Can someone check my booking for Easter 27

A snowHead

Quick facts:

Never been skiing ever, always wanted to go.
Have been researching for a while now and narrowed down to Avoriaz, La Plagne and Obergugle (good for beginners, hopefully good snow at easter
Family of 4 with 2 kids who will be 14 and 12 - no-one has skied before.

Just booked:
L'Amara P&V in Avoriaz for Saturday to Saturday 27th March 2027.

I have 3 days to cancel!

Does this seem like a decent deal?

Still to book:
Flights
Transfer
Lessons

So probably another £2k on top of what we paid.

I really don't have a clue here but the Amara seems like a decent option (there are cheaper options but this could be our only ski trip depending on how it goes!)

Thanks for any advice here. Keep or cancel?

A snowHead

I cant help you with the Prices since i Always do everything myself and Look Always for the cheepest decent accommodation
But L'Amara is the Premium residence. I dont think you will find Something best in Avoriaz
The Position is Not the best i think
Taking that you never skied you have to walk to the Meeting Point. Not a big Deal from L'Amara but Its also more than lets say 10m
I think the price inc Skipass is OK. If you can afford IT Go for it
Try to See If ITS possible to make a couple of Lessons somewhere in UK before you Go, so when you will be there you will Not start from Zero.
3200 in Obergurgl you need only for the accommodations i think. There are only high Prestige Hotels there and a few Appartements

PS my Kids started with 2.5 skiing but i also do Something Like this the First years
Spoil them...as much AS you can. And when they have the skiing Virus you can book Something cheaper because then IT will be the skiing the Main Thing in the Holidays and Not the whole concept

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

If you put in similar details on sunweb it shows as December 12 available? For a similar cost (3 room apartment 2 bedrooms) including flights and transfers (extra for hold luggage) from Gatwick? (But bronze ski gear).
I liked avoriaz (only reason I replied), but £2k on top seems a lot, can you speak to sunweb about adding flights and transfers?

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This is the Easter week so I assume prices might be more expensive? Flights are not out yet from Belfast/Dublin.
Putting the hotel in Expedia it comes out to £2800 for just the L'Amara (no ski passes). I think ski passes for Avoriaz only would be roughly £600 for the 4 of us. So paying £2700 on Sunweb doesnt seem too bad but I have no point of reference.

I am trying to balance our first trip being 'special' and staying in a nice hotel/apartment - there are lots of AirBnB type places but I know my wife would appreciate a nicer place with pool and spa etc.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I stayed in champery because it has a mountain railway connected to a main line train station and got the pds pass, you can get a discount if you get an sbb snow and rail ticket (ski pass at the same time as the train ticket). I suppose you would want to talk it through with Mrs. after checking the price comparison websites.
For me though skiing is first, luxury second, I suppose bargains keep a lot of people going.
I prefer colder skiing than Easter, but it is a good ski area.

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Seems roughly right. We are a family of 4 (kids currently 14 and 12, will be 15/13 next Easter) and realistically, you're looking at a minimum of £1k per head. I really struggle to bring it in below that, even on short breaks.

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

Easter is a great option for first timers. It is generally warmer than February half term and the longer days make for lovely opportunities to chill on the balcony or on a terrace with a tipple.

Transfers will be surprisingly pricey. Brace yourself for that.

After all it is free

Id day 1k per person is about right, hard to get it below that, unless you really skim.
Just back from la plagne, DIY , self catering all in was £3400, for 7 days skiing. 2 adults one child.

We're just back from 7 nights in Les Arcs. 2 adults, 2 children (14/12). We went by train. Our ski holiday days were the 4-11 April. We did an overnight in Paris either side. I've not included those costs.

Self catered 2 bed apartment: £1322.
Interrail tickets (bought in summer sale): £824.
Train reservations: approx £300.
Lift passes (full Paradiski pass bought in Early bird sale): £845.
Lessons (group. mornings x 2 kids): £426
Lesson (one private 2 hour): £105
Ski hire: Skis/boots poles for 2 kids, just skis and poles for my husband: £150 (I have my own kit). Hired the equivalent to 'Silver'.
Return private taxi from Bourg St Maurice train station to hotel: £70 each way. £140 total.

All numbers have been converted from Euros, so this is based on today's exchange rate. There may be a couple of quid in it either way, but negligible.

Total: £4112.

This isn't the total cost of our holiday as I have not included food or drinks on top. Realistically, that was about £1500 on top, not including our Paris bookends.

Yes, it's very expensive. But you won't regret it. My brother, SIL, and their kids came this year for the first time ever. Days 1 and 2 were wobbly for the adults (learning a new skill is hard). Day 3 it clicked and they were hooked.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Yes be prepared for an expensive transfer from Geneva. Group seats in a minibus rather than private will be cheaper.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snow reports

@bingobango, just to add to what @johnE said, there are loads of buses between geneva airport and Avoriaz. We took the same bus to and from Morzine (21st March, loadsa snow), it worked very well.

A few things to note - try and book direct with Alpine Fleet or whichever suits; we booked through flixbus and it was a pain when I managed to double book on of the journeys. rolling eyes

However, the flixbus site is good for searching which bus goes when.

The bus company gives a basic time for return but if they think there's a chance you'll miss your flight they'll bump you to an earlier bus, so be prepared for a very early start if you don't have a civilised flight time.

The bus goes from T1 at Geneva, if you're flying into T2 (Jet2 or similar) it's about 10 minutes easy walk.

Guess it depends on your convenience preferences as to what you do. I think I read that you can get a horse and carriage transfer from the bus stop to your accommodation in Avoriaz which would be pretty special! snowHead

Edited to add - get your lessons booked early and then don't worry about how many beginner runs there are in the area as your instructor will sort you. Your kids will probably be ripping the little stash by the end of the week. Very Happy

Thanks all some good tips there on transfers.
I am minded to keep this booking it seems to tick all the boxes for a first trip.

I don't mind paying a bit extra for the hotel if it's going to make the overall experience a bit better for the family.

If anyone has any tips about avoriaz, L'Amara or ski lessons there I would appreciate it.

Will also see about stone initial lessons somewhere before we go

You know it makes sense.

@bingobango,
For a first ski trip I'd recommend using a good UK tour operator that offers an all in deal & has in resort managers/reps. See if you can find a family specialist and/or a TO offering 'learn to ski' trips.
Why a TO? If something goes wrong it is for them to sort out eg snowmagedon, delayed flight (meaning a possible missed transfer), delayed transfer leading to missed flight, airline losing luggage. Also if something personal goes wrong - stolen skis, injury, illness etc they are there to help.
You might find PdS is a bit low for a late season trip.
Make sure your ski instructors are either native English speakers or fluent. A learn to ski trip helps here as you will be with other beginners, so all in the same boat.
As beginners you won't get much use from your included ski pass - you'll be on the free nursery lifts for the first half of your week, or more.

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

A snowHead

For ski passes, check with the ski school what to buy.

A snowHead

As I said above, my brother and his family came out for their first ski trip with us this year. My SIL regularly commented that she was glad I was there as 'no-one tells you anything'. This is true if you DIY. They had me there acting as their rep, so I was telling them what time to get ready, what they needed, where they needed to be etc.

I've only ever done DIY ski trips, but I'm also pretty confident, so I do a lot of research ahead of time, and if anything unexpected happens, I'm able to deal with it (in fact, on our first trip our return flight was cancelled - no biggie, train to Vienna, couple of bonus days there).

So whether you go with a TO depends entirely on your confidence to manage the unexpected and research ahead of time the location of the ski school meet point vs your accommodation etc.
From what I've heard, they do take a lot of the thinking away, but you pay for the privilege.

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

Em, I thought Sunweb was a tour operator

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It is, but no idea if they have a presence in resort or it's purely online!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I would just check that this hotel is ok for beginners vis a vis the meeting point for lessons. I seem to recall it’s a little bit out of the beginner centre area which is just fine if you can ski but as a total beginner a long walk uphill 15 mins or so with kids and kit every morning isn’t ideal and it can be very warm in all your gear at Easter! I had friends who stayed there as a family and were happy with the apartments but they were all already good skiers. Don’t mean to rain on the parade but it’s just as noted above, you do have to do your homework a bit when you’re going solo. Hope it works out. there are some real Avoriaz experts on here so hopefully one of them will see this thread and advise.

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

Definitely go for a trip or two to the snow dome in the UK before you go. This will demistify a lot of the process, you will know how to put your skis and boots on, and it will be in a safe, friendly English-speaking environment. Their ‘learn to ski in a day’ course done 48 hours before you leave will put you well ahead for your first day’s skiing. Alternatively if you live close enough then do a series of two-hour lessons.

Find a British ski school in Avoriaz - there are several - so you get instruction that is consistent with that from the dome. The snow will be very different as it is Easter and Avoriaz is low down, so it will be hard in the morning and soft by lunchtime; that’s fine but don’t be surprised.

You could book private lessons and share an instructor amongst the family. But your children will very possibly progress faster than you will so it might not work as well as being in the ski school group lessons would. Be guided by the ski school. Book early.

Personally I’d drive down. It takes barely longer than flying and will be significantly cheaper for four of you. Scant risk of snowy roads by that time of year.

After all it is free

We stayed in Amara when we went to Avoriaz for our second year of skiing. The ski-in, ski-out is great but that doesn't help if you can't ski. I'm going on memory but I'm pretty sure the only real way to ski from Amara to the main part of Avoriaz is to ski down a run (very wide, easy, beginner-friendly - after a short track), take a lift (Proclou) to the top of Avoriaz, and then ski down into Avoriaz proper.

We had no problem with it in our second week - and I suspect your kids could probably do it just fine after a day or two of lessons.

So the only question is the first couple of days, as walking to the main village with skis, etc., isn't ideal - although doable if needed. The solution to that is probably just finding somewhere you can store them in the main village for the first couple of days? ie almost certainly not a big deal - just needs a little bit of planning.

The Kids are 12 and 14
The Lessons start at Plateau so leaving Equipment in the Main Village Help Not at all i think

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Looks like Amara is just next to the beginners' slopes in Plateau, I'd keep equipment in the residence's ski lockers. You're also on the extreme west of Avo, at the start of kids' favorite Proclou. As others have said, ideally you'd try it all in a ski dome now... And TBH I wouldn't be too worried about your teenagers - they'll pick things up easily. It's parents that need to ensure they can keep up!

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Amara is a great base. It's not a long walk to the beginner area, as you can walk under the bridge at the back of the complex and you'll be at the plateau for the meeting point for most lessons and once you're up and running you can ski down the very easy runs to the Proclou lift, which takes you up there anyway as an alternative. There's a swimming pool and spa on site and, if you've got your ski hire from Skiset Amara Sport, it's on site too. It can be seen as pricey, but there's a reason for that, it's a good place to stay. Regarding ski storage, all of the buildings have their own ski lockers on the ground floor, so you step outside and you're on the snow.

Help!!

Can someone check my booking for Easter 27

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