 Poster: A snowHead
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I've been on many chalet holidays, but have never travelled with any of the better known / larger tour operators such as Total, Skiworld, Neilson etc.
My question is - are their 'better' chalets just as good as the small independent tour operators - I mean in the quality and quantity of meals, helpfull happy staff and clean well presented chalets??
Any opinions, good or bad please?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Staff are a lottery - which dictates food quality and overall experience. Staff will be less hand-picked by the very nature but it doesn't mean they are worse than smaller indies. If you're fussy however and a less than stellar chalet or a bad meal is likely to ruin your whole holiday I'd say stick with an indy you like.
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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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WHICH small indy? We've not really seen a difference in hosts between big and small, both seem a lottery.
Great:
YSE
Neilson
Ski Zenith Rep
Good
Ski Total - our chalet
Ski World - one trip
Okay:
Ski Zenith hosts
SnowChateaux
Crystal hosts
Ski World - another trip
Poor/Annoying:
Crystal rep
Ski Amis Hosts
Ski Total - chalet next door:)
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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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Most recent experiences (going back a considerable time as I'm not really a packager)
Inghams - Great
Skiworld - Great
Virgin - Not really a package, briefly saw a rep, No complaints
Skibound - crap rep, crap catering (tea in main hotel) great catering and service in our small (local family run) annex hotel
Neilson - overpriced, poor catering for the money (not helped by lazy chalet girl blowing food budget on patisserie etc)
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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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fatbob, you must be the reason Neilson told me they couldn't buy pain au chocolat for the day off breakfast 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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If your job says bake a cake every day for tea, I'm pretty sure that you shouldn't be buying nice patisserie instead then turning a casserole into a veggie only stew because you didn't have any money left for meat.
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| fatbob wrote: |
| If your job says bake a cake every day for tea, I'm pretty sure that you shouldn't be buying nice patisserie instead then turning a casserole into a veggie only stew because you didn't have any money left for meat. |
I don't get why chalet operators don't buy in bulk and make everybody serve the same stuff. There's a lot being left to chance when you leave your precious customers in the hands of a teenager, why make it more precarious?
I've been with Total a couple of times, and they're always 'fine'. Better towards the end of the season than the beginning for obvious reasons.
OTOH, I've been with four 'independent' operators, and the incessant nagging of the owners has grated nearly every time. No; we've booked the entire chalet and you're a bit weird - we don't really want to eat with you. Look, you paid €2 for that bottle of wine, we don't really want to pay an extra €15 for another the same just because we've put down our coffee cups - and we really don't appreciate the hard sell.
Face it, the sort of person who drops out of English life in order to live in the mountains is quite likely to be a bit weird. And if they weren't when they started, after five or ten years of it they definitely are now. Basil Fawlty lives on in many independent chalets.
I cannot speak for the high-end independents. They're probably as nice as a five star Austrian hotel in Lech.
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Our chalet host in a basic Crystal chalet said he was given rough food plan and had no trouble with budget- even enough to buy some fruit which was not in the plan!
That was in Italy though - wonder if allowance raised in France ?
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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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We like ski olympic. Been with them on numerous occasions, operations seem to gave shrunk over last few seasons. Hope they are ok.
Keep meaning to try le ski (friends of ours rate them).
Have also been with ski val - not sure if they are still operating.
Did VIP in Val d'isere good chalet, hot tub on balcony but expensive and not sure they are worth added cost.
Avoid TUI chalets if we can
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ski hame in la tania were a nice small independent and we had great hosts but i know they were only doing it for one year
snow chateaux have good pr but their hosts the year we stayed in peisey were possibly the most annoying.
Always had ok chalets with crystal. ski world one bad experience
Ski Zenith had great resort rep in alpe d huez and pretty good chalet host.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
I cannot speak for the high-end independents. They're probably as nice as a five star Austrian hotel in Lech.
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I wonder if any SHs have ever stayed in a "high end" chalet. Way, way, out of my league, that's for sure, though I've had a sneaky look round a few, thanks to son working as chef. Unbelievable luxury but absurdly, stupidly, expensive.
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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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Stay in a decent hotel - hard for a TO to screw up the experience.
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You know it makes sense.
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Not travelled with any of the big operators, but Son is currently working for Inghams, and as Fatbob says, it will depend on the staff. He and his girlfriend seem to be quite highly rated, and girlfriend is a perfectionist, but there was a lad sacked from one of the other chalets Christmas week for having stayed out all night and come into chalet next morning still drunk. With regard to food, Inghams/Total/Ski Esprit give them a set menu which is the same every week, and buy all the food in bulk so the staff go and collect it from a central point in resort. So a certain amount of consistency, and no budget to blow on patisserie!
Have stayed in several small indy chalets, and have found them all to be really good because as it is their own business they care about it.
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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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I worked for Esprit in the kitchen in 2010/11, we tried hard to make good food and got decent reviews for it too. Never had a problem with budget TBH. Obviously you're somewhat dependant on the diligence or otherwise of the staff in your chalet, but IME the really bad ones didn't last very long. They give you (or at least they did when I did it) a set menu for meals but cakes-wise you just get a selection of suggested recipes and you can pretty much make what you want.
Stayed in a Total chalet in St Anton this year - it was my first time staying in a chalet as opposed to staying in some hideous tiny shoebox with 5 other people crammed in to a space that would be just about OK for 3, and I have to say it was worth every penny... Obviously I've not got much to compare it with, but I'll be more than happy to do the same again.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Dippy, I think as otheres have said a lot of the experience depends on the chalet chef/host. In our limited experience of chalets we've done:
SkiBeat(last week  ) Fantastic
Ski Olympic-Excellent
Alpine Action-Good
Crystal-OK
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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All - thank you for very interesting and varying replies!
a.j. - Interestingly I would put SkiAmis at the top of my list - excellent value for money and never had a disappointing host.
Overall it really does seem down to the hosts - they certainly seem to make or break a holiday!
I would certainly try one of the larger tour operators - but ONLY if I was getting a good deal! - I shall continue shearching for whats on offer!
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FAQ
I'm in IT though so certainly not paying for it myself!
