 Poster: A snowHead
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Having previously used Esprit Ski for our last holiday we booked again for NY 2013/2014. We chose La Rosier as it is claimed to be ‘family friendly’ and the chalet ticked all of the boxes we were looking for.
The resort
La Rosiere is a purpose built resort but do not let that put you off. It’s small and friendly with a choice of nice bars, shops, take-aways and restaurants. We even got pizza delivered on the chalet hosts day off.
There is a nice tree lined walk to Les Eucherts if you fancy a change, but the neighbouring village is a lot smaller.
I believe that La Rosiere is one of only two south facing ski resorts in France. This means on a good weather day you ski in beautiful sunshine so remember the sun cream. You can relax outside the restaurants and bars and soak up the sun. We had three sunny days, one near white-out and two mixed snow and sun days.
Skiing
I am no expert so take my comments with an understanding view.
Whilst the ski area is not large there is a nice mix of blue, red and blacks. Not many of the runs are very long though. You have three or four that start around marker 30. The rest are nearer 15-20. This is only my third full ski week and I progressed to skiing several red runs which I was pleased with. However, some SH forum members will tell you the reds are more purplish.
Out of La Rosier resort you only have two real lift options. The main chair lift or the two parallel button lifts. The button provides access to a few nice little runs to remind your legs how to ski when you first arrive. The Roches Noir lift takes you to one of the higher starting points.
You can also ski to La Thuille in Italy and enjoy a more varied selection of runs. There is a long drag lift for this which receives mixed comments but you can research this yourself on this forum. I did not make it to Italy but I did ski down a testing/interesting red run to where the button lifts run from.
Children will enjoy learning on the gentle nursery slope near the Esprit chalets. My 5 year old learnt to ski in La Rosiere and towards the end of the week she was happily using the nursery slope button and skiing back down on her own (with me always a few turns behind). On the last day of tuition she took the Roches Noir ski lift to the top and skied down a steady blue (mostly Choucas finishing with Tetras) back to resort. I was a very proud father.
Tuition
We ordered 3 days of private lessons through Evolution 2 for a group of 3 people. The booking was made by email and most communication was good. We simply paid in resort on arrival. The lessons were good. The instructor Xavier spoke good English, had patience and focused on Technique. This is by far the best ski tuition I have ever received. My skiing improved significantly and I had confidence to tackle more challenging runs.
The two 5 year olds had lessons booked with Esprit. This was also with Evolution 2 and we were very happy with the progression that the children made. Lessons were fun and they both advanced in ability every day. An Esprit ‘snow ranger’ stayed with the children at all times which was reassuring.
I definitely recommend Evolution 2 no matter what level of tuition you need. The shop is right in the centre of the resort and opposite the tourist office.
Ski Hire
Ordered online from Ski Set. The shop was at the top of the nursery slope very near the main Roches Noir ski lift and piste car park. You either you walk up the slope from the chalet or walk the long way around the road. We ordered intermediate skis and were provided with practically new skis and two of the group got brand new boots complete with tags. Excellent equipment and no problems when I needed to change my boots after one day.
The queue to get the skis was about an hour as we arrived late in the afternoon and a chalet group had just arrived before us. However, the shop assistant provided free lollies for the kids and some ski stickers for them to play with.
Travel
Esprit booked our flight with FlyBe. No problems outbound with check in or the flight. However, on arrival our coach to the resort could not leave as we were waiting for a flight that had been re-routed to Lyon due to bad weather. This is common at Chambery and the problems with this airport are quite well documented on this forum. After an hour delay we were off on a 2 ½ hour transfer.
The return flight was delayed at Chambery due to poor weather. No planes could land and the airport was a bit crazy. After a four hour delay we boarded the plane and the rest of the flight was OK.
The Chalet
We chose the chalet for several reasons.
It is right on the nursery slopes and is basically ski out. Our group had two 5 year old girls learning to ski and we did not want to walk too far with their skis.
We also have two 2 year olds that needed childcare. Esprit provide the childcare in the chalet so it makes life very simple if you do not have to get kids suited and booted every morning.
The bedrooms were suitable for two families of four. The living area was spacious enough with great views over the valley to Les Arcs, La Plagne etc.
Esprit Ski
Having previously travelled with Esprit to Les Gets we were very happy to book again. However, we had a few problems that deserve highlighting.
I understand that the team is largely gap year students and young employees but the standard of service this year was disappointing. The chalet was not clean enough. We complained twice during the week and only on day 6 did the chalet cleaning improve.
The food was OK. We had some good meals and some dishes that were either too cold or too small. I could write a detailed list of all the issues but it would probably bore you. I am still in two minds whether to raise a formal complaint in writing.
Childcare was excellent. That is why we use Esprit. If the kids are happy we can ski with peace of mind. If it were not for the childcare I would think twice about using Esprit again. However, our previous holiday was good and the complete package wins whilst our children are not able to ski with us all day.
I hope this is useful. If you need any advice on my experiences or La Ros let me know.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Great TR Mike-H. It's a shame the chalet staff and the food was not up to scratch. If you are thinking of using Esprit I would definitely make a complaint as they may give you some vouchers/discount for a future booking. Also, depending on their reaction you may or may not wish to use them in the future.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Hi Mike-H, nice TR, thank you. We're off with 2 5 year olds to La Rosiere in 12 days' time with Espirit. think we're in a different chalet though- will watch out for the standard of service and report back here as well.
Womble
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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 too was in La Ros over NY....the whiteout day you mention must have been the day that the wind came up over the ridge and was absolutely brutal, chairlifts shut almost instantly with people on them, the snow was horizontal, people had to stop skiing and turn backs to it, never experienced anything like it
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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womble, Which chalet are you in? If I can be of any help with advice let me know. One tip - take a couple of sick bags from the plane. Some kids suffer a bit of sickness when leaving resort down the mountain. The change in altitude and windy roads don't mix well. I even felt a tad queasy. My daughter was sick for about 2 mins then perfectly ok after 5 mins.
stefoy4me, It was harsh that day. I got my pass stamped by the wife to ski while she looked after kids in the afternoon so I just stuck it out. One button lift near Roc Noir was particularly painful on the face but we carried on and skied till we could take no more.  Skied the same runs the following day and it was good to see beyond 20 meters.
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Layne, I have emailed Esprit. Provided a decent overview of the problems. I will let you know what I hear back. Hopefully it will be positive and I can continue to praise Esprit. Otherwise there may be a few reviews they find less pleasant with a few pictures thrown in.
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Mike-H, This can be for feedback only as any complaint really should be made in resort
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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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Frosty the Snowman, We spoke to resort manager twice in resort so I hope the complaint will be taken seriously. Unfortunately the resort manager may have demonstrated some empathy but there was little action to resolve matters.
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I've always thought going skiing for Christmas / New Year is a high risk strategy, simply because the staff are likely to be new, and they have to cope with exceptionally busy weeks based on training exercises and maybe 1 low season week. As prices are very high for the festive period, customer expectations are high so disappointment seems almost guaranteed.
I saw some of the Trip Advisor reviews for Esprit's Belle Plagne place for Christmas just gone and the contrast with our experience when we were there last January is striking. Although the hotel was full, the Esprit operation ran like a finely oiled military machine. I guess at this stage the staff are still reasonably well motivated and those not cut out for it have been culled by the festive period. My only complaint was an evil virus I picked up whilst there, which was just my bad luck!
We went at Christmas some years ago with Ski Famille and had a bit of a disappointing time for a variety of reasons largely related to the diffifulties of bedding in new staff for Christmas and local ski school. I posted a throwaway comment on Snowheads about the experience and the owner tracked me down to find out the details. I supplied them and was assured that staff training measures would be implemented. Later in the season there were some rave reviews from people who'd stayed in the same chalet with the same hosts, where the service etc. had been top quality following some emergency training earlier in the season! So Ski Famille certainly took customer complaints seriously, though they are much smaller than Esprit, with few layers of bureaucracy between the Grand Fromage and the chalet hosts. (I think they even went as far as changing their selected ski school mid season.)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The Flying Snowplough, yep I really got the impression from when we went the last week of the season, there was an element of CBA as it was the last week from some of the staff, not all of them but definitely from some. Compared with the enthusiasm of all staff the first week of the season when we went to Courchevel.
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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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| Quote: |
I believe that La Rosiere is one of only two south facing ski resorts in France.
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It might be one of the only entirely south-facing resorts but that's not an advantage. The best resorts have slopes with a mix of different aspects - for example today (when it was more like a spring skiing day than early January) we skied some south facing areas first, as they were softening a bit earlier, but finished the day (when the south facing bits were getting sticky and slow) on a sector oriented away from the sun. This distinction becomes much more important later in the season with the sun higher in the sky and the south facing runs are incredibly slushy in the afternoon then freeze solid overnight and are horrid in the early morning. And if there's no overnight freeze they deteriorate even faster, of course.
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You know it makes sense.
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Just a quick update. I raised my concerns with Esprit regarding the service we received in chalet. I was expecting to be fobbed off with excuses and finger pointing that I should have done something. However.....
I got a detailed and informative reply from Esprit. They acknowledged many of the issues that I raised and offered their apologies. There was no waffle and they offered me assurances that action had been taken in resort.
After several emails we came to an 'understanding' and I have booked my third trip with Esprit.
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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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| Mike-H wrote: |
Just a quick update. I raised my concerns with Esprit regarding the service we received in chalet. I was expecting to be fobbed off with excuses and finger pointing that I should have done something. However.....
I got a detailed and informative reply from Esprit. They acknowledged many of the issues that I raised and offered their apologies. There was no waffle and they offered me assurances that action had been taken in resort.
After several emails we came to an 'understanding' and I have booked my third trip with Esprit. |
Good to hear!
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Poster: A snowHead
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I'm going to La Rosiere in a few weeks with my family and a couple of friends, staying at our friends' chalet in Les Eucherts.. any recommendations for good restaurants to eat out at in the evenings? and any good bars for me, my brother and our two friends?
Thanks!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
It might be one of the only entirely south-facing resorts but that's not an advantage
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While La Rosiere resort does face south, it gives access to skiing on all aspects.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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lewisb22, I walked into Les Euch from La Ros. Its a nice walk. There are several nice looking restaurants and even a burger bar take away counter. Les Euch is not big so perhaps have lunch on the mountain or in La Ros and evening meals in Les Euch. Did not try restaurants so cannot offer much advice on that.
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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.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Cacciatore, Thanks. We liked La Rosiere and have re-booked for next year with Esprit so they get a chance to keep our business for a few more years while the kids are still young.
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lewisb........a great restaurtant in Les Eucherts is up on the right hand side as you walk past the eucherts express on your left, so away from the centre of LE.......i can t recall the name of it now...but sure someone will be along with its name!!!!!!
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Le nom du restaurant aux Eucherts L'ANCOLIE
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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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jarpin, Welcome to the forum. Hope you stick around and help out.
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jarpin.....thats it
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Just back from this chalet which Esprit still run.
The chalet was great, we were luckily mixed with a great set of other families and hugely enjoyed their company. Our room would have been more comfortable if there was a few more square metres for us but it worked fine. Did have to ask part way through the week for a bit of extra hoovering as the kids had dragged clumps of dust from under the beds when they were exploring under them for some unknown reason, and I think that cleaning could have been improved a little overall (not a massive issue though).
The childcare really is excellent and our 5 year old loved it. They do a great job at keeping the kids entertained after ski school meaning we did not feel at all guilty leaving them their until 5.
Food in the chalet is good. As with all chalet meals I find it too much, and I have to miss out on afternoon tea to get through the 3 courses. Really well prepared by the chalet hosts who we only 4 weeks into both of their first seasons. Whoever is in charge of hiring seemed to have done a very good job.
Interestingly (and rather sensibly) the staff are now largely recruited from EU countries. A large part were Irish with a few other nations passport holders thrown in (eg Swedish/Dutch).
In terms of the skiing it's a tiny resort on its own and the link the La Thuile is vital if you want some more variety of pistes. Personally of the view that the reds are largely proper reds, of course you get easy reds and harder reds but they seemed correctly categorised to me overall.
On piste restaurants we liked were L'Antigel for both food and drinks, Paradis for drinks (was a little disappointed with food compared to how fantastic the menu sounds). We didn't try much else that is worth commenting on to be either recommendations to go to or avoid.
(appreciate this is an old resurrected thread)
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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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@Legend., nice update and report on an old thread 
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Good update - I have always really liked La Roz - charming place with great character, excellent snow record and superb if you aren't mileage fixated or can handle the long drag lift journey to La Thuile.
Le Comptoir is a very under-rated little bar too
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