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Appartments

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Looking at booking a week in VT recently we did check out the self catered appartments. On the surface these appeared cheap (in Inghams brochure), but once you'd paid the occupancy supplement they didn't look such good value. (We were only booking for two)

Are appartments ever worth it for two? If you find an appartment for two is it somewhere you'd want to spend a week?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Assumimg that you mean apartments Ian (good Syrah?) in my experience not unless all you want to do is have a roof over your head at night. Sleeping is not usually part of the deal unless you are used to sleeping in a very narrow bed in a hallway or living room and at a strange angle, and unless you are teetotal I find that a rotgut inclusive chalet or hotel deal will beat any apartment for 2 (ie 4 + supplements!) any time. It only took me about 10 years to work this 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?
We only stayed in an apartment once, and in Val T, - never again! There was a group of us spread over four apartments, sleeping five to a room the size of a broom cupboard is not much fun, especially when the other four are guys... Shocked The amount of money we spent eating out made it one of the more expensive hols I've been on, especially as we felt we had to eat at good places to make up for the crappy (can I say that??) accommodation. We tend to stick to hotels now and haven't yet had a bad one - fab food & good facilities, worth it every time especially if you can get one with a swimming pool or spa facilities Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
Cathy - four guys in one room, a lot of people pay good money for that.

Sorry.... so did you! Wink
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I think we'll let you say that Cathy, since it's a factual description Cool
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Ski Pixie: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Oh - and forgot to add the pleasures of not being able to check into your 'apartment' until 5pm, paying a deposit and then not being able to get your deposit back until you've cleaned the room including hoovering. Now I'm sorry but I don't go on holiday to do the housework....

In our case we naively thought the left luggage room was where you could leave your luggage whilst waiting to check in - we merrily did so, went off to get drinks, returned to find the room had been ransacked, several people's luggage taken completely and others rummaged through & items taken. Apparently its a common thing in Val T on a Saturday - be warned Evil or Very Mad

You may have guessed I'm not a lover of (French) apartments...
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Well, I'm 'glad' to hear that - I thought me were missing a trick somewhere!

A fine wine Alan - I subsequently went over to SCGB and posted under the influence there too Very Happy

Hey - we've got two new smilies Toofy Grin and a SnowHead snowHead
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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.
I've stayed in one apartment before - last year in Chamonix. Booked with First Choice (dreadful), but the actual apartment was fine. I'm happy cooking anyway - so it worked out about £190 quid a head plus around £100 for food & booze (including breakfast and lunch) for the week. However, I do actually enjoy cooking.

This year four of us are off to Courchevel. Staying in a friend's apartment - £300 for the week between us.

It can be done, but it's either about knowing the place you're staying in (like this year) or luck (last year). And if you're going to eat out every night then forget about a budget...
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Never again. French S/C apartments are the dingiest, tiniest, most miserable places ever built. So many bad experiences. One year 5 of us sleeping in the living room, including two having to kip in the drawers under the sofas!

Even paying a hefty under-occupancy supplement in Val T a few years ago, with only 5 of us in an 8-person apartment, I still ended up having to sleep in the hall! No possible way that it would have held 8 people.

And you spend far more on eating out in the evening than you would have done if you'd just booked a HB hotel (and you have to eat out as there is little so depressing as trying to cook a hearty meal for six on a single electric hob ring that never gets hotter thatn 'luke warm').

Why do the French put up with them?
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I think that apartments are OK if you don't mind cooking and if you book them independently. I think that the underoccupancy suplements are a disgrace and especially that you don't get any child discounts for them. The standard French apartment is designed for two adults and two children NOT for four adults.

I managed to stay in an apartment in Flaine all to myself with flights and everythink by booking it myself for ~£300. Flight and transfer through Inghams, apartment through Erna Low. My friends who I was skiing with had 6 of them in an apartment miles from the slopes for £250. My apartment was basic and a bit grotty but I've always found the beds etc to be OK.

Regarding luggage store rooms - these have always struck me as dodgy. Advice is to get middle of the day flights so that you don't have to use them.

Best apartments that I have stayed in were in Plagne Soleil. Brand new and spacious and right on the slopes (you could actually ski back into the ski locker room!).
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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.
Disagree with most here! Apartments are the best. Choose well, and you get the best of all possible worlds. Sure French s/c resort apartments can be cramped, but to give you an idea of what's possible, you can stay in Bourg St Maurice (Les Arcs) in a very spacious 3 bed, (sleeps eight) apartment with enormous balcony, facing south, next to the funicular (7 mins to Les Arcs) for..... a mere £500 per week at the height of the season Exclamation Shocked Exclamation

Or in a studio, 2 people, for just £180 per week inclusive, in Feb Exclamation Shocked Exclamation

Buy your own beer at supermarket rates, try another resort for the day (La Rosière, Ste Foy, Val, Tignes, 3 Valleys, La Plagne between 20 and 30 mins drive only)...

Pete
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
PG, clearly we need a man on the inside for this operation Smile , would you like to declare a commercial interest?

How about other countries (not France)?
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Damn, sussed Wink .... But it's hardly a commercial operation, at those rates I must be doing it for love, not money Smile

Seriously folks, although the resorts themselves can be a real rip off, drive down diy breaks can be the cheapest by far, if you stay just close to but not in the resorts. I live in Bourg St Maurice and I can be on the pistes in 15 mins (quicker than some staying in the remoter blocks in Arcs 1800, for example...)
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Perhaps that should of been our woman on the slopes, who knows? Very Happy
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Sorry to disappoint you Ian, but do you know many women called 'Pete' ?! (see sig above)..

Still if you need any info about the Tarentaise Valley, I'm your man Smile
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Ooops - silly me - I popped over to the Les Arcs Club site and noticed one of the organisers had initials PG. Embarassed

By the way - your 15min transfer from Bourg St Maurice - is that on the funicular railway (or whatever it is)?
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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?
I'm the PG at the bottom of the same list on the site, you probably saw Pamela G half way down and stopped there?

The funicular runs every 15 or 20 mins depending on time of day, and it takes 7 mins to get from BSM to Les Arcs 1600. It's a couple of minutes drive to the funic, and just a few metres walk to the chairlift at Arcs 1600. Free parking at the bottom station. BSM is a small, quiet town, even at this time of year - not much of a night life scene! But there's some good value restaurants, easy access to several local resorts... ideal for the independent-minded skier. You can pick and choose according to snow conditions, slope congestion. Right now, in the middle of the busiest period (2 French regions Feb hols overlap) I ski in the smaller resorts such as La Rosière (with its link into Italy), or Ste Foy Tarentaise. They're still relatively quiet.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
We've had mainly good experiences, but tend to eat out most nights anyway-it is a holiday after all. In la Plagne when our kids were small and at ski school, it was useful for a lunch time rest, and we made our own lunch . In Serre Chevalier, the Alpaga apartments are good, kitchen reasonable, and lots of reasonably priced restaurants to visit. Depends on your expectations and situation I suppose. Booked a private apartment for April, will let you know how it goes. Have also done hotels and chalets. Enjoyed em all, as long as I'm skking!!! Very Happy
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Apartments aren't too bad especially if you're trying to ski on a tight budget. For example I never pay more than £100 per head for accom (feel ripped off if I have) and then self-cater. Ok so it's not luxurious but it does mean that impoverished students like me can get some skiing in! If I could afford it I suppose I'd stay in a hotel or chalet but at the end of the day I am there to ski and if that means slumming it then slum it I will!!!! snowHead
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
We liked the it so much we bought an apartment ... first we got fed up with the transport arrangements (nightmare flights courtesy of Crystal) so started driving, then had enough of indifferent food and wine and uninterested chalet staff ... by the time we found ourselves putting our own package together we decided we might as well invest in our expensive habit rather than just feeding it! It's not going to work out any cheaper than doing a last minute booking with unallocated accommodation, but with 2 small children we were never going to do that anyway - and renting it out for the whole of the season when we're not there means it will work out comparable with say Mark Warner for a week. And we can choose what we do, when we do it, and what we eat and drink Very Happy
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Stayed at P & V L'Ours Blanc Apts, Alp D'Huez last month - UNBELIEVEABLY TINY!! There were six of us in an apt designed for 7. I just can't imagine how we'd have coped if there was another person. We'd been spoiled the last two previous years in Livigno - both times allocated on arrival and ooddles more space than we needed ( extra beds etc ). What was most annoying was that we'd booked that shoe-box & paid MORE for the privilege! Never again!!! Anything within the P & V range will be avoided at all costs. Mad
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Apartments in ski resorts are small for the number of people that it says it can accommodate. For example, our apartment for rent would be advertised by the French agent as sleeping 8. In reality it's very comfortable for four but will also sleep 6. We would suggest halving the number to get satisfactory accommodation. To see a floor plan of our supposedly 8 berth apartment, go to www.serrechevalier.org
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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.
Whilst ski apartments in France aren`t usually any bigger than a broom cupboard over in Canada you can rent apartments that have all mod cons, loads of space and for the same price as a french broom cupboard!

I have an apartment in Whistler, its 650 Sq Ft and sleeps 4, there is a hot tub, free parking, cable TV/Video. Basically everything you would expect from an apartment. Also you rent the suite not per head so there is no supplement for under usuage. If your interested here is the link:

www.alluradirect.com/826

I looked at investing in a French apartment but after seeing what you get for your money there is just no comparison with Whistler.

For students or singles on a tight budget French ski apartments fit the bill, but for comfort, for families, for anyone who needs some creature comforts or for anyone that just wants to swing a cat its worth checking out Canada and especially Whistler.

The Canadians are also much more customer orientated. There are no problems with language. Its a lot cheaper to eat out. Kids are catered for with loads of activities (hiring a nanny in Whistler is about a third of the price of France). The ski schools actually teach you something rather than just saying follow me.

OK so where are the down points? For me the only down point is the flight (9 hours) but I use it positively by making my trip 10 or 14 days as I tell myself its not worth going all that way for a week Smile


Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Thu 19-02-04 15:19; edited 1 time in total
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Hello Chris, it's your apartment I've booked for April. See you then
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
we've done appt hols twice just with the two of us - but always by driving and booking the appt direct (coz as you say under-occupancy in brochures - and rabbit hutch appts). Done Val T - gorgeous appt for 4 in the Montana Valbel - one room for us and the other for our clothes! - the other in Serre Chevalier.
Worked out very reasonable - but cleaning at the end is a bit of a drag.
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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.
Helen Beaumont, Hi Helen, we've had more snow today and more expected for the rest of the week to add to the 3 metre level at 2250m so its still looking good for your holiday. Did you see the apartment layout on the website? - Chris
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
yes -looks good. I've also seen a one we might consider buying on Agence Charlemagne site, but it looks like it might need some work. View from balcony overlooks Luc Alphand piste.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Helen, if its the apartment 121200euros its been on the market over 6months which is unheard of round here. Must be something amiss there. April is a good time to view as people put property up for sale at the end of the season and so there should be more choice around then. I'll keep a look out for you.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Thanks Chris, yes it is that one, thought it a bit over-priced too, if it needs work.
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