 Poster: A snowHead
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So here I am again, god knows why I persevere but even though I cack it on the slopes I'm gonna give it another go. I have adhd drugs now that seem to help with my anxiety, so who knows maybe this will be the year I get my mojo back.
Need to go Thurs-Thurs or Fri-Fri on 9/10th Jan and will probably be flying into Geneva (not booked yet but it appears other most flights to ski airports only fly at weekends)
Ideally would like an apartment with 3 bedrooms or chalet/hotel where we won't get slammed with heavy sole use because ideally we need a double and 2 singles, although we could have 2 twins at a push.
Anyone got any good suggestions for places to look, or companies that have flexible start days?
Resort wise I'd prefer something that has good snow, with wide easy blues, not bothered about huge area so that we can try and keep the lift passes low.
Last year we got a great deal booking accomodation through Valmeiner tourist board as they discounted the lift pass - are there any other resorts that do this?
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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 think Heidi does variable start/end dates.
In my experience, ringing hotels directly sometimes works.
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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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Agree with Heidi, also Airbnb and Vrbo etc. The tourist board websites for the Italian Dolomite resorts are also excellent and the Dolomite slopes (particularly Corvara) would suit you down to the ground in terms of skiing.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Ps no good for Geneva flights but there are scheduled flights to Venice all week
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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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Sunweb & Snowtrex worth looking at as well
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@skimummk, Happy New Year  … I'm slightly not understanding the problem.
1. there are loads of airports serving ski resorty areas departing daily from the UK (I presume). Geneva's not teh only one although in many cases arguably the most convenient.
2. Most hotels, even French ones, will not have any problems with "odd" dates out of high season (early January is NOT high season). Apartments may do as increasingly the ones around here are reverting to Sat-Sat.
3. Why a double and two singles or two twins? What about double and one twin?
Anyway, I'd have though somewhere like Morzine would work and a check on Booking.com would find you a hotel?
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Why must you book through a company? Plenty of privately owned places that likely be more flexible on airbnb, booking.com, vrbo etc..
And is this essentially the same as the other thread you’ve got going?
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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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If you can't book the exact thing you want, book Sat/Sat (and there are LOADS which fit your requirements), rent a car from the airport and spend Friday night just down the road in a hotel. "Ski from the car" on Saturday, which should be quiet on the slopes, then check into the apartment about 5 pm.
I quite see that if you want two singles, you want two singles, but any three bed apartment will do, won't it? I'm a single but would always much prefer a double bed.
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@skimummk, Not flexible as such, but https://www.alpsaccommodation.com/ have some of their apartments/chalets that they market from Friday-Friday, from memory. Not sure if Samoens or Morillon are where you’re looking, but obviously they’re not far from Geneva and, presumably to help them manage their workload, they have some properties that they advertise for a Friday check in, I think.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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For your particular question I think Heidi.com or WeSki.com will be the best bet / they package up scheduled flights, transfers, and accom. You can sometimes do it slightly cheaper if you book the constituent parts separately but it’s a great way of searching.
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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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Picking up on the Ski airport comment. These also have frequent flights from the UK
Milan
Venice
Verona
Munich
Zurich
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I did 3 trips of a similar length last season, Airbnb, booking.com, resort websites. Book flights direct and plenty of transfer companies.
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You know it makes sense.
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Outside of the main school holidays, I’d say that most owners of rental properties will be happy to take variable-date bookings. In our village of La Tzoumaz, a satellite of Verbier, both the agency that we use[1] and the ski area company that owns the big tourist apartment block[2] at the base of the gondola have websites that happily offer variable-date bookings. I’d say the same applies if you’re up for the higher prices in the hub of Verbier itself.
[1] 4 Valleys 4 Seasons
[2] Téléverbier Resort
Edit: Looking at the 4v4s website for La Tzoumaz, for your dates, with 3 bedrooms, for the week, apartments are around CHF 1200 (£1,057 or £151/day) and chalets around CHF 2,000 (£1,762 or £251/day). Note that if you want a short walk to the base station i.e. under 200m then these tend to be apartments, with chalets a bit further away and needing a car or a short navette ride away.
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Wed 1-01-25 12:59; edited 4 times in total
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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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That property, whilst very cheap and well located, only has two bedrooms - AirBnB descriptions often say three bedrooms, when this includes sofa bed in lounge.
Not sure what you mean about "getting slammed with heavy sole use", @skimummk. When you rent an apartment with three separate bedrooms sleeping 4 people you will pay for the whole place whether every bed is full, or not.
For a place with three separate bedrooms, where everything is likely to be a bit more "upscale" you can expect to pay more like £250 - £300 a night.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Origen wrote: |
That property, whilst very cheap and well located, only has two bedrooms - AirBnB descriptions often say three bedrooms, when this includes sofa bed in lounge.
Not sure what you mean about "getting slammed with heavy sole use", @skimummk. When you rent an apartment with three separate bedrooms sleeping 4 people you will pay for the whole place whether every bed is full, or not.
For a place with three separate bedrooms, where everything is likely to be a bit more "upscale" you can expect to pay more like £250 - £300 a night. |
To elaborate a little, I've put "cursory" information into there, not knowing exactly the occupant mix etc. The OP is going to need more explicit input in evaluation. Serves as situational aspect though as view is from the beginner village slope, about halfway up, and looking at village centre.
The profile of that village is very much low occupancy outside French school holiday period, with many different size available accommodation. I'd not expect such hike in price in these lower demand weeks.
Note to OP if you're considering, lots of places come up in Taninges, which is a village down in valley Giffre (same district) but nowhere near ski convenience, unless you had a car and wanted to ski GM & PdS areas ad hoc.
We've visited winter and summer, so description are from practical experience rather than a search based probability 
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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 a 4 night rental (Thurs-Mon) in Chatel through Airbnb that is extremely cheap at the end of January. 2nd year doing that weekend in that appartment!
As others have said:
Airbnb
Sunweb (used them for short trips - lift pass included)
booking.com
Etc etc!
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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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Try Skiweekends or Snowcoach if you really want a company to deal with as I think they might do flexible weeks if you are only booking rooms
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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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In her other thread the OP said she wanted "ski in/out" and a pool. With three bedrooms. There are loads to choose from but that's not going to be cheap even in January! Maybe some prioritising will be necessary! If I were trying to arrange something like that, and was very anxious about skiing, I'd be after a really great private instructor, preferably a personal recommendation, even if it meant sleeping on a sofa bed! We've just come back from a Christmas trip - the first two days were full blizzard with poor vis. I wasn't skiing - stayed in our lovely rented apartment and enjoyed the view! In that sort of situation being with an instructor who knows every inch of the terrain is worth its weight in gold.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Origen wrote: |
| In her other thread the OP said she wanted "ski in/out" and a pool. With three bedrooms. There are loads to choose from but that's not going to be cheap even in January! Maybe some prioritising will be necessary! |
But wanted to deal with a company
All too hard to keep track of and offer any decent advice with two perhaps inconsistent threads.
And, yes, usually some prioritisation and compromise will be needed.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Thu 2-01-25 10:35; edited 1 time in total
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@skimummk,
Before looking at resorts, check what transfer options are available on Thursdays and Fridays. There will be a lot less than at weekends.
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Just to add another "Ski Airport" option - Salzburg has daily flights from the London area (BA, Lufthansa, Easyjet, Ryanair and WizzAir) and there are numerous resorts easily reached within 90 minutes by bus, train or transfer/taxi.
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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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@skimummk, I have availability at my chalet here in Morgins including this one that would meet your needs for that time, no problem with the start days. Would be either a transfer to Chatel where I could pick you up or train/bus, again with pickup if appropriate. Price is negotiable.
We're not ski in/out, but a short walk (5-8 mimnutes) or regular shuttle bus to access slopes in either direction, the new telecabine in the village accessing the Swiss side, thence round to Avoriaz, or a chairlift taking you to the SuperChatel area, again with links all the way round to Avoriaz and the Swiss side in the other direction.
There are various lift pass options which could, for example, be the Swiss side only, where there are cruisey blues a-plenty.
DM me for more details if you're interested.
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Just to try to amalgamate these threads, this was the post which started the other thread and enlarges on @skimummk's requirements.
Looking for a Thurs/fri start on 9th or 10th of Jan
4 people - Prefer 1 double, 2 single rooms or 2 twin rooms
Ski in/out
Access to a pool or a hot tub
Resort suitable for low intermediate (wide blues)
Within 2 hrs of an airport
Self catering, half board or chalet board
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks for all the advice guys
I wasn't necessarily saying that I needed to book with a company - I normally use Airbnb, Vrbo etc. as I prefer to book direct with the hosts and because the majority of websites and tourist boards only seem to offer weekend start dates.
I have found something via Chalets Direct by contacting the chalet direct and asking if they can be flexible - its not ski in/out but everything else seems to tick the boxes.
The most frustrating thing is listings that say 2/3 bedrooms but they are counting the living room as a bedroom. In the end if we'd been going self-catering I found it would have been cheaper and easier to book 2x1 bed apartments as there seems to be very few apartments with more than 2 seperate sleeping areas.
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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: |
there seems to be very few apartments with more than 2 seperate sleeping areas.
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there are loads but they cost a lot! I rented a lovely 5 bedroom place for Christmas week, through Gites de France.
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| skimummk wrote: |
The most frustrating thing is listings that say 2/3 bedrooms but they are counting the living room as a bedroom. |
Yes, particularly so in France. Also then makes it more difficult for those of us that really do have the space, especially with some Brits who are less used to dealing in floor surface areas for housing in general.
Why is my sleeps-6 apartment so much more expensive than a typical one in France? Because it's 85 sq m, that's why, with three actual bedrooms, a proper kitchen and ample lounge and dining space. As opposed to the French one that's more like 40 sq m, has two bunks in the corridor, a tiny coin montagne just big enough to contain a double bed and a crappy sofa-bed in the lounge. Sorta thing. Bargain hunters will often not get beyond the price/bed headline price, as it were. Oh, and let's not even get started on payng for bed linen and cleaning charges.
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You know it makes sense.
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Are you needing a transfer for this trip? As someone who has extensively researched weekend ski trips you can usually find the accommodation but then end up shelling out £££ for a transfer if it’s not saturday. And even on a Saturday it can still be £££ if you choose certain resorts/availability etc
I would recommend
Sunweb
Heidi
We ski
Ski weekends
For inspiration. I’ve done DIY trips to chamonix before easily but it is well connected so the transfer isn’t problematic.
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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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@vicky24 thanks - we are sorted now via Chalets Direct.
You are right, the transfer is eye watering!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
Bargain hunters will often not get beyond the price/bed headline price,
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True, but that - and a ski in/out location - often IS the bottom line for people on a tight budget. And French families, who generally drive, would often prefer to bring their own linen and towels, and do the cleaning themselves, to keep the cost down. @HellsBells has commented in the past that French families generally leave her apartment very clean - Brits not so much....
I think people are becoming more aware of the infinite variety of French apartments available, from the very cheap "rabbit hutch" type, up to super luxury. The place I rented for Christmas had 5 separate bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, beds made up on arrival with lovely linen, a large living area, a sauna and a brilliant ski and boot room. Yes - it was expensive - but it was beautiful, a short walk from the piste, and would be a fair bit cheaper for a quiet week in January. I paid extra for cleaning - a bargain at 160 euros. Just the ski and boot room alone would have taken us a while. Our own 43 sq metre French apartment - 50 yards to the piste - had two proper separate bedrooms, one with a super king size double and a big wardrobe, the other with a bunk, double under and single over. So slept 5 without using a sofa bed. In fact we didn't have a sofa bed as I find them uncomfortable for anything other than sleeping. IKEA Poangs instead! We loved it and spent many happy months there, lent it to family and friends and did "swaps" with other owners because we didn't want to be there for the four French holiday weeks. We couldn't have afforded anything bigger. Our Christmas apartment was the "left hand half" of an individual 10-bedroom chalet which would cost millions. You wouldn't expect to rent it for peanuts in a peak holiday week. It's a highly competitive market in French apartments and I think you generally get what you pay for - which suits most people fine.
As for transfers, for four people the obvious and likely cheapest option, especially for less than the standard 7 days, is to rent a car.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@skimummk, good to hear you’re sorted! Where did you choose in the end?
We had a wonderful apartment in La Thuile a few years back and shock horror we had a bed to sleep on instead of a sofa  this was a 2 bed apartment for the 4 of us which when booking with crystal never seems to even be an option or comes at a considerable price!
My hubby has said he doesn’t want to do that any longer and his old back isn’t good for sleeping on sofa beds. He really recommends terasses d’eos or might be d’helios one of those two i think in flaine via Sunweb. It’s the one Sunweb do anyway. Ski in ski out
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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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| v1cky24 wrote: |
@skimummk, good to hear you’re sorted! Where did you choose in the end?
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Another thread implies Les Arcs.
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