 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all,
Having travelled with a few independents and Esprit and self catering in the past we have experienced a range of standards of chalets. Generally all are clean and food is decent and wine drinkable but now we are looking for a step up for a family trip - we are organising a 70th birthday trip for our whole family and want something a little bit nicer than we experienced in the past - thinking maybe a bit more luxury, posher food, perhaps and a hot tub would be nice too.
Any recommendations on companies to look at, budget isn't unlimited so don't go crazy though.
Cheers,
Peter
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We used to use Esprit when our's were little. After the Total buy out, the standard of Esprit accomm slide downhill at a fairly alarming rate.
Most large TOs, other than Crystal or Total should be a notch above. Take a look at Neilson and Inghams. At the top, probably start with Scott Dunn and work your way down.
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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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Bramble ski
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Check out Purple Ski - not used them ourselves but supposed to be luxury. Based in the 3V though IIRC.
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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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Have a look at http://www.powdernshine.com/ - we stayed at their Chamois chalet in April and it was excellent. The bedrooms are small but the lounge/dining area is very large, as is the boot room. Decent sized sauna and Jacuzzi and there's a wee kids play room if that's important to you. The chalet is right on the piste - you could almost jump off the balcony on to the piste (but the entrance is at the back so you've got a 50m walk before you put your skis on. Great views, great service and in particular really impressive food. We were there the last week of the season so got a very good price but overall I think they're really good value and a huge step up from my previous catered chalet experiences. The key difference is that Powder n Shine only employ professional chefs, not just seasonaires who can cook a bit. Staff might well change from one season to the next but the guy cooking for us was previously a chef in a Michelin starred restaurant in Edinburgh.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Bones wrote: |
| Check out Purple Ski - not used them ourselves but supposed to be luxury. Based in the 3V though IIRC. |
OP said "budget isn't unlimited so don't go crazy though."
Purple Ski are right up there.
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Supertravel - they are superb- used them
In St Anton. In Morzine La Ferme du Lac Vert and Freedomski are two that spring to mind with great properties and very high standards of accommodation and service.
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Another recommendation for Powdernshine
Stayed with them for two long weekends, 1 with and 1 without kids. Really enjoyed both and would be very pleased to enjoy one of their chalets for a week
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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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Meriski
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A friend who has stayed with yse several times rates them as being pretty good quality.
I think there chalets are a bit varied as I went to one of their cheapest a few years back, the food was very good but the rooms a bit basic.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If the family is 11 or less in number try http://www.skisavoiefayre.com/ . Jenny is an owner operator in a quiet are of Val D'Isere. I can personally account for the excellent food and the warmth of the hot tub. Sure - you will have to organise your own flights and a transfer but its not that tricky - you will have a special week and no lottery as to whether a chalet is as good as last years reports or full of junior doctors on a bender.
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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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You know it makes sense.
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Mollerski, fair enough, haven't looked at their prices - had just heard they have decent chalets 
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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I can personally recommend ski basics in meribel. Great quality without breaking the bank. Very friendly and helpful team with good cooks, hence we're going back to the same chalet for the 4th year. From the boss down, they're very accommodating and virtually nothing is too much trouble. Makes for a wonderful holiday.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Depends on whether you are looking for everything all in, or happy to organise own flights/transfers. Personally I am lazy so I have used the following big companies with different success:
Skiworld - generally good standard but the prices seem high compared to some others for same resorts/similar accommodation. You do get good discounts for larger groups.
Ingham's - like their Andorra offerings - used last year staying at Hotel del Clos - great trip, good price and great entertainment both on piste and in the hotel bar
Crystal (Thomas Cook) - used them 15 years ago Pas de la Casa and swore never again as they failed to resolve
accommodation issues with hot water. Tried again recently over last 3 years and very impressed, they have upped their game - using them twice this season - Tigne and Val Thrones
Snowbizz - they only do Puy St Vincent - used them 4 times, very good and very family orientated - if you have young children and are NOT looking for riotous apre ski, worth a try.
Now a question for the group, who would you use for French Pyrenees?
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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 would expect that www.ptski.com would be able tonarrange things for you ...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Try Ski Amis ... Recent award winners
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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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Ski Olympic are good.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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2 years ago we stayed with these guys in La Tania
http://www.alpine-escape.co.uk/
Hospitality was fantastic and the location to the slopes was good.
For the 5 years prior to that we stayed with these guys
http://starskichalets.com/
We always found them good until the last year when we had a 12 year old "chef" whose food was below average. As a result we haven't been back but the previous 4 years were excellent.
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+1 for Alpine Escape 👍
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VIP
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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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its been years since we did the chalet type trip and moved over to booking direct with a decent hotel and through this post thought id have another look but cant see the attraction other than in a large insular group or have chalets improved to the standard expected as there doesnt seem to much if any price differential
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+1 @ski for fun, although if you take the whole place (and get decent hosts and food) it can be a laugh
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Another +1 for supertravel used them a few times and their new eden rock chalet looks pretty special.
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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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| ski for fun wrote: |
| its been years since we did the chalet type trip and moved over to booking direct with a decent hotel and through this post thought id have another look but cant see the attraction other than in a large insular group or have chalets improved to the standard expected as there doesnt seem to much if any price differential |
I very rarely use catered chalets these days other than the trip mentioned earlier. I tend to go self catering, but for a large family or extended family group if you don't want to self cater, having a place to yourself is great particularly if celebrating a birthday or some such no having to fit in with other hotel guests.
Not knocking hotels that are fine but different forms of accommodation are suitable for different things and chalets definitely have their place for groups of friends and family.
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That's the one I've been eyeing up @ansta1,
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You know it makes sense.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hello Peter, what are the dates for your special trip? We own and run catered Chalet La Luge in La Tzoumaz which is a great little ski resort which links directly into Verbier and the rest of the 4 Valleys ski area. The Verbier ski pistes opened on Friday after some good snow fall and the telecabine in La Tzoumaz also open this weekend for the link to Verbier.
We also manage a number of self catered properties in the village. Please take a look at our website www.chaletlaluge.com for more details and then get in touch with any questions.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Dan.
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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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Again... Definitely highly recommend VIP, for a slightly lower budget then Ski Amis... top end would be Scott Dunn.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I prefer the smaller businesses, which can mean sometimes that the quality can vary. So much depends on who is doing the chalet catering / cleaning / "front of house" stuff. It also strikes me that the OP might be looking more for "value for money" then "posh". After all, you can get quality - at a price - with top end companies.
The two that have stood out for me have been Silver Ski (not the smallest nor the biggest company, but we had a really memorable holiday with them) and also Snow Crazy.
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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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| Quote: |
top end would be Scott Dunn.
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Scott Dunn is far from the top end. The top end is just fabulously ridiculously expensive.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
Scott Dunn are up there as a regular TO
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Yes, I'm sure that's right. It was Scott Dunn that my son went out to work for (as a cook) his first season. He didn't like the cut of their jib though, and resigned before the first guests arrived, staying on to work freelance (a few lean weeks in January but he made it, and paid back all the dosh he had to borrow from me to rent a studio for the season, with all rent payable upfront!
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@pam w,
Another of our's begins this week as a cook for Powder White. Let's hope that he likes the cut of their jib. He should be OK to assess how their jib is flying, as he passed his yachtmasters (sailing) only last week.
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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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| Mollerski wrote: |
@pam w,
Another of our's begins this week as a cook for Powder White. Let's hope that he likes the cut of their jib. He should be OK to assess how their jib is flying, as he passed his yachtmasters (sailing) only last week. |
Perfect. That will set him up for some back-to-back seasons.
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+1 for VIP. I have had several good holidays with them. I would describe them as a notch above the regular TOs, and good value for what they offer.
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