 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all 
I thought i put up a report on out latest skiing holiday, booked through Ski Beat. This report is all about the chalet, as the skiing was brilling and there was no need to report on that. 
cheers.
Report on Skiing holiday with Ski Beat, in Plan Peisey, Les Arc. Chalet Bouquetin
Overall feeling about this holiday. This skiing holiday was fine. There were ten of us and we had the chalet to ourselves.
The Chalet:
Positives. Nice chalet, with ample space for ten people. The rooms were large enough, and there was plenty of storage space. The ensuite while being small, were adequate for its needs. The views were stunning. Nice fire place.
The Piste were very accessible from the chalet (once the steps had been overcome), this was one main plus point.
The food was very nice, both in taste and presentation and was plentiful and the host catered for everyone’s tastes and dietary requirements. Excellent cakes! The wine was drinkable and plentiful after resolving an issue (see below)
Negatives. The bathrooms were not cleaned to our expected standard, and a change of towels mid week would have been nice. The towels did stink a bit at the end of the stay. A misunderstanding over the wine with the host lead to some unpopular feelings toward the host, on the second day of the holiday, this was resolved but unfortunalty some of my fellow guests were not pleased at all by the situation. This I believe is due to Ski Beat training and motivation of its employees, as talking to another Ski Beat guest at another chalet, whilst waiting at the airport, similar (and worst) problems were encountered by these guest during their stay.
Lots of steps from the chalet to the top. Beware.
A few more coat hooks in the chalet entrance hall would have been usefully order to make sure all coats were dried overnight.
The unbelievable queuing at check in at Grenoble airport which followed the 4+ hours coach journey was appalling. Whilst I understand that this is not directly due to ski beat, it does put a damper on the whole week. Maybe they should use a different carrier and/ or airport, or allow the snow train as a transport choice.
Final comments. Whilst overall, the chalet holiday was fine; I am unlikely to book another ski holiday with Ski Beat again. I am comparing this to our chalet ski holiday last year, which was similarly priced, in the same resort, but with a smaller independent company, which was 50% better overall. We paid £6000 + for this holiday, it’s a lot, and we expected just a little more care and attention. One example of this is the cheese board. Last year, we had a cheese board every night following the dessert. With Ski Beat, the cheese board was only on the last night but replaced the dessert…cheese does not cost that much…what is that all about!! 
Thanks for reading my review, and I hope it will be useful.
PS: the flavoured vodka’s at the Flying Squirrel were lethal…apart from the ski sock flavour which was just plain nasty!!! 
Mango
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Cheers for that mangojuicer, you mention another holiday......
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similarly priced, in the same resort, but with a smaller independent company, which was 50% better overall
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who was that with please? I am considering this area for next season and would like to explore all the options!
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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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It was Go Alpine. very friendly owner, and last year the hosts were really good!
the only draw back is that both their chalet are in Peisey nancroix, which means you have to use the free 'yogurst pots' lifts to plan peisy.
hope this helps
Mango
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
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mangojuicer, What were the wine issues?
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Hello everyone,
My friends and I had a whole ski beat chalet to ourselves (the Herrison in Plan Peisey) in Feb 2005 and were quite pleased. The food was pretty good on the whole but I was a little disappointed with the breakfast as the only hot option was some form of egg everyday. The chalet wasn't really cleaned much during our stay and I think the hosts tend to do this on a Saturday rather than do incremental cleaning during the week. They probably want an easy life skiing! Aside from that we had a good time but I think when you are among friends and come in on your last legs each day, anything warm seems good.
The chalet location was really good and we could ski in (if we managed to remember the right blue run to take) and nearly ski out down the back road, if the snow was OK.
The arrival at Grenoble and transfer was drawn out as we were the first flight to arrive and we had to wait over an hour on the bus to allow the other flights to come in, before we drove to Les Arcs.
I've only been in three chalets but the ski beat chalet was better than the previous two I'd been in (both Airtours) although the food was only on a par with the last. I think this is down to who you get as a chalet host, although the company should really maintain a high level of standards throughout.
I may be off soon (25/3) to the 3 valleys and would consider ski beat as they do discount quite well. Last year we paid near to full price as we wanted to ensure the group were all together but for 2 - 4 people it seems easy to get a half price deal a week or so before (outside of school holidays)
Cheers
Andy
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Hi
| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| mangojuicer, What were the wine issues? |
basically, we mentioned to the host that we would be buying our own beer from the shops. He had beer to sell to us. One the first evening following this conversation, he was a bit stingy and slow at refilling the wine jug. After the meal, he was confronted him with this, and he said...if you buy beer from me, i'll make sure that the wine flows freely!!!!
We then turned around and stated that we had paid for this wine, and we would be expecting as much wine as we wanted while someone was still eating around the table. And if this did not happen, we would be seeing the manager. So the next few days, not only did we buy in 2 crates of beer, we made sure we drank plenty of wine. The subject was not mentioned again.
I think this was a case of the host not realising that we were all in our 30th, and that we don't like underhand tactics, and definatly not afraid to shout out when we known we are beign coned.
Mango
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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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mangojuicer, can I ask why you didn't go back with Go Alpine? Was it simply the chalet location? Or were Ski Beat cheaper as well?
I've had a look on Go Alpine's site:- they appear quite child-friendly, but don't mention childcare as such. do you have any experience of the childcare in this neck of the woods? Cheers.
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It does sound like your host didn't handle the situation very well, but I always thought it was poor form to buy in your own beer when the host is offering this sort of "service"
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Arno wrote: |
| It does sound like your host didn't handle the situation very well, but I always thought it was poor form to buy in your own beer when the host is offering this sort of "service" |
Agree, this is all part of playing the game..... As long as they aren'y taking the mick with the mark-up, its only a few Euro's back to the hosts.
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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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This didn't happen when we've done chalet hols. We've bought our own beers, and shared them with the host too, but they've never even offered to sell us any, never mind insist we did.
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Several chalets where I have stayed have had some beers and soft drinks and sweets available, with a price list and a money pot. The host would say that they were available, but we have never had any pressure to buy from there rather than buying our own from a shop. I think our chalet hosts regarded it as an easy way to keep the guests happy by providing facilities before we asked for them. Eg it is common on the first night to want soft drinks to mix with duty-free spirits, but often the supermarkets are closed when you feel thirsty after a late arrival.
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You know it makes sense.
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Adrian, I think there may have been some mixers on sale, but I think the chalet licence may forbid the sale of alcohol. If they're following the rules correctly I don't think they're allowed to sell beer, only serve wine with dinner (hence the rule on wine until you leave the table).
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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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I am sure you are correct, Helen, about licences. But, imagine a small chalet staffed by non-French people, selling just a few bottles at only fractionally above cost and with no one complaining. How would anyone in authority know and would they bother unless some significant problem occurred?
Remembering further back, some chalet staff have commented about not being licenced for alcohol sales. But other chalets have sold beer.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Adrian, I think French being French, and the licenses being hard to obtain, may mean someone is watching them. Our French residents may know more.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi
| the ice perv wrote: |
mangojuicer, can I ask why you didn't go back with Go Alpine? Was it simply the chalet location? Or were Ski Beat cheaper as well?
I've had a look on Go Alpine's site:- they appear quite child-friendly, but don't mention childcare as such. do you have any experience of the childcare in this neck of the woods? Cheers. |
Unfortunatly, we did not have any children with us, so i cannot comment. But the owners were friendly enough, i'm sure a quick email or phone call and they would be able to help you in finding a solution.
Yes, the main reason was the location. walking back to the chalet after a long day in ski boots was an issue with some of our fellow guests.
cheers
mango
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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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a change of towels mid week would have been nice
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Last year, we had a cheese board every night following the dessert. With Ski Beat, the cheese board was only on the last night but replaced the dessert
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Oh good grief. One more time .................. if you want those services, book with a company which offers them. Read the brochure - that's what it's there for. Don't book with an operator which blatantly doesn't offer the service you want and then whinge about it later.
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cheese does not cost that much
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You'd be surprised.
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He had beer to sell to us.
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That's VERY naughty. Catered chalets have a Licence I and Licence Restaurant (or should do) which allows them to provide you with wine over dinner but not to sell any other alcohol. If hosts sell beers, the licensee is risking a big fat fine. So-called 'honesty bar' sales used to be a chalet staff perk until the French licensing authorities got wind of it, and it still persists in places, mostly with small companies whose managers don't know the law - wouldn't have expected to see it with Ski Beat.
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How would anyone in authority know and would they bother unless some significant problem occurred?
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We're all registered as commercial premises (or should be). And we're talking Customs and Excise here. Since when did they turn a blind eye to anything whatsoever?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Hi,
| Arno wrote: |
| It does sound like your host didn't handle the situation very well, but I always thought it was poor form to buy in your own beer when the host is offering this sort of "service" |
Yes, having this service provided by the host is good and usefull, in some situation, which we took advantage of last year, by buying extra wine, pop cans and chocolate from the hosts, whilst still bying in our own beer, unfortunatly, we did not appreciate the situation this year, and thus did not purchase extras from the host!
Mango
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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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Hi
[quote="Lizzard"]
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a change of towels mid week would have been nice
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Last year, we had a cheese board every night following the dessert. With Ski Beat, the cheese board was only on the last night but replaced the dessert
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>>Oh good grief. One more time .................. if you want those services, book with a company which offers them. Read the brochure - that's what it's there for. Don't book with an operator which blatantly doesn't offer the service you want and then whinge about it later.
At ~ £600 per head, whilst we were not expecting 5* service, a clean towel half way through the week, or at least beign asked if we wanted one would have been 'nice'
Not whinging about it, just giving a report, and trying to compare with previous experience, to try and provide balanced review. Re the Cheese, it does not say in the brochure that it will replace the dessert...it implies that it is in extra of the dessert!
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cheese does not cost that much
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You'd be surprised.
Not the amount we had....
Mango
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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mangojuicer, I worked for Ski Beat last year with my partner and i can say that we were told not to serve wine after the dessert was served. We stuck with this until the 3rd week of the season, that's when decided it was less hastle to just to leave the wine out all night. We also had an honesty bar but certainly didn't get grumpy when people didn't buy from it. The wine is not part of the chalet food budget so it really made no odds to us, and flowing wine meant happy campers!
I do agree with lizard about reading the brochure though. One of the biggest issues last year was with people who booked through agents or online who hadn't even heard of ski beat until they arrived in resort, which more often than not led to complaiints as to what was not included, and these complaints where usualy based on "what they had lasy year with x chalet company"
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We've been travelling with them for the past 10 years and standards have been consistent across that time and have always compared favourably with other tour operators we have used big and small.
I've never had the wine taken away and never had any difficulty in adjourning to the comfy chairs with our coffee and more wine if we want it. There has always been an honesty bar as well.
I have to say it wouldn't occur to me to expect a change of towels during the week. I don't think the towells are changed that often at home.
Ultimaltey I guess it depends on your priorities.
We've used skibeat, skipeak (excellent food, location a bit of a hassle, same with the childcare), family ski company (rubbish food, good(ish) childcare, fab location, tired chalets without en suites), snowline (excellent chalet, poor location, excellent guiding, expensive) and a number of others. For us the total package, location, price, food, modern chalets with en suites, and childcare comes out top but there are bits of all the other operators I would like to take (Skipeak's food with skibeat chalets & childcare with snowlines guiding and early morning cups of tea in bed based in Family ski company's location (ardent in PDS) at skibeat prices after all my regular customer, filling the chalet, booking early being a skiclub member discounts are taken off.
I'm off to La Tania with skibeat tomorrow lest hope I'm not here in 10 days time retracting my words.
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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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ashton parker,
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| hope I'm not here in 10 days time retracting my words. |
Good luck!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'm reporting a lttle bit earlier than expected and not from an internet cafe but from my office.
All packed Saturday morning, when Daughter No. 1 says she doesn't feel well, turns white as a sheet and starts throwing up. Mrs P then said that there had been a bug going round the school for the past week or so. That's it holiday over. Vaguely tried to float the idea that I could go by myself and got the clear answer that i could if I thought I should which I took to mean my life would be hell if went. I still seriously considered it.
Charlotte took herself off to bed and had a sleep for an hour which she never does and then came back down saying she was fine. Fantastic just nerves I hoped (knowing full well it wasn't) we got as far as the airport before she threw up again so drove back home. Charlotte in bits saying she was fine, me sulking and Mrs P saying "nevermind" far too often.
Couple of interesting things.
Skibeat said they could get us on a later plane if she felt better that day.
I tried to use my ski club insurance and when i did manage to talk to someone their command of english was so poor that I couldn't work out what they were saying. Eventually I worked out that I was ringing the old number and as I had a new policy (post July 05) with new underwriters/claims people I needed a different number. The policy details still haven't arrived at home and I renewed the ski club insurance 10 days ago.
I also have insurance through my natwest advantage premier card but didn't use it to pay for the holiday so didn't think I could claim under that. Then I vaguely recollected my bank manager telling me the insurance was valid as long as the money came out of my adprem account. I'd paid by switch from that account so called the insurers.
Being an honest chap I told them about the other policy for which they were also the claims division so when i asked how it worked she just said you should pursue the claim through the best policy first usually determined by the one with the lower excess in this case natwest and if that fails then tyr the other policy so that is what I have done.
Mrs P took charlotte to the doctors on monday just to authenticate our claim so fingers crossed.
Still gutted about missing the trip, board bag is still packed can't bring myself to unpack it.
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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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How insurance works:
1. You give them lots of money
2. They give you nothing whatsoever
3. They charge you even more next year because you made a claim even though they refused to pay up.
That's my understanding of it, anyway.
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ashton parker, How awful. 
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You know it makes sense.
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Sorry to hear that ashton parker 
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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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Hi,
As the host mentioned in the first post on this thread I'd like to play my own part in clearing up any misunderstandings there may have been. First off I'd like to say that I really enjoyed the entire group of guests that week and am glad to hear they appreciated my cooking. As regards the issue of the wine, Ski Beat serves wine with dinner and only with dinner. On the night in question I was asked for the carafes to be refilled, at the time the table had been cleared of all food for some time, I had washed the dishes, 7 out of the 10 guests had left the table some time earlier and all that was remaining were three guests with coffee cups and wine glasses. While I do normally take a relaxed attitude to when dinner finally finishes I felt that asking for a refill then was stretching "with dinner" a little too far. It was my intention to restate ski beat policy and to draw attention to other sources of refreshment. I recall doing this in a clumsy way for which I unreservedly appologise. It was never my intention to withold anything that you were entilted to. With this in mind I'm sorry to say I rather resent the implication that any change in my behaviour was brought about by threatening to call the manager. The question of the manager being called was never bought up in my presence. If called manager would simply had to restate that ski beat policy is to serve wine only with the meal. It would probably have been far better if you had brought the subject up as the air could have been cleared and mutral misunderstandings resolved!
With the regard to the "honesty bar" this is a service virtually all chalet hosts (in my experience) provide, to supplement low levels of pay (we're not in it for the money!) and it does fall into a somewhat "grey" area legally. Guests are of course welcome to buy their own alcohol in to save their own wallet.
I'm sorry the bathrooms weren't cleaned as well as you would have liked, again it would probably have been helpful if this had been bought up during the week.
With regard to limited wine service, towels not being changed during the week and cheese only being served on the final night (I believe "on the final night you will enjoy a cheese board" is the exact wording in the brochure), I'm sure everyone can appreciate that balancing the level of service provided while still holding costs down to an affordable level is a difficult job. If you consider booking with ski beat again, you should certainly take a look at our "select service" chalets, which are more expensive but do offer various "extras", a cheese board every night being one of them. Also as the person responsible for the chalet budget I can assure you that even the amount of cheese you had featured second only to the meat bill cost wise in my weekly account. It's not cheap, but it was a pleasure to see it enjoyed to the full!
Regarding your comments, it's certainly helpful to fill out the questionnaire and send it back. I havn't seen one from your party yet (but I'm last in line). They do get read and the feedback used to make changes for subsequent seasons.
On a side note I do make available any books or magazines that guests leave behind - the Monty Python biography was in fact my own book, which I actually hadn't finished reading. It would have been polite to have asked before taking it home to finish! (not sure which member of your party this was) I sincerely hope it was enjoyed and look forward to finishing it myself when I come accross another copy. :-)
Finally I would just like to say I'm glad that you enjoyed your week, I did too and the generous tip on the last day was much very appreciated!
I hope you enjoy your future skiing or boarding!
H
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Host Welcome to Snowheads !
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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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Excellent first post Host, It sums up my thoughts on what I thought had probably gone on. I can imagine that these will be reccuring issues and perhaps Ski Beat should work harder in communicating the "rules" more effectivley to the guests on arrival.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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Timberwolf, Absolutley. It should be earned, the chalet staff should "want" you to have the wine. I too have never come accross a problem.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Welcome to snowHeads Host, and thanks for posting your comments. It's always good to hear both sides.
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Got my insurance check through yesterday. Claimed under my free NatWest policy. Only little bit of hassle was having to get a cancellation invoice (apparenlty the invoice showing how much I had paid with receipts wasn't enough) and I had to prove form Bank statements that I paid from my Adprem account.
I got back the full cost of the holiday less the GBP100 excess (made up of GBP25 per person) including the one fifth share of the private nanny so i can't complain at all. I'd still rather have gone sliding though.....
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ashton parker, that's good to know about the NatWest policy and good news for you. Did you manage to go skiing later in the season?
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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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Fortunately I'd managed a four day week end trip in january. I didn't manage another trip unfortunately and I still haven't been able to bring myself to unpack my board bag.
At least the summer holiday is now paid for.
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still haven't been able to bring myself to unpack my board bag.
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ashton parker, I can hear the sympathies evaporating as I type 
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FAQ
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