 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi there,
Being quoted around £3,000 for ski holiday in January to Les Gets with Esprit and Ski Famille. We are 2 adults and 2 kids - 3 year old and 1 year old.
I am considering whether it is worth the gamble to leave it and book lastminute to try and get it cheaper.
Has anyone done this? Just wondering what sort of choice you had, the type of discount you had, and also if childcare was still available. Will need creche for 1 year old, and ski lessons/kids club for 3 year old.
Many thanks for your help and advice!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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lottster, I have never had the courage to risk it.... I have heard of people doing so and not getting the childcare places, however if I were a betting person, the January low season, you will probably get a good deal if you can be flexible with dates and location, especially given that people are less likely to get permission to take children out of school. Good luck 
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Fri 11-07-14 22:51; edited 1 time in total
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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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lottster, welcome to Snowheads 
Yes if you are flexible and can go on a low season week I would wait for a last minute bargain. They very often have much cheaper family of 3/4 late deals througout the season except for school holidays.
There are a few Esprit regulars on here who are better placed to advise though.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Looking at week 10th or 17th Jan, so totally low season.
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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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lottster, I would risk it, because there are other companies too not just Esprit, and I'd be confident of a decent deal with one of them.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks Sarah - the appeal of Esp and SF are that they can sort out the lessons for my 3 year old and combine this with the kids club. Family Ski do the same in Ardent, but they do not include flights in the price, and I reckon these would be expensive lastminute.
Do you know of any other companies that offer a similar service? We went with Family Friendly skiing last time in La Tania, childcare great, but you need to organise own lessons for the kids. I would prefer our son to join up with the other kids in the same chalet.
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Mark Warner also offer similar service, we used them in April, personally though I did prefer Esprit over them mainly due to having the baby listening service meaning you can put your young ones to bed and go to dinner, which was better I felt than having them go to a snuggle club with little camp beds as they were setup in the same room as the tv for the older children. It meant my 4yr old didn't sleep so we felt we had to rush our dinner to get her upto bed as she was suffering from being over tired.
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The other reason we are quite fussy and have always booked early bird is room arrangements, we like to have our girls sleeping in their own room, but not their ow room, ie interconnecting rooms or apartments.
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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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Went with FFS last January, with a 3 and 1 year old. Think there are only 2 options for your 3year old in La Tania, ESF or momentum. Ben @ momentum was excellent for our 3 year old. By the end of the week she could ski back to La Tania from the top of the gondola. We spied on a couple of her lessons and the children were all having lots of fun. Was way under £3000 for the whole holiday inc flights and lessons too.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Lottster - If you are looking for catered I think the Family Ski Company look a really good option. I haven't used them personally as we prefer self-catering (and eating out  ) but close relatives live near the Family Ski office and have said they have a good reputation. Their childcare set up sounds very good.
If you are looking for a cheaper option Snowbizz in PSV mentioned by Sarah above are excellent. Their nannies were so good that we had no hesitation in using them for evening babysitting a couple of times as well as using the crèche during the afternoons. The accommodation was a little basic but I think it mattered more to us to have quality childcare when our children were very young. I haven't looked at their prices recently but expect that for an off peak week the total holiday would come in at well under £3000.
Whilst Esprit do have the late deals the prices are sometimes more expensive than the headline figure..eg. I once enquired about a late offer and found out there would be an additional charge for an ensuite bathroom per night, plus an extra cost for Stansted flights due to the Gatwick ones having sold out. I think if you are of a laid back disposition and don't mind where you fly from or where you go the Esprit deals would be fine.
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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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lottster, welcome to Snowheads. We have often done this and in high season as well. So far we have been fine with some great bargains even in Feb half term. Have been on lots of Esprit holidays.
For just 4 in low season you should be very confident of a cheap deal, even more so if you can bear to leave it until the week before. Esprit have a page of late offers that is very helpful. Childcare is unlikely to be a problem as Esprit have oodles of nannies / snow rangers- enough for the peak weeks and plenty in the low season, the price for the childcare will be significant though and thesis never discounted.
I'd hope you could more of less go to any Esprit resort in the first weeks of January at a very low price.
Do you want the 3 year old to ski? If so look at Obergurgl (kids ski area v close to Chalets and ski school takes from 3 unlike most). But it is a bit cold then...
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what...snow, Did you book your 3 year old into group lessons with Momentum by herself, or did she know some of the other kids in her lesson beforehand?
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You know it makes sense.
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ed123, thanks for the feedback. Good to know there are bargains to be had! Yes, we would like our 3 year to ski, so will check out Obergurgl.
sarah, thank you for the links, not come across snowfocus before.
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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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lottster, no, she didn't know anyone else. But we have just come back from a Mark Warner holiday where her award was 'Miss Independent'  She's 4 now, going on 14! She likes being around other children, especially girls and even better if they are a year or 2 older and will push her into going higher/faster etc. Ben the instructor was amazed that she was as young as she is, he'd assumed she was a year older. But when we spied on them, all the children were loving it. On the second last day we met them coming into La Tania on the section above the free lift in the village and only 1 of the group was needing any help there. Then I skied through and round all these 3/4 year olds trying to film my daughter through the village. They were all whooping and laughing, she didn't know I was there until we were under the bridge. Will remember it forever.
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Poster: A snowHead
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what...snow, ha ha - sounds like she had a blast. Not sure my shy little man will be quite as brave! Might give him a lesson at the snow dome first to see how he gets on.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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lottster, just a thought but I don't think you could rely on there being other kids in your chalet who will then be in the same class as your little boy, it could be that the other kids his age are in other chalets and yours has older kids or babies in it, or that there are other three year olds but they stay in childcare rather than ski. More chance the bigger the chalet I guess or chalet hotel better.
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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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sarah, yes, they may not be in the actual chalet with him, but with Esprit and Ski Fam they would all be in the same kids club, so was hoping it would bring a bit of consistency to the week if he was with the same kids during the day, even if not in the same actual chalet.
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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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ed123, do you have a sense of the sort of discount you got booking last minute?
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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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lottster, yes of course, hadn't thought of that. Re. the discounts I have seen Esprit last minute prices in the region of £700 for 1 adult and 1 child, £1400 family of 3, £1600 family of 4 over the past couple of seasons. So definitely big savings to be made if you are willing to be very flexible with where you go.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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NickyJ, well done! I had kept a copy of their offers for a while but binned it when I was no longer interested in going with them (no need for us now son is old enough).
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| lottster wrote: |
Hi there,
Being quoted around £3,000 for ski holiday in January to Les Gets with Esprit and Ski Famille. We are 2 adults and 2 kids - 3 year old and 1 year old.
I am considering whether it is worth the gamble to leave it and book lastminute to try and get it cheaper.
Has anyone done this? Just wondering what sort of choice you had, the type of discount you had, and also if childcare was still available. Will need creche for 1 year old, and ski lessons/kids club for 3 year old.
Many thanks for your help and advice! |
£3000? which chalet is that? Is that with flights?
child care is hard to sort out last minute.
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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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blahblahblah, With Ski Esprit it in the Chaumiere building, and with Ski Famille in the Marjorie chalet. Includes flights, transfers, accom, childcare, ski lessons and lift passes. So everything apart from lunches for my husband and I really.
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We've always booked early with Esprit, like NickyJ one of the reasons is to secure the right room arrangements and this - to date - has always been all of us in 1 room and they don't have that many 4 bedded rooms (as opposed to beds + sofa beds) in resorts we like. We definitely got a snowclub discount the last couple of years but that was probably from their preview brochure so maybe they don't have them in the normal. I did try to book a last minute trip last March and couldn't get anything remotely "deal" like, would have been £2.5k, against the £2k early booking price we had just paid for the January trip (two children, then aged 2 & 4). We've got a similar price with the addition of another ski school place for this year in Val d'Isere in January this coming season when they will be are 3 and 5 (being bad and taking the elder son out of school but it's reception so figure it's not going to hurt him)
We've got a trip with FFS booked in the Easter Holidays and it's going to be less than £3k unless the travel is ludicrous (ie I miss the sale date for the Snowtrain!)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We've booked late and had good deals with Esprit in the past, but when I say late I mean it - booking less than a week before departure. You have to be prepared to go where the spaces are, but you know that most resorts esprit go to will be family friendly, you also have to be prepared that you may not get anywhere and not be able to go.. This tended to be an extra holiday so it wasn't a disaster if we hadn't gone.
So, not for the faint hearted or nervous traveller with kids - if you are of that mindset the uncertainty might not be worth it. But if you're fairly confident travellers you can get a good bargain, when we went that late we paid far less than half the brochure rate. Best to keep quiet about this in the chalet!
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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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We have been with esprit 5 times and always booked early however have seen the prices drop a few weeks- month before we go. I reckon as a family of 4 we could save 800-1K if we booke 3-4 weeks before we go. You will always find a good place in a good resort last minute and there are loads of childcare available. We have booked the childcare pretty much ad hoc with them several times, once when my son hurt his knee we put him in the snow club and they always have space.
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| Quote: |
So, not for the faint hearted or nervous traveller with kids - if you are of that mindset the uncertainty might not be worth it. But if you're fairly confident travellers you can get a good bargain, when we went that late we paid far less than half the brochure rate. Best to keep quiet about this in the chalet!
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We have always booked early as there is generally 2 families, the last min deals tend to be to fill the empty rooms up. However almost every year we have people in our chalet who have gone last min and we always ask them, no hard feelings as we know why we do what we do and why they do what they do. They pay over a grand less than us.
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You know it makes sense.
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| lottster wrote: |
| blahblahblah, With Ski Esprit it in the Chaumiere building, and with Ski Famille in the Marjorie chalet. Includes flights, transfers, accom, childcare, ski lessons and lift passes. So everything apart from lunches for my husband and I really. |
That is a good price already.
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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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| lottster wrote: |
| ed123, do you have a sense of the sort of discount you got booking last minute? |
yes, huge!
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