 Poster: A snowHead
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We are looking to add a week at Val Thorens to our already booked Meribel trip. We have 2 children who will be 9 and 12, so won’t be partying.
It would be the weekend of New Years - is there any part of the village to avoid for noise and also are all parts of the village generally ski in ski out, easy to access the shops and restaurants - or are there any areas which require a shuttle bus to get to the main parts?
Would love any tips please. Thank you
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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 doubt anywhere that isn't over a bar or the main shopping resto street is particularly noisy. The Balcons always look a bit inconvenient for me due to the piste down and their height above town. Otherwise only the UCPA is truly a distance away.
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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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This^.
The area I am always going to (Kashmir Oxalys Montana) is basically ski in/out but a tad downhill from the shopping center and the main restaurants. About 7 minutes walk though.
The other ski in ski out part always seems closer and more convenient but not prettier.
The noise is muffled in the evenings even outside Malaysia
Check the map here, look at red 13 14 19 43 for example
https://www.powderbeds.com/pub/downloads/88/Val-Thorens-Village-Map-22.jpg
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Avoid anything near the Rue de Gabroulez which is where the main strip of apres bars are.
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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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We stayed over in the Slalom (top part) of VT at Easter with our kids. Lovely and quiet but only a few mins walk to where the action is. Olympique apartment - literally step out and onto the main piste and lovely unobstructed views of the slopes/surrounding mountains.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| kettonskimum wrote: |
| We stayed over in the Slalom (top part) of VT |
Eh? How are you defining top part? The Olympic building in the slalom area is one of the lowest buildings in VT, nowhere near the top by altitude. Green 9 on the Powderbeds map. I agree it's got excellent slope access but it may be a bit too near the apres strip for New Year. Depends if VT do outside activities for NY, if they do it's usually in that area.
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With kids, I'd be looking to stay in the lower soleil area (yellow buildings). Very easy access to slopes/ski school meeting points and a public lift for quick walking access to the sports centre and shopping centre. Mostly restaurants rather than bars in that area.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Tue 4-06-24 11:54; edited 1 time in total
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Sorry, I guess top part means different things to different people. Olympic is green dot 9 on that map. We just found it a lovely and quiet area - lots of sledging on the doorstep, piste access. To reach the apres strip who have to walk a good few mins and go around other apartments so we never heard anything.
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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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Thanks so much everyone for the tips. That gives me a much better idea of where things are. Any tips on the best booking sites for apartments? We do not need flights etc, as coming from Australia, so just want to book an apartment. Are Air BnB and VRBO/Stayz guaranteed that the host wont cancel, or are they a bit rouge like other parts of the world?
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I've done DIY for quite a number of years. With a bit of Google research you can find and contact apartment owners directly (usually French) which saves booking fees and flushes out bargains in good locations. But not for everyone as it involves bank transfers of deposit and balance which makes some people nervous. I've never had a problem and it's easy here to transfer from a sterling bank account to Euro one.
During COVID, I was a bit more nervous and booked via Abritel.fr - which enabled cancellation and refunds. But it helps to have a good grip of French. Just enter your specifics and it'll show what's available. It's a bit like Booking.com!
I think AirBnb is pretty safe - have used for the first time for Italy in Feb half term 2025. But definitely went with someone very highly rated as hadn't used the booking facility before.
You can also use the booking service of the resort - through tourist information.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| kettonskimum wrote: |
| You can also use the booking service of the resort - through tourist information. |
There are also links from the resort website to the websites of the local rental agencies, may be cheaper than the listings on the central booking service.
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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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Air bnb are notorious for owners cancelling
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@legallybl0nde, I stayed with my son who had just turned 15 in the Bel Horizon (yellow 10 on the map given, in the Soleil District) over New Year 22/23. The area was great. We went room only. Plenty of restaurants there and I did not notice any party noise. And it was great for ski in/out. Not sure if there are apartments there but you could review that.
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You know it makes sense.
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@legallybl0nde, we have visited VT for the last couple of easters and have stayed in the soliel area on both occasions. last year we were in lauzieres (yellow 13) it was great, this season we were in la reine blanche (yellow 23), it was a fantastic location, short walking distance to the centre, with ski in/out straight on to a piste from the boot room, it shows a orange dotted line you need to follow, admittedly you have to take your skis off and cross a road, but it is only about 100m down (on skis) from the cairn gondola top station, and this also links into the plein sud/pluviometre pistes.
we actually realised with a couple of days to go that you can access the piste via a track that goes between red 33 and yellow 29, so ideal if you do not need ski school meeting points.
we did not notice any noise on both occasions
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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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| Quote: |
Air bnb are notorious for owners cancelling
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Yes, there have been a number of recent reports on SHs. I would hesitate to book AirBnB at New Year when a last minute cancellation could be a disaster.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Yes that is my worry with Air BNB and Stayz/VRBO. It appears that Abritel is the French version, all owned by same company.
So would I be better booking through a VT agency for an apartment? Sadly all the hotels appear to be out of our budget (we are doing 2 further weeks at Meribel after, so just trying to add on this as a bonus, so my husband is conscious of the costs and if its too much he will want to just stay in Ireland until the Meribel booking).
Also, on another note my son is coeliac so we will need to mostly self cater - what supermarket is the best/biggest range of food generally in VT? Is there anything equivalent to the large Spar in Meribel (the one just outside the village)?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@legallybl0nde, There’s a Spar supermarket but I’ve always preferred the Carrefour which to me has a better selection of fresh veg. They’re very close to each other. There’s also a Sherpa supermarket further up toward the top of the resort but I’ve never used that.
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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 have stayed in Le Chamois D'or several times not at Xmas or New Year though. It is above an Irish bar and spar and ski hire and they have a reasonable restaurant which you can walk to in your flip flops:) Never found noise to be too much of an issue.I have booked direct and with booking.com. Its basic accomo but never had a problem.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@legallybl0nde, it's a great question and different sectors have benefits and disadvantages.
Using this map as a guide the resort generally slopes from top right down to top left.
https://www.powderbeds.com/pub/downloads/88/Val-Thorens-Village-Map-22.jpg
So if your kids are in ski school, pay close attention to which one they are in and where their meeting point is. For example, if you're staying in the lower end of the Soleil area, and your ski school meets at the lower end of the lombarde area (as a few do) then you'll need to catch a couple of slow carpets to get there which could add on 10-15mins to an already busy morning!
Similarly on my first trip with the boys many many moons ago, we stayed in the higher part of the Soleil area, not realising that it was a bit of a trek uphill to get to all the main bars/clubs.
Personally we try to stay near the top of Castor & Pollux carpet (such as Eskival, Roche Blanche, Lac de Lou) as you can pretty much ski to any lift from there plus you are within walking distance of all the main shops/restaurants.
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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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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| Air bnb are notorious for owners cancelling |
They can be - the good thing is that a cancellation comes up in the reviews and stands out like a massive red flag. I generally won't book an apartment where the owner has cancelled someone's booking, and definitely wouldn't if it had happened more than once.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Handy Turnip wrote: |
@legallybl0nde, it's a great question and different sectors have benefits and disadvantages.
Using this map as a guide the resort generally slopes from top right down to top left.
https://www.powderbeds.com/pub/downloads/88/Val-Thorens-Village-Map-22.jpg
So if your kids are in ski school, pay close attention to which one they are in and where their meeting point is. For example, if you're staying in the lower end of the Soleil area, and your ski school meets at the lower end of the lombarde area (as a few do) then you'll need to catch a couple of slow carpets to get there which could add on 10-15mins to an already busy morning!
Similarly on my first trip with the boys many many moons ago, we stayed in the higher part of the Soleil area, not realising that it was a bit of a trek uphill to get to all the main bars/clubs.
Personally we try to stay near the top of Castor & Pollux carpet (such as Eskival, Roche Blanche, Lac de Lou) as you can pretty much ski to any lift from there plus you are within walking distance of all the main shops/restaurants. |
That’s really helpful. We had one day skiing there in Jan and came down around the front of what I think is the Soleil area and we were really couldn’t believe there weren’t more restaurants, shops etc.
No ski school for us (although we might get one private lesson). Would like to be close enough to the main area with shops and supermarkets (and hopefully somewhere with decent coffee) but not in the rowdy part of all the bars. I also hate a trek uphill wth kids, so that is really an important factor too.
We have already spent a bomb getting to Europe for Christmas and have 2 further weeks in Meribel, so cost wil be a factor. It does seem like a lot of places are not available yet on some of the rental agencies - am I just too early or have I missed the boat?
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@legallybl0nde, I've generally only gone March-April for VT so it's hard to say. If you do the same search for March do you see the same picture? If so, then they probably haven't come on yet but if they are plentiful in March then in might mean a lot have gone.
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