Ski Famille + What is it like to stay in a shared chalet?

A snowHead

After a lot of thought and change of plans, we have now booked a chalet in Reberty/Les Menuires with Ski Famille with flights and transfer for Christmas (23-30 Dec). We have never stayed in a chalet before. I am interested to hear what it's like to share a chalet with people you don't know? What kind of families tend to choose this type of holiday - is it mainly families that are travelling together with another family/grandparents, or families who travel on their own and are open to make new friends, like us? Are you allowed to come back to the chalet at lunchtime to have your own lunch, or do you have to eat out every lunch time? Can you store your own food (milk, butter and cheese) in the chalet fridge and use the kettle and crockery/cutlery? Also, I would love to hear from people who have recently been on a ski holiday with Ski Famille. I can't find much information about this company in this Forum or online. What is the food and standard of accommodation like? Do you get enough food (and wine) to fill you up, or does it tend to run out quickly? I have heard mixed reviews about this, and about hot tubs that are not working, etc. Thanks.

A snowHead

@Motherofthree, we've done 5 holidays with Family Ski, who are a similar operator as far as I know. Of the 5, most have been good with generally friendly families. One was a struggle because the other guests were a bunch of dads taking kids skiing for the first time and they had very different parenting styles to us. Another time we were the only strangers, but the others were really welcoming and we've subsequently been on skiing holidays with them (and are still in regular contact 10 years later). Mostly we've found it fine. But we are pretty relaxed, happy to lend a hand to help out the host and tolerant of others. In general the other families have been pleasant, obviously reasonably wealthy because it's not a cheap option but we've not come across really obnoxious people. All this comes with the caveat of course that its how we see things, and what's OK (or not) might be very different for you.

We often had lunch in the chalet, usually raiding the fridge for butter (with the host's blessing) and buying our own cheese, ham etc. But that does depend on the host, and we make a point of being polite and helpful towards the hosts from the outset which usually pays dividends. Food quality will, I expect, depend very much on the host - certainly it did with Family Ski, it was always OK but one holiday (ironically the one that socially was difficult) the food was excellent because the host was a formally trained chef who'd worked in a Paris restaurant. We are not foodies though and I suspect if you're the type of person who would truly appreciate Michelin starred food, you'll be disappointed.

Christmas is early in the season so it's likely that your host(s) will not be as practiced and efficient as later in the season. Not a major thing IMO but dinner may be a little later than it says in the brochure!

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

We really enjoyed chalets. You do have to be tolerant, and willing to get to know people and accept different styles of doing things. On the whole, in the "low budget" chalets we went to we did NOT expect to be able to borrow stuff from the kitchen, or keep our own stuff there, and generally muck the place up. They generally have strict professional food hygiene rules (and if they don't, they definitely should) and some guests will just not be respectful of this. The one upmarket firm we stayed with (Le Ski in Courchevel 1650) did let us use the kitchen a bit but were very clear what we could, and could not, put into, or take out of, the fridge. They were very experienced and excellent chalet hosts - their food was fantastic. Generally I'd go to a new chalet with the attitude that the kitchen is very much out of bounds.

In the "Ski Olympic" chalet we stayed in, in La Rosiere (also very good but cheaper, and more basic) there were shared bathrooms and clearly the etiquette then is to get in and out swiftly, not hog the place, tidy up after yourself. Absolutely not on to spend half an hour doing your make up!

Meeting the other people was generally one of the "plus" points of the holiday. In that cheapish La Rosiere place one of the other families was terrific in tolerating one of my sons who got drunk on the red wine ("but it's free Mum") whilst waiting for a chicken dinner which was badly delayed because the domestic-rated electrical system kept tripping out and the first time they tried to serve the chicken it was raw in the middle. It was not a big deal - we all waited, my son (down the table out of my reach with the very pretty daughter of the other family) discovered that too much cheap red plonk is not a Good Thing. It was about six years before he could face a glass of red wine again.

In another chalet one of the guests, a single bloke, spent a freezing cold hour out in the garden with our 5 year old, building a snowman, when we really CBA. She still - at 40 - remembers that.

So yes - give and take is the name of the game. I would much, much, prefer a catered chalet, even a fairly basic one, to an impersonal hotel.

Do report back on your holiday.

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@Motherofthree, not experienced Ski Famille as a company but I endorse what others say. When our daughter was of the childcare-needing age we used chalets of this sort for several years, and they were good (if expensive) experiences. The kids bonded and had their own supper early - after a day outside and in kid's club they needed familiar food soon after they got in, and an early night - and the adults had a communal dinner once all the younger kids were asleep. There was plenty of food which was at least OK (and at best very good) and large if not infinite amounts of cheap plonk. And usually an "honesty bar" so you could help yourself to beers and write in the book for payment at the end of the week.

The advice above around the fridge and asking first is good, the chalets need to maintain their hygiene rating and may politely refuse. But remember it will be cold outside, you can always keep a tupperware with your goodies on the balcony/windowsill.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I should perhaps have said that we never did any of the "childcare included" chalets. Couldn't afford it. Always did our own child care but first holiday, in self catering in Austria (St Oswald) took grandma, with 4 year old daughter and boys of 9 and 11. Grandma had a great time but we didn't ask too much of her. If you go to a childcare specialist chalet I guess the main hazard is OPKs (Other People's Kids) who are of course likely to be whingeing spoilt brats compared to your own sturdy, self-sufficient kids. Or, even more annoying, will eat every morsel of the unfamiliar supper then settle down happily at 1900 hours and sleep for 12 hours leaving their parents to get rat-arsed on the cheap plonk whilst you run back and forth reading "just one more" story and having "just one more cuddle" till you collapse exhausted yourself at 1029pm with them still crawling over you.

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Haven't used Ski Famille, but plenty of chalet holidays in France. Possibly no guarantee that all the other guests will have children - although the child places / inclusive childcare means that most definitely will.

You should be able to return to the chalet at any time during the day (or even not go out if the weather is poor). The last 3 or 4 times the chalet have each had a random weekly visit from the local health / hygiene inspectorate - who if they found guests using the kitchen could revoke the food licence! So use of kitchen, fridge etc were a complete no-no. But usually the chalet will have a system for making your own hot drinks. They will put out bread /cake for afternoon tea, of which you may be able to eat your share at lunchtime! Never had a problem with insufficient food or wine. You obviously have to fit in with whatever times they serve meals. They will allow for allergies, but not necessarily for 'dislikes'.

More chalets are converting to en-suites instead of shared bathrooms. But you still sometimes find one where the hot water is limited. Fine if everyone has a shower after skiing, but if someone has a bath there may be a delay for water to reheat.

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@mgrolf, Thanks for your reply. Until recently I hadn't heard of Family Ski, they seem to be similar to Ski Famille. It's encouraging to hear that the families you have shared a chalet with have generelly been friendly. Also good to hear that you often had lunch in the chalet. We are hoping to have lunch there at least a couple of days, if possible. We are also hoping to be able to prepare a packed lunch for a couple of days, and eat out in a mountain restaurant a couple of days. Good too that you mention to be prepared for dinner being served a bit later than advertised, I hadn't thought of that!

After all it is free

@pam w, Thanks for your reply. Yes, I can imagine you need to be tolerant of others and prepared to lend a hand when sharing a chalet with strangers! I can also imagine that the quality of chalets vary a lot, depending on how much you are prepared to fork out. We have booked one of Ski Famille's more affordable chalets in Les Menuires.

Ski Famille don't include childcare as part of their package these days, you need to pay extra for it. We are not planning to do that, as our children are a bit older and want to go skiing with us rather than stay in childcare. I can imagine that many families who book with Ski Famille/Family Ski/Esprit have younger children who need childcare.

@j b, Thanks for your reply. Good to hear that your experience has been that there have been plenty of food and wine. I have also thought of the possibility of storing a few food items in a plastic bag on the balcony! Do they have Coke and other non alcoholic drinks for the children, or do they just offer wine to drink?

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@ecureuil, Good to hear that it should be possible to return to the chalet, or stay in, during the day. Also good to hear that you have never had a problem with insufficient food or wine. Thanks also for the heads up about the hot water possibly being limited, hadn't thought of that.

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I stayed with Ski Famille last year and there were three separate families including us in the chalet, everyone got on well and open to chatting at breakfast/dinner. No awkwardness and even the odd time I took the other children outside with the sleds and vice-versa. We tended to eat out at lunch time - nothing too big as the dinners are a decent size and there's always tea and cake available when you get back from skiing. I was very impressed with the standard of the chalet and the food overall. We didn't use the childcare either and neither did one other family.

We haven't stayed with Ski Famille, but have stayed in a number of chalets. We stayed with Esprit when we went. They were great. We had a couple which were shared. The mix of people is random of course but we certainly got on with the other parents and children. The children tend to get on quite well.

Food wise it's been excellent and they used to, well with Esprit, serve dinner to the children a little earlier than the grown ups. Then again you can ask if they can eat with you, etc.. plus sometimes adjust some of the meals a little to suit. They're usually fairly flexible and able to accommodate if you give the chalet hosts enough notice.

Never really had an issue with hot water.

We've always had too much food as opposed to too little!! Both at breakfast and dinner.

Maybe consider what the children do for lunch, i.e. you can book them in to lunch at the end of lessons which may well mean on one or two days you can have an extended ski, as opposed to dashing back early.

You know it makes sense.

We used Ski Famille 3 times and every time was excellent. All mainly said but chalet was nice, good mix of people and good fun at dinner once the kids had all gone to bed ! Everybody mucked in really and we skiied together a few days which was nice, still in touch with some of them 6 years later ! Best bit was nannies taking kids to ski school and having a tail end charlier for wees etc which really helps (I used to teach kids and someone always needs a wee wee !) then took them back for lunch. First time we had not booked afternoon childcare as we felt like evil parents for even thinking about it. However, when we got back our daughter wasn't for doing anything other than staying and that was how it was for the whole week. We had a couple of great days skiing and didn't feel guilty at all. Other years we went swimming or built snowmen or did other stuff then did some apres altogether which my now 11 year old remembers vividly which is probably not a good thing hahaha.

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

Generally, having other kids about just makes the holiday for them. When we did chalets we never had "lunch" proper - lunch for family on the slopes was just too expensive. Big breakfast, and you can eke out till "chalet tea" with a couple of snack size Mars bars or similar. When the kids were bigger they had some holiday spending money and could decide for themselves how much to spend on lunch. Generally that was "very little"! Enormous quantity of chalet tea was consumed, though. Like @johnE I dislike hotels. In my experience there were no included "free" drinks for kids. But perhaps the childcare specialist ones provide some.

No problem being in the chalet during the day - there's always a communal sitting area of some kind, maybe with some books, music, etc. People will sprawl around in their base layers drinking endless cups of tea after the day's skiing and other people's kids might be doing a jigsaw on the floor. Mostly people who are intolerant and unfriendly won't go to a shared chalet!

A snowHead

A snowHead

@johnE, @mishmash83, @eps, @orange, @pam w, Thanks very much for your replies. Reading them has put my mind at ease about staying in a shared chalet!

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

@Motherofthree,
Your experience on a chalet holiday can be largely down to the staff, especially early season. Pray you have 'returners' rather than "newbies'.

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We had "newbies" once, very early January, still a bit shell-shocked from Christmas and New Year. It was OK though. They were a very pleasant and hard-working couple. The chalet was full and they explained to us that although the "rules" said they should eat with us, they'd be grateful to be excused this, as it was all they could do to get the meal on the table for us without having to sit down and be polite whilst worrying with what was going on in the kitchen.

Nobody minded - and they were very sweet. I don't think anybody minds these things if those concerned are doing their best. We did complain mildly about one crew, in a big chalet, who were too hungover to get breakfast organised on time. That's unacceptable. But a "cheap" chalet shouldn't be expected to provide hotel/restaurant standards. My son cheffed in some VERY upmarket chalets (private ones, he went to Val d'Isere to work for Scott Dunn but gave them the push very early in the season as he didn't like their autocratic management style) where he had staff quarters smarter than our very nice little MGM apartment. He was most definitely not expected to sit down with the guests to eat. There are chalets and chalets - it's hard to generalise but they provided lots of kids with valuable work experience who had to sink or swim very quickly!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@pam w,

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Yes it was. He was on his own and had the most retro C&A ski suit you have ever seen. We all invited him to ski with us but he always refused politely - he was a FAR better skier than any of the rest of us. But he was definitely a positive addition in the chalet. It's interesting that whilst many people shudder at the thought of "sharing" a chalet (though they never have similar problems about "sharing" a hotel) those of who have done it all have positive things to say. I've done some sailing in "shared" boats which can be far more challenging....

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@Motherofthree, I'm quite surprised that nobody has mentioned the swinging.

After all it is free

It's not like this at all https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1487118/

Thinking about ski films shot in St Anton, Der Weisse Rausch has a similarish plot but much better action sequences, perhaps the best in any ski film. Well worth watching but not great on chalets

I've got that "Chalet Girl" jacket - bought off a snowhead. Very comfy.

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No idea about Ski Famillie as a company but personal experience of a shared chalet is....it sucks!
Done 2, one we were the "extra" couple filling the chalet and the main group were d**ks with us and the staff, the kinda group that gives Brits abroad a bad name. 2nd time better, some nice people in there but I'm just not a "canapés at 7" kinda skier, might be still at apres ski then! You do get frowned upon rolling up still in your ski gear!!
Sure it suits some people and that's great if if does, but I'll stick to a private apartment if that's OK, sure it will be!!

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The kind of families we met in chalets generally don't buy big lunches on the slopes, so the chalet tea is a vital "stop gap" between breakfast and dinner!

@pam w, I think your key word there is "families". With children in tow who are going to be getting pretty hungry after a day in the open air, you aren't going to stop for rounds of drinks, you are going to head back home to the chalet. For the kids those cakes are a quick fix for the "hole" in their tummies, for the adults they need something to tide them through since there is a lot of work yet getting those kids to the children's meal, and then getting them showered and into bed before finally heading down for the adults' meal (and if you succeed in timing it right a few prior hors d'oevres and apperitifs).

But it must be odd if you are an adult group filling the last space in a family-oriented chalet (even accepting you probably got a last minute discount).

You know it makes sense.

I think the chalet firms will generally give you a good idea of what the "others" consist of. I wouldn't personally choose to be a couple in a chalet where there were 14 people in a single group, whether families or not. Likely to be as described by @andy n netty. Not worth the risk. Nor would I choose to be a couple in a chalet full of families. As we could never afford any of the specialist companies with "kids dinners" and minions to take them to ski school, we never encountered all that. We did two chalet holidays just as a couple, and in each case there were no kids in the chalet as we never went in school hols. A mix of couples/groups worked very well. But obviously there's some luck involved.

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

@johnE, Thanks for the recommendation, this looks like a fun movie!

@andy n netty, Thanks for your reply, it's interesting to hear from someone who has negative experiences from staying in a shared chalet, amongst all the positive ones. We have only stayed in private apartments, a private chalet or a hotel when on a ski holiday before.

@pam w, There will definitely be other children in the chalet, as it's apparently a requirement when booking with Ski Famille that there is at least one child or teenager in each group. But the other children might well be different ages from our children.

A snowHead

I used Ski famille 5 times, they were very good, the point about it being early season is valid.

A snowHead

Same with Esprit, both firms have alternatives if you don't have children, i.e. Ski Total and Ski Vertigo.

We've done lots of chalet holidays, before children, with children, whole chalet, part of a chalet etc... I can't remember a bad one.

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

I'm not sure how many chalets I've stayed in, but I did as a child, a young adult with similar friends, with my kids when they were young and upto mid teens. Then it became just me going and I've stayed as a solo a couple of times!

Only once did I find some in chalet I really wanted to throw out the window. Really abusive to the staff from the off. They got a really good dose of my mum's best 'headmistress' after a couple of days and the two groups (us and them) didn't speak again for the rest of the week. They were slightly nicer to the staff after then... And the dinner table was split into two Laughing

Other than that, evryone has been at worst tolerable but mainly great fun!

Enjoy your holiday!

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I have had the odd intersting stay in chalets.

One in St Anton over Christmas there was me, my wife and son in the chalet alonside a load of young Austrailians who had really only come out to get away from London for the holiday period. Many had not skied before. The resort was rammed packed full and TBH the shoulder to shoulder ski tip to ski tail skiing was dangerous, one slip by anyone would result in the whole peleton going down. The 30 minute lift queues didn't help either.

The Aussies started to get out skiing later and later and by day 3 we would meet them as they came in from their night out as we were leaving to join the lift queues and again as they prepared to go out for the afternoon's apres and we got back.

In the chalet they were good to talk to and quiet and respectful to the other guests and the staff. It was good fun. The chalet experience was the best part of that holiday. I won't mention the 3 hour freezing cold wait in the car park on arrival because the TO resort manager had been arrested by the police.

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@JohnS4, the OP has children and they have booked a chalet aimed specifically at families. That means parents won't be able to prioritise their visits to bars - whether on coming off the slopes or later at night - and will be focussed on what social scene there is in the chalet. They are all in the same boat. We found it worked well in that situation, we were happy to chat to others (and as a result sometimes skiied with them). But once our daughter was able (and keen) to ski all day we reverted to self catering.

Having said that, there are quite a few who like the chalet situation and make a point of booking chalet rather than hotel or self catering accommodation for adult only parties; they presumably enjoy the company and chat round the dinner table which they wouldn't have otherwise.

But obviously chalets wouldn't be able to offer a whole a la carte menu unless they had many more chefs and charged you several times what is already not a cheap holiday. And I agree the wine they buy prioritises quantity rather than quality for the money, recognising that people would rather it didn't run out.

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

Hi,

I lied about the swinging.

Rather predictably the people who go on chalet holidays are going to be people very much like you. So- if you go to a low-mid market chalet operated by Esprit / Ski Famille with on site childcare / nannies then you will, rather unsurprisingly stay with the following types of people:

1.Everyone with have small kids
2. Apart from the possibility of people who have booked very last minute
3. The people who have small kids will usually really really like skiing (at least one of the couple- usually the dad, but sometimes both) or they will not particularly like skiing and be better off than the people who really really like skiing.
4. At least one couple will be from Surrey- probably Guildford (why?- because they will have lived somewhere in Inner London before they had kids and then have moved out when they did- to have somewhere with a garden and better schools that the awful offers in Inner London.
5. There will probably be a couple who are both doctors. They may come from anywhere in the UK. At least one of them, usually the dad will drink quite a bit and be keen for some apres.
6. One of the dads will be grumpy and resent the dreadful reality of skiing with kids. That is unless the kids are really small and can be left with the nannies from the get go. He will be what is technically known as a lady's front bottom.
7. Or he will just take off without his wife- leaving her with 1-2 possibly 3 small kids who need sorting out. They will divorce within the next 5 years. He might also spend a bit of time working / answering emails / on a laptop. He is probably having an affair with his secretary or a junior member of staff at least 10 years younger than him. His wife knows this, even if she doesn't.
8. Everyone will hate him. Most likely this will just be a given / understanding among everyone in the chalet and not actually spoken about, other than between couples in their rooms. But the there is the very outside chance (less than 1 in 10- possibly as low as 1 in 20) that someone will call him out on this- especially if he is a bit racist. Which he probably is- but that will only come out if a) he is really really racist or b) really pissed. Things might go a bit frosty- but there might also be some back slapping for whoever actually gives him the drubbing he so richly deserves.
9. However- you will generally have a lot in common with everyone else.
10. Some of you will possibly go on to be life long friends and sort out ski holidays with each other in future- especially if the mums get on well.
11. Nobody will admit this but each couple will probably have a combined income of at least £150-200k, more for those south of the Watford Gap.
12. Quite a few will be members of David Lloyd.
13. Quite a few of the mums will be on Mumsnet- the 'Overheard in Waitrose' and 'AIBU' threads will come up as topics of conversation. These are hilarious.
14. Someone will go on about COVID and say it was all dangly bits.
15. This will make the couple who are doctors pretty pissed off.
16. The mum of the couple who say COVID was dangly bits will also claim to be either gluten or lactose intolerant- probably both- this will also wee wee off the couple who are doctors. The dad who is a doctor won't actually say anything, but will smirk a fair bit, especially if there are demands for gluten free cakes, the chalet staff will smile sweetly and then go off muttering. Gluten free cakes will be made daily- and go uneaten. The male doctor's wife (who is also a doctor) will tell him off for smirking, which will make him smirk even more obviously, and the wife who says that she is gluten and lactose intolerant will feel uncomfortable- but will not know why.

Basically it is just a microcosm of British middle class society, a bourgeois drawing room drama if you like. But nobody will die / be murdered. Which is probably a good thing.

After all it is free

@ed123,

@ed123, Don't forget the family who come back early and steal (eat) your wife's specially ordered (and paid for) birthday cake before we've even seen it. *#/*#?!!!!!

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@ed123

2. Apart from the possibility of people who have booked very last minute who will spend all afternoon in an Apres Bar and turn up to dinner in their ski gear stinking of sweat, beer and (local strong but cheap spirit of choice) and swearing like navvies

Help!!

Ski Famille + What is it like to stay in a shared chalet?

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