skiing with toddlers- childcare&resort advice please

A snowHead

hi,

im trying to organise our first family snow holiday and im full of apprehension regarding the set up for kids.
we'll be taking 2 kids (3 and 4 years old) and im wondering about the following;

-which resorts would be good for kids in your experience?
- what would you recommend is the best option for childcare? eg organising an independant creche/ lessons (if such a thing exists) or for kids or trying to get one of those catered chalets with childcare/nannies included (seem to be quite pricey though)......someone also told me that its important to try to get an english speaking creche/ski lessons........would anyone be able to recommend any through experience?

thanks a lot for any help, its much appreciated

wink

A snowHead

welcome to Snowheads, @Rom77,

. There are lots of ways of doing this, depending on the way your family works. There are lots of positive reports of the childcare set up with some of the specialist operators but yes, of course it's expensive to pay somebody else to look after the kids! I'm sure some of those parents who have tried the different companies will come onto this thread to advise you.

Almost all resorts will have snowgarden type arrangements for 3 and 4 year olds which are not expensive, and which often give them a little time out on the snow but with warm indoor space too. In my experience language is pretty unimportant for 3 and 4 year olds - nice kind smiley faces are more important.

The way my family works, we use grandmothers. I benefitted from this arrangement many years ago, now I am the grandmother!

The best way to look at a holiday with a 3 and 4 year old is that it's a winter holiday with lots of fun playing in the snow. The time it takes to get them all kitted up (and kitted down again if it's too miserable, or they get tired/bored/hungry/scared/needing a wee) should never be underestimated.

Unless you can get accommodation VERY close to wherever the kids are going to be it might help to have your own car with their seats, spare clothes, toys, loo roll, snacks etc.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

thanks pam.
it would be brilliant to be able to have a grandmother with us or another relative but unfortunately its not an option that we have.
so far i have got plenty of quotes from all inclusive chalets.....not because i particularly want to this type of accomodation but mainly because of the full childcare options.

the type of accomodation isnt the most important to me. a hotel with b and b or self catering would be fine but i just want to find out if i do that can i get good independent childcare seperately or do people generally rely on childcare that is supplied by the hotel/chalet?

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In France I think it would be difficult to find an independent hotel which provides child care though some British tour operators specialise in this area (e.g. Esprit, though there re others). All resorts will have ski schools which provide some kind of "lessons" for little ones - and those are generally very affordable. But getting them to and from the ski school would be down to you - it depends how much time you are prepared to put in.

What sort of child care are you looking for? For a first family holiday an operator like Esprit has a lot to recommend it - they will make the whole thing less of a hassle.

When are you thinking of going? For little ones, later in the season (mid March or later) is good with a greater chance of avoiding very cold weather.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

thanks again for the advice.

we plan to go march 12/13th.

we would like the kids to have maybe a small lesson daily but with childcare afterwards....because ive no experience of family holidays i dont know if this type of thing is available.

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@Rom77, you can look at Ski Esprit and Ski Familke, both of these companies have chalets in Les Gets. At Ardent which has a gondola up to Les Lindarets linking to Avoriaz there is another operation called the Family Ski Company. The children who we see out and about with any of these operations always appear to be happy and having a good time. We are now in the grandparenting era ourselves and have done split days with our daughter/SIL over the child are but my daughter also takes on a nanny occasionally for a day or so letting us all ski together.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Family ski in Montriond/ Ardent are very popular and my cousin raved about Esprit in Les Arcs

After all it is free

We have been with Esprit when our children were 1 & 4, 3 & 6 and 5 & 8. I would definitely recommend them. We also used Mark Warner when the were 4 & 7. I found Esprit better mainly due to the offer of baby listening service in evenings meaning they can go to sleep in their own beds and for the very little ones they have an esprit member of staff grandly called a snow ranger along with them to help them in the lessons.

just checked replies......will look up all of those suggestions. thanks loads....at least i have something to investigate now wink

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Ski Magic, La Tania.

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I'm sure all the suggestions would be great options but I just thought I'd add another.

For us cost was a key factor and lots we found a lots of options we investigated expensive.

We have used used Crystal in the past in France which includes lessons with ESF. They also have the Whizkids club (at certain resort ) they drop off and pick up from lessons, provide lunch and afternoon care.

I know not everyone is a fan of Crystal and the like, but we've not had any problems with them.

snow reports

My kids learnt when they were younger in Zell am See also with loads to do for non-skiing Grandparents and, very good ski lessons for toddlers. Later as they got older we went to Flaine, France a perfect resort for families where kids can have freedom coz no cars and an enclosed resort, sort of, if you get the right place to stay in the centre. Both have good snow in the main season and they are reasonable in prices.

@Rom77, I'd agree with all the above suggestions, some really good advice and good companies there.

I will throw a couple of other much smaller family operators into the mix for you. They are possibly cheaper and might provide a much more personal service....one is http://www.snowfocus.com/ and the other is http://snowbizz.co.uk/

You know it makes sense.

@Rom77,
We have used Ski Beat before and they offer a similar set up to Esprit, which we were very happy with, but we have also used French childcare which has been very good as well. My children have attended nurseries at Oz-en-Oisans and Samoens and friends that we travel with have also used the one at Morillon 1100. Where the children have had ski lessons, we used ESF and the ski schools have arrangements to pick up and drop off after lessons (drop off only at Samoens, the crèche is in the town, a gondola and bus ride from the ski school). The care has been excellent and as @pam_wsaid, the language barrier was never an issue for the children. The adults managed to communicate adequately to convey dietary requirements, sleeping habits as well!

As others have said, having accommodation very close to the slope or, failing that , your own transport is a real help.

Good luck with your holiday choice - whatever you choose, a skiing holiday with children can be great fun.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Another option is a hotel with childcare booked independently. We have taken our daughter to Haus Hirt in Bad Gastein and the Theresia Gartenhotel in Hinterglemm (we stay in the linked Johan as it's cheaper). We have tried Mark Warner but although the childcare was excellent didn't enjoy the adult experience - poor deco, facilities and food not great or Austrian in any way.

Both hotels offer packages with half board and lift pass. Some weeks - often January and March, you pay for adults but not the children. We have booked to go to Johan again this year as our daughter will be almost 3 and ready for ski lessons. They have an in-house ski school and hire shop with a baby slope next to the hotel. The lessons are for a couple of hours in the morning then back to the kindergarten. Can't recommend it highly enough especially when combined with getting our snowboards couriered and staying 2 weeks as we have started to do.

A snowHead

Family friendly in la Tania have there own in house nannies

A snowHead

@Rom77, hello and welcome to snow heads

we have 3 kids now 13, 11 and 6 and have taken them skiing a lot since the eldest was 4 months.

There are lots of ways of doing it- some harder some easier some more or less expensive.

Unless you already have a very good knowledge of a resort / infrastructure / transport in a particular place then the easiest thing to do is to go in an off peak week to an Esprit Chalet Hotel. If you are only just a tiny bit brave make a last minute booking- they have massive capacity which they use for the peak Feb and Easter weeks.

Childcare excellent, accommodation ok, food very good in the Chalet Hotels (not so good in the Chalets). Prices for last minute (i.e. month or so before down to day before) can be really good value- i.e. family of 4 for not a lot. There are issues about ensuring nanny availability but not in the off season as they have a lot of them - and they are good / fantastic. Kids like other kids- there will be other kids / toys and nice adults to play with.

Try: Obergurgul, Peisey, La Plagne- all good skiing and easy access for the accomadadtion.

If you want the skids to ski: Obergurgul took 3 yr olds when we were there - older in Peisey.

We have been with: Crystal x 1, Mark Warner x 7 wks, Ski Esprit x too many to count . Of these Esprit best by a country mile. It really helps the they only have families with kids.

Other options we have used: grandparents, private nanny, taking turns between ourselves, taking turns with friends, and now- nothing ski with the nipper all day.

DO NOT GO IN SCHOOL HOLIDAYS IF AT ALL AVOIDABLE (just seen the 4 yr old- try and go Easter week- can still get deals then and it is not so cold- January can be bloody freezing for 3-4 yr olds).

All depends on - how much you are prepared to pay / how much you like skiing / how you are prepared to compromise on your skiing as an individual / couple vs skiing as a family.. For us The answers to all these questions are a lot. It is really important that you and your other half agree about this stuff as a ski holiday or 2 a year with kids can be one of your major expenses and has the potential to be quite stressful if not approached in a united way.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Surprised that no-one has suggested Club Med here. They are really good with youngsters, Clubs for all ages and lessons, child care etc always take place on site, unlike a lot of other operators where there's some kind of procession across the resort and back to get to ski school. They are quite French but most staff will have some English. We've put our Anglophone kids into Baby Club and Mini Club and they had a fine time!

Also fully inclusive so you can relax from the moment you arrive. Not cheap but the costs actually stack up very well against pretty much any other TO who would add on all sorts of charges for kids clubs etc.

Also, make sure if you do go for a quote then speak to a couple of agents as they generally all do Club Med cheaper than booking directly. Someone like Ifyouski or Alpine Answers...

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My only experience is with Esprit and I can recommend them. My situation is slightly different from yours. I'm a solo parent (Mrs Gaza doesn't ski) and I wanted reassurance that my son would be well looked after and have other kids to play with. I posted a couple of (lengthy) trip reports that give you soup to nuts of the Esprit experience.

Our first trip was to Val d'Isere in February 2014:-

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=2496717

The second was to Belle Plagne in February 2015:-

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=2683132

We are booked to go back to Val d'Isere in March 2016.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Hi, if you dont mind limited pistes for the grown-ups then take a look at Kranjska Gora in Slovenia. Ridiculously cheap for the 5 star quality of the hotels and the Crystal child care system was fantastic. Our little man skied in the morning (excellent tuition) and as I remember, it was cheaper to him in to the afternoon creche than here at home.

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@Rom77,

When our kids were small we had good holidays with both Mark Warner and Ski VIP. Mark Warner was chalet hotels with crèches. Ski VIP was catered apartments with nannies.

Format was similar really, nanny escorted kids to ski school, collected them after the morning, fed them at lunchtime and organised activities after. We could come back at any time to play of take them out for a little ski in the afternoon. In practice we tended to ski all morning then have lunch. Come home about 2pm then get them out about 2:30 for a couple of runs on the nursery slope. After that they were well and truly done! We were also going at Easter so the snow would be getting pretty slushy by 3-3:30 anyway.

Obviously there are other companies too but we were pleased with both MW and VIP - had a couple of holidays with each.
I would look for English speaking ski schools. Also be prepared that they may find it hard and you may need to sacrifice more skiing to make sure they have a fun time (success is not the amount of skiing that you get in but that the kids are keen to go gain next year!)

After all it is free

Without reading the replies above: Do not go in school holidays. Make sure that it's not local school holidays in the place you are visiting (esp. France where it can get dead busy). I'd be tempted to go later in the year (March) not in Jan because of the cold. Do not have any preconceptions about how good or bad your kids will be, but do not expect them to go on for hours and hours without a break. Do sledging, snowmen, snowball fights and all that other stuff. The key is to get them to have a good time so that they'll want to go back. In a few years, they'll be shooting down the hill and having a go at you for being boring and slow (or is that just my kids?)

I would thoroughly recommend Les Gets as a family friendly resort. It's got a "Famille Plus Montagne" award and the whole place is very geared up to cater for families, particularly younger children. There are regular child friendly activities next to the ice rink and in the week before Christmas, you can go and visit Santa in his enchanted forest, and be forced to dance with his elves on the streets of the village.

The ski slopes are gentle, with 2 magic carpets and a whole area of green runs that you are only allowed to ski on if you have a child with you. Little legs travel up to the beginners area in a bubble, and can access all the green runs only using rope tow, magic carpet or drag lift, so no chair lift horrors! That said, most of the main chair lifts are equipped with child stop attachments, making it less of a necesity to have your arm around them in a death grip when on the lifts.

The village is charming and small enough that walking around is easy for little legs, and there is a regular free bus service during the day. Everything is located conveniently - ski hire places just opposite the Front de Neige so no tramping for miles carrying skis.

We went there with Ski Esprit - and I would echo the recommendations above. We met some parents on the chairlift who were there with Ski Famille and they seemed very happy with them. After our first visit, we found it so perfect to manage all the difficult parts of skiing with children that we just carried on going back. Once our girls were sufficiently good skiers to make it down a few runs with us in the afternoon, we travelled independently rather than booking anything with child care. (that was after 3 trips with Ski Esprit, when the youngest was almost 5)

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But usually fine mid march, which is when the OP said they were going, unless I misunderstood?

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Still have to worry about car traffic in Les Gets, I'd recommend one of the car-free resorts like arc1950

You know it makes sense.

We've skied with our two since they were abies (now 12 and 9) and tried all sorts of combos. We did La Tania and Meribel with a Nanny that came to the chalet which worked well when they were very small (cheaper if you go with other families as we did). We tried a nursery in Vaujany-lovely resort but kids hated the nursery. We've done Ski Espirit in Obergurgl which the kids absolutely loved and as much childcare as you want/need although mine were older when we went there. We've done Les Gets a few times but the youngest was 4 then so he went into ski school.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

We used Alpine Child Care, 3 nannies applied for our job and we got to interview them on the phone before choosing - we had a great nanny and she was super flexible and will use her this year too Happy

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skiing with toddlers- childcare&resort advice please

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