 Poster: A snowHead
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Looking ahead to Easter 2021, I am eyeing up a return visit for the family to Ste Foy, or a trip to a new area for us - Les Saisies. We'd be looking at self-catering, but I'd like to know more about the restaurant options in LS and whether anyone could recommend any? SF has the benefit of catered meals being delivered (Huski, I think) whereas LS does not, as far as I can see. I sadly think my cooking abilities have been maxed out on previous trips and now I have bagged some cheap flights I can spend the money saved on better food! The family will be overjoyed at this, I can tell you.
I think both areas offer pretty much the same thing (we loved SF when we went a few years ago) and both should be ok for Easter (first week in April) snow-wise, but I would be keen to hear from anyone with LS experience. The kids have 6 years skiing under their belts and we ski as a family - Le Grand Bornand has been perfect for us for the last 3 years so we would like something along those lines.
Ah, this is nice research!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I know Les Saisies well. There are plenty of restaurants, though nothing which could be called "fine dining" and the usual superfluity of cheese. There are several places where you can buy ready made dishes.
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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 think both areas offer pretty much the same thing
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Hard for me to say as I've not been to Ste Foy, which sounds lovely. But one big difference is the size of the linked skiing area - the Espace Diamant is a lot bigger, with a series of centres, of which Les Saisies is certainly the best for late season and has the most extensive easy family skiing and the best range of ski in/out accommodation.
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I do not know Les Saisies as well as Pam W but have been to the three resorts you mention in your post. I prefer Les Saisies to Sainte Foy as the Espace Diamant ski area is more extensive and everyone speaks to you in French. There is also a greater choice of self catering accommodation in Les Saisies. I think Residence Amaya looks the best option (although it is probably a short walk from centre of the resort).
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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`m finding it hard to make the comparisons because we visited SF at a different point in our skiing needs. Firstly my kids are now late 20` 30`s, and we went to GB and LS when they were children/teenagers so a while had passed. I think we chose those 2 because they are similar in many ways. Plenty of not too scary skiing. Maybe the more challenging skiing is more quickly accessed in GB but time and snow conditions may be distorting my memory. But both those resorts were very french, though with the passage of time it may have changed? We skied SF about 3 years back when the kids wanted off piste. Its a very British resort. Piste wise they`d 'done' SF in about 4 days and indeed on the last day they drove round to Val D Isere (we were there about 10 days)
Food wise, its the French Alps, restaurants may vary year on year but there will always be somewhere to eat, and always take aways. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Agree with the above, St Foy quite small compared to Les Saisies, I've been to LS 5 or 6 times and have never bothered getting an Espace Diamant area pass. Lovely open views all over, good snow and sunny everywhere (no shady mornings or afternoons). No idea about food as we visit in our motorhome.
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Overall, it's a pretty narrow criterion to decide on a destination for a self-catering ski holiday on the basis of what sort of restaurants different resorts have. If you tell us a bit more about what you like, and where you've been, we could be more useful!
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Thanks for the replies so far. pam_w yes you are right, I guess I am still working out what criteria is important! On previous ski trips, we have tended to eat in more often due to cost and choice (or lack thereof). Realising that it is a holiday after all(!) we would prefer to eat out more or have ready meals delivered/bought in. If I find a resort that does this with ease then I will have a greater chance of convincing my wife of that resort! I think Italy would be preferred in terms of food but I am yet to be convinced that the quality/style of the accommodation matches that of France - a generalisation perhaps, and in defence I base this purely on hours of internet research.
We loved Le Grand Bornand for its small town feel and lack of Brits (Ste Foy probably had too many!). A resort with a ski area the size of LGB would be perfect for us, not being huge mile crunchers (Ste Foy probably a bit on the small side now).
So on paper, Les Saisies is looking like a strong contender - maybe I just need convincing of the resort and Espace Diamant as a destination as it is fairly new on my radar.
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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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@jesus, You could also consider Val Cenis for that week. It has a reasonable choice of mountain restaurants so when we went we had our lunch at a mountain restaurant and ate in the apartment in the evening. There was also a good restaurant in the village called L'arcelle. We stayed in Chalets de Flambeau and I seem to recall they had a traiteur service where you could order fondue ingredients etc. Maybe Huski also deliver there? The ski area is bigger than Sainte Foy but not huge. It has a french feel.
You could also look at La Rosiere or Montgenevre.
I think Les saisies would be a good option though so am simply giving a few more ideas rather than saying you should switch from your original plan.
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You'll struggle to bump into many Brits in Les Saisies. In terms of the skiing, it depends on how far you want to go but the Espace Diamant is probably twenty times the size of St Foy. As much as I liked St Foy for it's closeness to the mega resorts and also La Rosiere/La Thuile is a very short drive away. Skiing in the Beaufortain is particularly charming, with lots of pretty mountain huts. If somehow you get bored, you can get to Areches very quickly from Les Saisies, which is a fantastic little resort.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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If somehow you get bored, you can get to Areches very quickly from Les Saisies, which is a fantastic little resort.
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You can get to Contamines a lot quicker. Areches is a schlep, but I agree it's great.
You need a car to get to Saisies - or a private transfer. But you dont need a car in resort - unless you want to go to Areches. 
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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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We took a family holiday to Les Saisies a couple of years back. The pros are the 'Frenchness' and scale (Espace Diamante is a big area), but if I hadn't have been with the kids I would have been very bored. So many blues and reds and the few 'blacks' have only been graded like that to keep some on the map. It also doesn't go very high, 2200m max? I would go back again with the kids though as they loved it, really good for big circuits and they don't need the steeps. There are quite a few fun snowparks for the kids, with easy boxes and kickers, plus skier x courses for them.
We stayed at CGH, which is up the hill out of town, but that didn't matter for us. Walk 50m to get to the piste in the am, ski school meeting point was another 50m down the slopes. Shuttle bus runs you in and out of town. Only ate out once, so can't comment on restaurants.
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You know it makes sense.
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I'm very out of date, @harrim51. The Marmottes used to be good. But we rarely ate out except in our local in Bisanne 1500.
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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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| jesus wrote: |
| Looking ahead to Easter 2021, I am eyeing up a return visit for the family.., |
Well 2020 is a notable portend for your eminent return...just don’t tell the yanks coz we’ll all be in the firing line 
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