, Risoul/Vars
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You know it makes sense.
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It does sound as if you mostly care about the skiing and instruction - good attitude! In that case, I would totally recommend Soldeu in Andorra for excellent beginner-intermediate instruction. Certainly not picture-postcard, but you're considering Arc 1800...
I have no connection with the place, but I've been there a few times (twice when I was a beginner/inter, and twice taking new skiers) and everyone finds the instruction better than anywhere else. Why? Native English speakers chosen for their ability to teach, not their ability to put in Olympic times on a slalom course. (Many of them can do the latter, but it's not what gets them the job).
Sure, you can get as good or better instruction if you get to one of the boutique English-run schools in the Alps, or if you find a native English speaker in France/Austria, but the former is either pricey or booked solid and the latter an enormous lottery.
In fact, I could summarize this entire post: the priority is to get a native English speaker. It makes a massive difference, especially as you become intermediate. You can find them in the US/Canada/Down under (expensive) or Scotland (arguably ) or France/Austria/Italy (if you're lucky) or Andorra...
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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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awf,
| Quote: |
| It makes a massive difference, especially as you become intermediate. You can find them in the US/Canada/Down under (expensive) or Scotland (arguably Smile Smile) or France/Austria/Italy (if you're lucky) |
Cr@p in a word 
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Poster: A snowHead
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La Plagne definately. Also try Valloire (the most fear free place we have yet visited) or Montgenevre (quieter than Alpe d Huez, but equally green, and high enough to keep decent snow). We also liked flaine for new-newbies.
Anything against shared chalets? that might widen your choice a bit.
aj xx
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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I stayed in meribel village last year, which is only 1 lift up to the although area and all chalets are very close to the lift, only a 3 minute walk from ours.
All beginners got on well around the altiport area and I would recommend to anyone, although a little quiet in the evenings but a 10 minute free bus ride to meribel centre if you wish.
However, I do agree with previous comments about the trip down to the centre being a bit ropey if conditions aren't great. You can always get the lift down in order to ski the long blue on the other side of the valley. We also found that being in the village area meant no queuing inthe busy chaudanne area first thing.
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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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I've skimmed this thread as there's quite a few posts so apologies if I'm repeating what anyone else has said. As you're finding there are very few smaller catered chalets- the cost of a chef and host divided by 6 beds versus divided by 14 beds make the smaller places rather expensive. Self catering is an option- you can often hire a chef to come in for the week but for 6 you will probably need to hire somewhere that sleeps 8 or 10 to get enough bedrooms, particularly in France. A self catered joint is likely to be less comfortable than a catered chalet and probably won't have hot tubs/sauna etc (if indeed that's what you want).
My suggestion would be to look for a larger (10-12 bed) catered chalet with a smaller company. Research on trip advisor and look at places that get both good reviews and have plenty of communal space. With the smaller companies you can telephone the owners and explain your requirements. The company I'm connected with always takes into account the mixture of groups staying and will tell you who has booked already so you can get an idea in advance.
I have a connection with Lets Gets/Morzine/Avoriaz and have to add this to the recommendations. There isn't much doorstep skiing but there are plenty of catered chalets as described above and a good variety of skiing. Lets Gets has plenty of runs which I think are suited to a group on a second holiday. There are also some good ski schools, one of which is English and another which has French instructors who can genuinely speak English- I would never recommend going with Ecole De Ski Francais (am I allowed to say that here?).
Best of luck- as has been said organising a trip for other people is hard work, don't take it all on yourself if you can help it, particularly when you get there!
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FAQ
