Good resorts for infants?

A snowHead

So the household has grown and the family trip next year will include 7 adults and 4 grandkids/infants, ages 2, 1, 0, 0

Thinking of one large apartment for the family.

Mrs Z will head up childcare.
Unfamiliar territory for me, so I am wondering where might be a good resort to base ourselves.

Any recommendations for resorts with indoor toddler friendly play areas open to the public? Or which has a park with swings etc?
Or any other non-sking activity that little ones might enjoy.

A snowHead

@Ray Zorro, wow, I have no answer to your question, but congratulations on multiple grandparenthood!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Hurtle, thank you!

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Yes, I was going to say much the same. Sounds like it could be a memorable family holiday. I've done lots of small grandchildren, including one crawling and very adventurous 8 month old. For the toddlers, a short play out in the snow, perhaps with beach-style buckets and spades, or even a stick to make holes, is as good as anything. But their tolerance of being outside in the cold will be limited - so in my experience that has to be right outside the apartment door. Crawling babies are a nightmare in the snow, of course - when they're on their feet, or too little to get out of their pushchairs, they're easier.

An apartment big enough for you all will be difficult to find, but probably the best, especially for whoever is taking the lion's share of the childcare burden.

As for resorts, there might be a trade off between "lots of smart facilities" and "everything being close enough to reach without the challenge of getting four kids in and out of a car".

One important criterion is an apartment sufficiently close to lifts/pistes for swapping child carers at lunchtime.

I could recommend a very nice gite, piste side, but with no close "entertainment" except a lovely friendly restaurant.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Might be controversial but my personal view is there is no point going skiing with kids that young.

Unless you just going to put them in childcare all day and ski. In which case they will have all the play area/activities sorted.

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Find a snow-sure village with a kids pool.

Perhaps Avoriaz, Sass-Fee, or maybe Flaine (residents' pool in Centaure).

I think a tag-team approach, where one parent skis in the morning and one the afternoon, could work really well. In fact I wish I had done this on a trip some years ago instead of paying £££ for nursery for our 1 y/o twins.

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After all it is free

Our friends are coming with us for the first time with an 3 year old and I researched a lot the best resort. Val thorens seemed to fit the bill with a brand new pool and brand new soft play, a small park area. Les menuires is a short bus ride with another pool and park. There are also dedicated sledging areas and sometimes they have some craft sessions on at the tourist information centre. A ride up the main gondola to the restaurant at the top would be fun. If you wanted to do some ski lessons prosneige do lessons from 2 years

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@Elsie80, thank you - that's just the sort of information I was hoping for!!

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@Elsie80, thank you from me too - trying to organise a trip with friends and our 3 and 2 year old, and hadn’t heard of 2 year old lessons.

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2 year old lessons will generally be a creche, with some playing in the snow. Personally there is NO WAY I would have taken four kids of that age swimming, even when I was a younger and stronger grandmother. I wouldn't bother with looking for a place with a pool. Even taking four of them to a soft play area, or toboganning, or anything else, would be well nigh impossible, even with one of the adults "dipping in" to help every now and again.

But Mrs Z will know all this. wink

By the way, I think Mrs Z should have a complete day off, mid-week!! Go up the mountain with a good book, sit in a restaurant with a nice view, relax.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Many congrats to the Zorros.

I guess different things will suit different people.

An alternative suggestion to the above is to choose a resort that is low but with high skiing late in the season at say Easter.You can get a chalet or appartment with access to a garden where the toddlers will be happy and Mrs Z can be in the sun outdoors.

The toddlers may sleep better at night at a lower altitude.

A snowHead

Another option you might find appealing is Kinderhotels in Austria - they normally have a great hotels with loads of facilities for kids and some have access to a ski resort. We have never been but some of them look amazing if you can travel outside the peak season!

A snowHead

Kinderhotels in Austria. Expensive but the children experience is awesome, a good friend of mine used the Zell am Zee one this early March (cheaper prices).
Naturally he was less impressed with the skiing at that time.
We chose Pfefferkorn appartments in Lech. Expensive of course but each of the 2 flats has 2 bedrooms, a big living room for playing and dining together and a kitchen to cook dinners.
They are on the same floor and there's a connecting door between them which can be left opened/closed if you fancy it. My privacy seeking son and DIL used to close it in the evenings and open it early morning so he could send us my grandson and continue napping Very Happy

Their location is perfect: on the main street, in front of the main chairlift and above the main apres bar (Krone) so we could take turns for going both ways mornings and afternoons.
As Pam wrote, it's important to have everything nearby so we can quickly return to a warm interior when they get cold/tired.
There's a small kids' winter playground on the hill right above the building in the opposite direction (just by the Ski Kindergarten Lech), we rented wooden sledges (at Strolz, couldn't believe they had the cheapest rentals) and took turns playing there.
There's free access to the hotel's swimming pool (5 min at most by foot) but we didn't use it.

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Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis

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Thanks for the ideas. I will check them all out.

We've done Kinderhotels and enjoyed them when our kids were small. That particular solution may be better in a couple of years time...
I think on this occasion, we just need to find a town where there is something for Mrs Z to take the older 2 kids allow them to get them out of the apartment.

A toddler friendly leisure pool and a play area would probably be enough.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

bonkers taking 4 kids at such a young age away & expecting cope!
Even 1 adult dipping out to help is still going to be a struggle imo & I would guess Grandma would like a break at somepoint as it will be tiring on her for 6 days of childcare.
Probably the best solution is to go late & low where there is likely to be no snow in the town/village.
My experience of going away in a large group with 2x infants was as struggle for the parents in many ways. Thinking one could ski all day while the other looked after the infant didn't exactly work out as planned. Went from full day to half day to 2 hours very quickly! In the end they just spectated from the mountain bar (Mid March & weather was quite warm)

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@pam w,
Assuming by then the ages are 3,2 & 2x 1yr olds - they all have legs & will be off in all directions.
4x will be giving Ms Zorro the runaround. Then feeding them, dealing with nappy changes, etc.
Also probably getting an evening meal ready, etc. - sounds like a lot of hard work. My experience of being a kid, grandma's boundaries can always pushed a lot further than my parents!

After all it is free

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I remember my MIL being asked to look after our three, just for an overnight trip to go to a wedding, when we rang she asked what tge clear liquid was in a decanter so told it was Gin. OH asked if she had found the tonic. Oh no, just had some on its own. She was virtually tee total other than a martini with lemonade normally, with mostly lemonade and a smidgen of martini.

I think it will also depend on how well Mrs Zorro knows the children. I am sure she will cope, especially with a bit of other adult help. There are terrific pushchairs that you can get for using in the snow, and double ones too.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@pam w, one side of my parents, I was one of about 12 grandchild within an age-gap of about 4 years. She was probably run ragged by the older grandkids before then & wasnt around long enogh to meet all her kids offspring.

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We went with our niece (2.5 years old) to Geilo in Norway in April this year. Norway generally was very child friendly and the resort was great for beginners. Geilo is a bit small for experienced alpine skiers, but I would check out bigger places in Scandinavia. We stayed in a "forest cabin" which was great for an extended family group - felt much more spacious than a typical apartment - it was basically a small house. My niece had limited interest in skiing but loved sledging in the snow, the climbing frame/play area and just playing in and around the cabin. She was entertained for hours making snow-castles and catching the meltwater from the gutters in a bucket.

I once came across a grandmother and grandson, on a snowy path under the trees near my apartment. He had his little cars and they had fashioned a small "layout" with roads, tunnels and a flyover - in the snow. It was pretty soggy snow - ideal for such a venture, which would never work in genuine "powder".

They were having such a lovely time! I do think having snow right outside the apartment door is essential for entertaining small kids. When the sun had melted the snow on the sunny side of our apartment one time my 2 year old grand-daughter was happy for hours with a big bucket of snow brought round from the shady back. And it was warm enough for her to stay out there.

You know it makes sense.

@pam w, your family is SO lucky to have you around.

I am sure they know that.
In Lech we had a big snow shovel right at the entrance to the building and each and every day I went with my 2 yrs old grandson to clean the garden together. He still mentions it. Small things in a warm environment can entertain them for so long. Oh and we bought him tiny ski goggles he insisted on wearing everywhere so he could feel en suite.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Take a look at the Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado.
We were there in December and the children really liked it. But ours are not so that small, they are 4 and 7 years old.

The resort has an adventure park, where the kids can spend some good time jumping on bungee trampolines, playing miniature golf, climbing walls, go on zip lines and some other exciting experiences off the slopes.

They often organize additional activities and events for kids, both on and off the slopes. These activities can include sledding, snowshoeing, scavenger hunts, arts and crafts, and more.
Check the resort's website or contact them directly for the most up-to-date information on available kids' activities during your visit.

Getting to the resort is not difficult.
Living in Atlanta, we took a flight of about 3 hours to Denver, and from the Denver International Airport we used the Blue Sky Limo airport shuttle service, which took us to the resort in about 4 hours.

A snowHead

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Good resorts for infants?

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