 Poster: A snowHead
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We've just spent 4 nights in 'Chalet Rond Point' in Megeve. This was our first time in a chalet. First impressions ? My husband commented 'Well, it's not what we're used to.'
(We usually stay in 4 or 5 star hotels). This particular chalet is badly in need of a makeover. Our room was small, tiny double bed, dreadful plumbing. HOWEVER, the staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful, and they took us guiding around the mountains at the weekend. The owner appeared for dinner one night and grumbled that customers what everything for nothing these days, and it is a competitive market etc. It was certainly true that we didn't pay a fortune for the 4 nights (£500 for the room).
The rest of the guests were friendly. Would I stay in a chalet again? Yes, just for the company, but the rooms/facilities would have to be much better.
p.s.we left the staff 60 euros
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks for this, Erica. I'm about to take Bev off to a chalet for the first time on Saturday. Jon and I have chaleted at times when Bev hasn't been able to get away.
Do you have any last minute advice for her?
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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.
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That sounds fine to me. Except of course that chalets are non-smoking!
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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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As I'm still stuck in wet miserable Tavistock, I would happily swap for any chelet at all!
However, bit sad to hear that it wasn't up to the standard you had hoped for, expect it was advertised as somewhat better standard?
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erica2004, Just imagine how god it would have been had you been in a nice chalet. Sounds like the chalet staff made up for the dissapointing facilities.
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erica2004, I also had my first chalet experince this weekend in Chamonix.
A friend and i booked last minute with http://www.2thealps.com/ and had a great time. I'd certainly recommend them....
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Chris Bish, Don't take loads of clothes! Unless you're staying in a really posh chalet.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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erica2004, Only done 4 chalet hols and only 1 (the expensive one) was any good. Unless you know the other "guests", have certainty that the cook has a good enough budget and the necessary experience, and that the place has minor requirements like hot water and habitable rooms then I'd steer clear frankly. Give me a 4 star traditional Austrian hotel on half board basis any day. I hear very mixed chalet experiences from my mates too.
I understand tour ops promote their chalets hardest as this is where they make their best return. I also found that they were pathalogical liars when it came to accurately describing the location and facilities. At least with a good hotel you can easily find out this stuff, check prices of direct v. tour op.
Death to the chalet... unless I own it.
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brian
brian
Guest
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JohnHill, I'm with you, despite only having done 1. If you eat in a crap restaurant you don't go back. If you eat in a crap chalet you're stuck there all week.
Food is far too important a part of my holiday to be subjected to such a high risk strategy !
The major benefit people seem to go for is the company. If you're already going with pals then you don't need this.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We did the converse and picked a Chalet over a hotel because we could fill it with our familys and not worry about anybody else.
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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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I've worked for two main stream tour operators and most of their chalets ranged from OK to not very nice. I have, and do, work for a very small independent and have seen much nicer chalets. Not just coincedence OR bias 
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Death to the budget chalet… and the tour ops that run them…
… I’ve been thinking about it some more over my gourmet evening meal. Chalets are normally run by one or, if you’re very lucky, two be-freckled giggling student types who, let’s face it, are there for the sliding and the late night love action. They get paid the square root of F all and they’re given a budget only viewable by electron microscope to feed a shed full of starving middle managers. Their interest in YOU is on a downward continuum that starts around 60% in December to minus 2% in April. The head rep loves the chalet punters because they’re seemingly not programmed to complain too much about their flea-infested bed being beside the tumble dryer or the lumpy spag bol and, anyway, they could do with losing a bit of weight. “Oh, it’s all part of the fun!”
The whole scam works like this… Tour Op goes out to resorts looking for properties they can rent cheap and “add value” to (that means slapping on a coat of prison paint and setting mouse traps). Then give it an atmospheric name like Edelweiss. Do some cunning photography and bingo! Hapless aforementioned chalet person is “trained up” (probably at their own expense) to cook slop, serve it cheerfully, wash up and informed not to fraternise with the guests. Unbelieveably that takes a week or so. Their opinion on what a reasonable food budget is of course conditioned by their puny pay and need for alcohol - so they typically try and squeeze out some extra percentage points for themselves.
So the tour ops costs are fixed. All that remains now is to ram in as many insane gullibles as possible, fill those pokey bedrooms, fill those charter deck chairs. They bank on you actually having a good time (alcohol, powder, no work) or on you being too British and polite to complain. They PR the hell out of the chalet holiday and, very cleverly, rebrand them as “club hotels” in the hope that you’ll think this is Club Med. The price starts at £499 and when they cynically drop it in a planned way to £199 we’re all meant to think this is the bargain of the century and rush to book. After all, you’re getting “The Three Valleys” for peanuts. Trouble is the 30 minute hike to reach the lift that (eventually) gets you somewhere close to the Three Valleys.
Die chalet die.
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You know it makes sense.
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| admin wrote: |
Chris Bish, assure Bev that staying in a Chalet rather like being logged into a slightly more tangible, if rather smaller, version of snowHeads |
Hmmm..... you don't have to wait behind other Snowheads to use the bathroom.
All Snowheads do not sit down to the same meal every evening.
Having said that, most people do make an effort to fit in and it is usually fairly sociable.
I think a key reason people used to use chalets was because they were inexpensive, or there was no alternative apart from self-catering in certain resorts.
I agree that the small outfits are better.
I have done plenty of chalets in the past, but now funds permit I prefer the comfort of a hotel.
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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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Nobody would write about "hotels" in this way. They would take it for granted that some hotels are fantastic, some appalling, that some - in any price range - are good value for money, and some are not, and that people who like one kind of hotel may hate another kind. People who like big baronial with stags heads wouldn't like boutique designer. Some hotels serve appalling food, some have appalling plumbing. Someone like erica2004 who normally stays in 4 or 5 star hotels, probably doesn't do many Formula 1 stopovers. Equally, there is no way I would pay £150 a night to get my head down for eight hours between 400 mile days on the autoroute. Some chalets cost £200 a week, some cost £2000. Trying to sum up "chalets" is like trying to sum up "ski resorts".
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Poster: A snowHead
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| JohnHill wrote: |
The price starts at £499 and when they cynically drop it in a planned way to £199 we’re all meant to think this is the bargain of the century and rush to book. After all, you’re getting “The Three Valleys” for peanuts. Trouble is the 30 minute hike to reach the lift that (eventually) gets you somewhere close to the Three Valleys.
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JohnHill An interesting view, but I think you overstate the case against. I think £199 in the 3 valleys is good value. I have never been 30 minutes from a lift. Often chalets would provide a minibus if there was much walking involved.
For someone who wants to get a lot of skiing under their belt, I would not hesitate to recommend last minute chalet offers. You will not see too many hotels at a discount because the operators do not have the same financial committment. They do not have to fill beds and there are not too many hotels in the Three Valleys anyway.
I think chalet food has probably gone down in quality since the old days when they made the girls(no chalet boys then) do a cooking test. I also preferred it when the companies were small concerns based around Fulham. Bladon Lines was as big as it got. Crystal quietly dropped that brand a few seasons after they took them over.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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JohnHill,
what a old cynic you are. pam w has it right - there are good and there are bad.
Now its a well known fact that everyone on this board hates TOs anyway , so I think its fairly much a given that large TOs chalets are going to get a pasting. But we've stayed in chalets as a couple, (and as a family) in France, in Canada, and in the US, probably 8 or 9 times, and not once has the quality of the chalet hosts, the accomodation or the food been a problem. We've tipped at most places (just for you parlor) and we've made some great long-term friends.
OK, maybe when younger (ahem years ago) our standards weren't as high, but then our pockets weren't as deep, and the Crystal's of this world did for us.
I would always promote the conviviality of a chalet of the starkness of a hotel. Did that twice, and never again. Not because the hotels were bad, dear me no, but they just didn't suit the skiing experience we were looking for.
Horses for courses.
PS we now have our own place so self-catering is the order of the day.
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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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Ok lets look at our chalet holiday earlier this year in La Plagne (next door to Nadenoodlee). Virtual ski in ski out chalet, modern, underfloor heating, fully en-suite, fabulous views, wonderful attentive personable staff, good restaurant quality food, ski hosting, etc etc etc, good flights quick efficient direct transfers, ski passes done on bus and waiting at the chalet for us on arrival, escorted to a good ski hire shop. A fantastic experience at under £400 a head.
This experience has been more or less reflected in our other chalet experiences. Choosing the right company and the right chalet just takes a bit of effort.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I have two pieces of string, one is yellow and cost £100, it matches my jacket. The other is red and was only a tenner, it doesn't match anything. Which one is longer? 
JimW, you can own your own place & have a chalet girl! you might have to win the lotto though. In Verbier you can hire a (very high quality) chalet boy style chef just for the evening at a v reasonable rate too!
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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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I have two experiences of Chalets - one was fantastic, First Choice in La Plagne - we filled the chalet and it was like having our own pad, but someone else did the cooking and cleaning. The food was great. Our hosts, girl and a lad were very pleasant-often staying around to chat and socialise, (and make use of the extensive allowance of wine ). The food was good homecooked fare, and there were no complaints. On the other occasion, we were mis-sold the chalet - ( our group was split across two chalets in one building, which was ok, but at booking we were ASSURED we would be able to eat together - on arrival the local hosts said this wasn't possible, and it wasn't - they did there best and when some guests had to leave due to injury, the rest of our group were able to share dinner with the rest. ) On this occasion the food was again good homecooked fare - but I DO think it benefitted from having hosts who were early 30's taking a year career break - so they were organised and prepared !
On other occasions I have tended to stay in 'Club Hotels' - never had a real problem - home cooked food, pleasant english staff. In general the benefit of the chalet to me has been having it all to ourselves and being able to have the 'common spaces' all to ourselves.
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... and I forgot something else I can't stand about chalets... it's that tiresome shoes-on shoes-off regime
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| Quote: |
The price starts at £499 and when they cynically drop it in a planned way to £199 we’re all meant to think this is the bargain of the century
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So book in advance and pay a proper price then. Go with Ski-Val, Le Ski, Snowline/VIP, Scott Dunn etc etc, and pay what we're asking, you stingy git.
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| Quote: |
and I forgot something else I can't stand about chalets... it's that tiresome shoes-on shoes-off regime
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it's so much more fun wondering when you're going to step in a muddy bit of melted ice mixed with dog crap brought in on the outdoor shoes of one of your fellow guests
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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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Lizzard, you reptile, obviously you got the job because you can't read. I don't do chalets but I do pay proper money for good hotels.
pam w, or Lizard crap!
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