 Poster: A snowHead
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Ok, been back from Alpe D’huez a couple of weeks and thought I’d give you my views on Club Med after the six of us (four teenagers) spent a week there. Hope this is the right forum to post it on?
It was our first stay in a Club Med, so we didn’t really know what to expect, but from the advance publicity we were looking forward to quality food, all-inclusive drinks  , ‘free’ group lessons, all day snacks, high standards of accommodation, ski-in-ski-out convenience and some evening entertainment to keep the kids happy.
In fact the food WAS pretty good, oh and you could (almost) ski in and out. The rest was disappointing.
Starting with our arrival, we had unfortunately picked the busiest week of the year when all of Paris descends upon the alps and leaves their kids with Club Med. The queues at reception had to be seen to be believed, even though we arrived ‘early’ because we were self-drive. They had set up an ‘English’ desk specially to deal with Brits, which (after queuing for 30 minutes at the main desk) we were re-directed to. Sadly we weren’t on the list of ‘Brits’ so this didn’t really work out very well. Fortunately I speak enough French to explain so we did eventually (an hour later) get to our rooms – disappointment number two:
I have stayed in more comfort at Butlins. No exaggeration, the rooms were just a few feet bigger than the beds that filled them, and the bathroom was approximately 2m X 3m of which half was the shower (no bath). It was smaller than the bathroom in a Eurocamp Caravan! At least the toilet was separate. The standard of cleaning was OK, (but not great, our kids found a small pile of underwear on their bathroom shelf!) and the rooms were at least warm without being too hot. Beds were comfortable.
Giving praise where it’s due, the (mealtime) food was excellent. Breakfast, lunch and evening meal were all buffets with a lot of variety and some very well presented choices. There was always a ‘special’ dish being cooked which included on one occasion, Pan-fried Shrimp in wine, and another some beautifully cooked stir fried beef. There was also a more formal restaurant which could be booked, and which also served food to a very high standard.
So no food complaints, er, except for one. The ‘all day’ snacks which we had thought would be pizza’s or sandwiches or suchlike, amounted to biscuits, olives and cheese cubes. That’s all there was from 4.00 until 7.30 pm when the evening meal started. Just not enough after a day on the slopes. Oh and another; the all-inclusive drinks were fine, but you had to order them by the glass. Even wine. So no getting a bottle for your table (except at meals). This meant queuing at the bar every 20 mins (I drink fast!) for a small glass of wine which frankly was a bit of a pain.
The ski lessons? – Provided on behalf of Club Med by ESF and they were rubbish. They told us at the desk that we could all go together in a group, but then on the day forced us to split up by age. The kids didn’t fancy this so they went off together free skiing and Mrs Axs and I tried a mornings worth. Basically it was ‘follow me down this slope, we’ll all meet up over by that lift’ and then off everybody went – chaos. The only thing I ‘learned’ was not to bother with ESF!
Evening entertainment – forget it. Our kids are all teens, the ‘entertainment’ from Club Med was very much designed to meet the needs of younger ( less than 10 yr old) French kids. Hordes of the little darlings were marching around throughout the evening chanting and singing no doubt amusing French cultural anthems. Ours stayed with us and we basically chatted in the Bar (no-where else to go, the rooms were too small to socialise in).
Overall – Club Med appears to be aimed at providing French parents with all-day crèches for their little kiddies while the Parents themselves go and enjoy the slopes. They are simply not geared up to meeting the needs of teens or families who want to holiday together. I think they charge a lot for what they deliver and only the food (at mealtimes) meets the standard of their advertising. I wouldn’t (ever) go back, and even if I had small kids, the ‘ambiance’ is VERY French and so would not suit anyone who is not completely comfortable in the language. I like France, and I have always found the French to be warm and friendly (no, really!). The staff at Club Med did try hard at this, but between our disappointment with the facilities, entertainment and rooms, and our kids ‘isolation’ (by the language barrier), Club Med did not meet our expectations.
C’est la vie! Next trip - Heavenly Lake Tahoe, could be REAL language problems ahead!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If ever anyone now asks me why I book DIY ski hols then I'm going to point them at this thread!
Tough luck Axsman - as a fellow Leicester dweller, I sympathise with your plight. I underwent a similar experience in a Crystal chalet years ago that "turned" me to DIY hols instead. At least now I only have myself to blame if it all goes pear-shaped!
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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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| Quote: |
the ‘ambiance’ is VERY French
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Because it's a French operator, perhaps? It's not as though there's a shortage of Anglophone TOs out there.
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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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carled, Totally Agree. Ironically, it was another bad experience at the hands of Thomson a couple of years ago that lead us to DIY the last four or five times. Despite this we thought we'd just give Club Med a try, and sadly didn't enjoy it very much.
Lizzard, Fair enough. And You can hardly blame a French operator in France for catering primarily to the French market My point is really a warning to any other Brits that this is exactly what they are doing. I assume they do it very well, as one French lady told me, she had been bringing her family there for the last five years, they never went anywhere else! All fine, but it just didn't work for us. And I do feel the quality of rooms and 'all day snacks' fell far short of our reasonable expectations. How would you fancy a bowl of olives and a biscuit after an afternoons skiing? I need more mmmmm pizza mmmmmm....
Self Catering, Drive to the Alps, Fly to the US, from now on it will be DIY all the way 
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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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half term..
1. 50 minutes to check in, expect the person in front of you not to have had enough tiem to locate his passport by then...
2. expect lots of kids who cant behave on a plane to annoy you but not as much as their sappy parents who either cant, or cant be bothered, to get them to shut it a bit for a mere 90 minutes..
3. get your hire gear sorted asap.. end of, even beofre you check in!!! ..
4. never stop to eat at lunchtime.. a family on its own is controllable, but to watch say 3 families who are holidaying together with young kids, all trying to sit and order together when its packed really is the height of entertainment..
5. on your way home, at an airport that you normally sail through, which cant handle the holiday crush remind yourself that next time you will save yourself a fortune and drive ..
6. kids are great... but other peoples arn't 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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AxsMan, not really on topic, but in 10 years of skiing in N.America, we found it impossible to beat TO's prices, and have had no problem with them once we actually set off (apart from one minor skirmish about car hire cost which was sorted out satisfactorily). The TO 'experience' to N.America is different to Europe, 'though. The hotels are generally better, so no accomodation complaints, the deal is usually no grub, so no food complaints, we always hire a car, so no transfer complaints. Admittedly, they invariably cock up the booking proceedure, but that gets sorted before we leave.
You probably knew all that.
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And on the French penchant for trying to shoe-horn 8 people into an apartment fit for habitation by 4 hobbits, I've noticed whilst looking for accommodation recently that they appear to now use two figures on lots of apartments these days - a "recommended" number of people and a "you could fit this many people in here, but don't expect to be swinging many cats around monsieur" figure... I've seen these as far apart as 4 to 6 people on some apartments, depending on whether thy're including the kitchen table as bedspace or not...
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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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CANV CANVINGTON and carled, Actually all kids ARE great (even ours!) , as long as they are sound asleep. It's when they wake up and start wanting things - a bottle (milk), food, TV, a new Snowboard, a car, a bottle (vodka), a small terraced they can share with 'mates', that they become painful
richmond, Heavenly in April will be my first skiing trip to the States. All DIY, and includes three days in Vegas and one at the Grand Canyon. Booking it has been half the fun . Don't know if I could have done it through a TO, but I suspect not with the exact timings I wanted.
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Kids are great so long as you can give them back after 2 hours!!!
Club Med's been doing this for some time.Most of the ESF instructors I know hate doing their lessons - the kids are always badly behaved and they go whether they want lessons are not - real bargain basement stuff. Lots of rude asides about banlieus and so on.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| AxsMan wrote: |
| richmond, Heavenly in April will be my first skiing trip to the States. All DIY, and includes three days in Vegas and one at the Grand Canyon. Booking it has been half the fun . Don't know if I could have done it through a TO, but I suspect not with the exact timings I wanted. |
Possibly not. Our most recent N.American trip was booked through United Vacations, United Airlines TO. We had 10 days in Breckenridge and 4 days in NY (or something like that). We got a good price on the flights, car hire and Breck accomodation, and arranged the NY accomodation ourselves as they weren't competitive. The stopover in NY at no extra cost was an attraction.
I fancy Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon (and Heavenly, for that matter). Lucky old you.
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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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'all day snacks' fell far short of our reasonable expectations
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That's why you rarely see fat French kids. The UK ones, on the other hand, have been getting steadily both fatter and ruder over the past 10 years (you can tell I've worked for schools TOs).
Lots of parents on here - come on, tell us why British kids are lardy and have no manners!
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I'm a parent. My kids are stick thin (I have a 5'9" tall 12 year old girl and a 5'1" tall 8 year old girl, both of whom eat huge amounts of good healthy food). They also both have very good manners! Or so we're told... they're well behaved everywhere except in the house normally... 
I know what you mean though... I'm frequently horrified by such programmes as "Supernanny" and "Honey, we're killing the kids" Some parents need a good slap, let alone the kids.
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You know it makes sense.
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Lizzard,
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Lots of parents on here - come on, tell us why British kids are lardy and have no manners!
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IMHO because there is no incentive for teachers to discipline their pupils and if/when they do the childs parents are banging on the door asking why their child has been 'assaulted' by the Teacher.
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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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Lizzard, FWIW, my kids are not lardy (although I am a little lardically challenged myself) and they're only rude to us. Compared to your average French brat, their behaviour in public, especially in lift queues, is exemplary.
The UK has a preponderance of fat, rude kids because for the last 30 years or so, the underclass of ill educated, pasty faced, smoking morons that seemed to be on its way out has been resurgent (thanks Mrs T and Mr B), and some of b*stards have the temerity to have enough cash to go skiing.
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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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Argument for a 70% VAT rate on ready meals and fashion sportswear then!
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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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My kids aren;t lardy either, they're so thin the doctor was concerned about their diet!!! Both tall and stick thin. Eat like horses too.
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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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Helen Beaumont, I notice you didn't mention their rudeness (or lack thereof...) deliberate omission?
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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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carled, they're not particularly rude either.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Yeah, mine too... proper little charmers OUT of our house...
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carled, I know exactly what you mean!!!
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| Lizzard wrote: |
| Argument for a 70% VAT rate on ready meals and fashion sportswear then! |
And ski hols.
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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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AxsMan,
Nice post. Both Alpe d'Huez and Ski Med were of interest - but I can cross Club Med off the list now.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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AxsMan, mine are staying at home next week. Too many important exams coming up to take a week off school. I'm actually pleasantly surprised when i return at the lack of mess. I expect it, but it somehow doesn't happen. I have also found a partial solution to the party problem. We go on Sunday and come back Friday evening.
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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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AxsMan, it wasn't a serious suggestion, obviously. Now that you have one working, he can start paying for you. Soon, you'll be able to go a deux, paid for by your grateful offspring; happy thought.
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You know it makes sense.
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FAQ
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