 Poster: A snowHead
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Stayed with AE in Les Gets in March and have to say that it ended up being the best holiday I've had.
We got a late deal (read: cheap) so were were working on the proviso that we got a flight, a transfer, somewhere to lay our heads after 7hrs on the slopes and some grub at the start and end of the day. That's what we got, nothing more, nothing less.
The Hotel Chamois wasn't the Ritz but then again it never said it was in the brochure. It was a bit smelly on the stairs, but I suppose months of people trapsing up and down in wet boots makes you like that  The staff were extremely friendly and the manager, Scott (I think was his name) was one of the nicest guys I've met, giving good advice about where to go in the area and what runs we might like. Even bumped into him on his day off and he was really helpful. The rep who dealt with us, Ed, was first rate and obviously not just a seasonaire out there to mess around – he was really good at attempting to deal with problems.
The food at the Chamois wasn't the best, but I've had worse in some restraunts over here. AE do need to maybe up the amount of breakfast and dinner grub available though. Still, loads of coffee and muesli kicked off the day okay, and beer and cakes filled the gaps on an evening.
The rooms were basic and it was a bit noisy thanks to loads of kids running around from a big family group. Cosy bar area inside though and the drinks were dead cheap (two-for-one).
Good location just five minutes from the main lifts and we got amazing coinditions that made the holiday even better. We also met a couple of guys staying at the hotel who we hooked up with for the week and that made the trip sooo much better.
I had seen the threads slagging AE but I do think they are a bit unfair, true to the nature of 'anonymous' forums posts. Okay, we're not talking Club Med here but they were genuine, which is one thing I do respond well to. Polite staff go a long way to making things good.
Would I go back to Les Gets with AE? Not to the Hotel Chamois – I think I want to go a bit more upmarket in future. Would I use AE again? Yes is the simple answer – good value, good staff and good prices.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Thu 13-11-08 17:54; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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bellhouse, think you ought to give Scott in Les Gets a raise, he's given you two of the very few positives you've got out of this thread.
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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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| jonibegood wrote: |
Here's my experience of Alpine Elements, this is the hotel I'm referring to:
Hotel Bdn (Boule de Neige)
362 Rue JosephVallot
Chamonix
74400
We had a one night stay arranged in September at Alpine Element's Hotel Bdn in Chamonix. We were a group of 9 guys on a driving holiday. The person organising this 6 day driving trip made it very clear when booking all our hotels that we wanted single beds and on site car parking.
On booking we were told this wasn't a problem and that the car park was opposite the hotel. When we arrived we were told that there were 8 beds available and they weren't all single as the hotel didn't have that many single beds. The car park "opposite" was about 1/2 mile down the road, out of town, pitch black and deserted - not a place that we wanted to leave our nice cars.
Bearing in mind we'd been mis-sold the accomodation and one of the group had to find somewhere else anyway we decided to all stay elsewhere. The guy at the hotel was very helpful, could understand our issues and he filled out a complaint form saying that we should be refunded on our return to the UK. I've just heard our request for refund has been rejected so they've had about £500 out of us for nothing which was probably a very welcome addition to coffers at such a quiet time of the year.
In terms of the actual Hotel, we arrived at night, the bar area looked fine. I did make it up into a room and in my opinion it was looking very tired and definately at the lower end of the spectrum in terms of quality and state or repair compared to other accomodation I've stayed in.
I agree with some of the sentiments posted above and you do have to take some of these reviews with a pinch of salt. However, there's no smoke without fire and the real value in these forums is that it forces tour operators like Alpine Elements to become more customer focussed and think about how they operate their businesses.
I dare say some of the other party members won't be as subtle as me!! |
I too was part of this group which placed a booking with Alpine Elements.
As Jon has posted, the on-site staff member was very helpful and pointed us in the right direction regarding making a formal complaint and seeking compensation / refund.
However, the helpfulness experienced AT the hotel did in NO way reflect the helpfulness experienced when dealing with the UK office. I was nominated spokes person by the rest of the party and have been dealing with Alpine Elements on a day-to-day, week-by-week basis since we returned from Europe on 24th September.
As far as I am aware (and according to all the FAQ documents on their website) I have jumped through all the hoops, dotted "i"s and crossed all the "t"s required by their "Customer Services" team to make a valid complaint.
Here's a few examples of "Helpfulness" I experienced during the claim proceedure:
1) After submitting the claim in writing (by email) it took 5 weeks to even arrive on the desk of the correct individual. Apparently it's a different department who deal with complaints to the people who answer the phones....... 
2) Whenever I called to try and chase up a progress report, the individual (or their manager) was unavailable or in a meeting. When I left a message for them to call me back, nothing happened.
3) When I did actually get through to the "Customer Services" representative I was told that they had spoken to the other individuals responsible for making the booking / taking payments and a decision would be made in the next 10 days.
4) Some 3 weeks later I receive a response in PDF format. The decision not only unfavourable, but the facts used to make the decision are not even referenced to my original email. In fact, the facts used to arrive at the decision by the "Customer Services" team completely agree with my reason for complaint, a logic that completely seems to have slipped by the "Customer Services" representative in question.
Needless to say, I have not accepted the unfavourable decision made by Alpine Elements and will continue to fight until they can give a VALID reason for their decision not to accept my complaint.
Update!
After discussions with the MD of Alpine elements, this has now been resolved. Everyone is happy again. 
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Thu 20-11-08 11:48; edited 2 times in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Specialman, Great TR. Nice to see that some people can have good times with AE. I think the problems are all about expectations & staff, you're expectations were budget and you had good interaction with the staff. If people had higher than 'budget expectations' then then could be unhappy with some of the things that you've mentioned. The positive staff interaction reduced the risk of you being unhappy post holiday.
Groodles If you think you've got a valid complaint then you need to get straight into the small claims court and stop faffing with their 'complaints dept'. However I would imagine that you would need to be able to substantiate "The person organising this 6 day driving trip made it very clear when booking all our hotels that we wanted single beds and on site car parking." - was this done in writing, made as a condition of the booking? If it was then I would think you've got a valid case, if not then I don't think you've got a leg to stand on legally in terms of compensation, as that seems to the be the only complaints about what was a 1-night booking..
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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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I have booked a group of us with Alpine Elements for Feb week next year in a Chalet in Les Arcs 2000. I booked before reading this thread so will be going with an open mind and not too high expectations.
So far dealing with them has been straightforward and they have always replied promptly to my e-mails, so no complaints at the moment. Their brochure has Chalet floor plans which show the size of the Chalets so I'm not expecting a huge Chalet. Their claim of "virtual ski to door" is probably a bit misleading but I have been around long enough to suss that claim out, I expect to be doing some walking to and from the lifts. Their extras are expensive but they have to make a profit and probably need to hedge on the exchange rate.
My take is that they would not have stayed in business this long if they were consistently selling cr@p holidays. It is also very encouraging that their MD has taken the time to give his side of the story.
So fingers crossed and I will report back in February.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Sage, That was similar to my feelings last year. My group had booked and then I read the thread. However, if you see my report I think it was fair and balanced. Keep an open mind and have a great time (I did) 
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Sage, I stayed at the Chalet des Neiges at Arc 2000 with AE last March. I'd found out all the "horror stories" after booking. But in the end, we had a great holiday. Certainly not 5 star. Expect that it may not be the best ever and you'll be fine.
Not all the (rather small) rooms had ensuites, but we were a big gang and shared. The wine was free and the group certainly went through an extrememly large amount.
As to "virtually ski to door" - that does just about sum it up. Walk across the road to a small drag lift and then you are just a piste from a few lifts. It was the skiing back down practically under the drag lift that was terrifying for me  . If you have any other specific questions, or want to see my photos, then just let me know.
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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 justacey the Chalet des Neiges is where we are staying. We are three families in one chalet so en suites wont be a problem.
The virtual ski to door sounds a bit better than I imagined. One question - how far is to the ski hire shops as we have hired some gear from Sport 2000 in the centre of the resort.
And I'd love to see your pictures, the last time I was in Les Arcs was about 20 years ago, I don't think Arc 2000 was even built then.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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There was a letter in yesterday's Times - either the Travel or the Money section - about Alpine Elements and surcharges. A group got slapped with an 8.3% surcharge, and didn't understand why. Apparently ABTA members have to absorb the first 2% of any fx-related surcharge, and can only pass on any cost increase which has occurred between the date the punter booked and the date of the decision to impose a surcharge. They may NOT charge a surcharge based on when the holiday was costed. Alpine Elements isn't ABTA bonded, so they surcharged based on the holiday costing rate in August, rather than the date the holiday was booked in mid December.
So, general FYI - and I hope I got it right!
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I booked last week to go over half term of there was a surcharge would this have been added at the time of booking, as they it was 4 weeks to the trip they should know the cost, or will I bit hit last min.
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You know it makes sense.
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vetski, The 2% is required by law under the Package Holiday Regs 1992. Firms also cannot impose any surcharge less than 30 days before the date of the holiday.
Alpine Elements are actually taking a hit on the first 3% and giving us a surcharge of 5.3% - although they have said if the exchange rate improves to the level they costed the holiday they will refund this.
Even though I don't like it I can see their point of view, being one of the smaller companies, and I don't think many people expected the pound to take such a hammering. The surcharge appears to be on the accommodation only, fair enough as we did book some time ago.
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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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Update - I got back from my Holiday with Alpine Elements last weekend and can report that everything went really well, in fact the holiday was excellent.
Right from the start, the flight and transfer to resort went without a hitch. The two chalet girls we had couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful (even baking an extra cake for my daughters birthday and giving her a present).
The food was good, not luxury, but good wholesome food and plenty of it (Shepard's pie, lasagne etc.)
The chalet was in a good location, exactly as mentioned in their brochure and was more than adequate. Trip back home was again painless and well organised.
Would I travel with Alpine Elements again? Definitely.
And, the skiing was great.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Sage, Glad you had a good experience
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We also had a great week with Alpine elements. Chalet pretty much matched brochure description, was clean and very conveniently located to slopes, exact distance as described in brouchure. Staff in chalet were EXCELLENT. Food, pretty good, DELICIOUS cakes. Very generous with chalet wine. Also hilarious apres ski game of ice hockey.
Main downpoint was that rooms on the 'cosy' side but at the end of the day - it's only somewhere to rest your head. Would definately consider travelling with them again.
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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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cfc5mu0, They ruined New year for a group of 11 skiers! It cost us nearly £1000 each, the cleanliness was awful, no loo rolls when we arrived, no loo rolls for 24 hours mid week, (the chalet host said she had to get permission to issue them from the resort manager), 1 set of towels for the whole week which they did change after I had to contact the UK because the resort rep turned his mobile off, no water for two days, we had to melt snow on the cooker to flush the loo's, burnt food in bottom of oven that smoked the whole chalet out every meal time, rotten food in fridge and the group had to clean the whole chalet including fridge, cooker. New years eve special meal....lasagne slopped on a plate....thats it! oh and one bottle of cheap bubbly. Following complaints to head office they offered us £75 off the next holiday we booked with them. NOT RECOMMENDED!!!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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We went with AE last Feb to Arc 200, chalet des neiges, on a last minute deal and were not disappointed either. the chalet certainly wasn't luxury but the host, Zoe and all in resort were very helpful. Easy transfers and great ski guiding twice in the week. Plenty of table wine too. Would definately use them again as a last minute deal.
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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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DerekW, Name names, which chalet and resort?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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DerekW, AE do say in their brochure that parties over 10 need to take their own bog roll - cravat emptor innit?
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Yes, DerekW, where and when please. The one set of towels per week is in their info pack - they do say to bring your own as well.
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Just received an email from AE offering free lift pass for certain weeks. Looking at booking accom in Les arcs 2000 which will be around £650 with flights from Manchester, balcony upgrade, this is for week comm 14/03/10, which with a free lift pass I think is pretty good.
Usually arrange my own trips but cannot do it for this with only 2 travelling. The Chalet I am looking at is in a complex called Chalet D'Nieges and looking at the map I think it is on the road where Whistlers dream bar is.
Question anyone been here last season or been away last season with Alpine Elements. Not expecting luxury for this kind of money, but want somewhere half decent.
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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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I went to Tignes last year with them, on the whole they were good. We were in chalet Neve, it is a big chalet with smallish rooms, but good location. With all ski chalet holidays it is the staff that make it or break it. We had a very good chef and a good chalet and resort rep who were even keen to ski and drink with us for fun. However if the staff were poor then you start to look at all the negatives. Size of rooms, long wait at airport, long walk to hire shop (we had are own gear, but others had to walk across resort past other cheaper ski hire shops).
One aspect they could and should improve is their transfers, the rep (not our resort rep) was clueless didn't get people on the right coach, had no idea how to fit to the child seats for the 3 families that had booked them. We spent an age waiting at airport with a full coach as the rep could make her mind up if we had any more people to come.
On the whole a good holiday, we book with the resort in mind so even if we don't get the best chalet we still have what we really want which is the skiing. The location of this chalet was also a key factor being very close to the lifts.
I would use them again, but having used other companies that come across as higher end you do get what you pay for. In my experience it’s the staff good staff make up for short comings.
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Kel, Chalet D'Nieges is a slightly older chalet complex in Les Arcs 2000 compared to Altitude, it's OK, but don't expect great electrics (yes I know it's France so never expect that but D'Nieges does seem to be a bit worse) I worked there first year it opened and liked it, but is a little tired now. But not bad either.
Whistlers Dream is part of the same building structure so very easy to get to, and the Fox is feet away as well. Button lift up to main area also feet away.
I went with AE this year to Les Arcs 2000 and stayed in Altitude. The staff were really good, the resort reps in particular, good laugh.
I would say I would go again, but they are at the cheaper end of the scale and it shows. Not complaining, I just wouldn't expect the best. Saying that if I had been stung by them, or any other TO I would black list them.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Interesting development, I have sent a PM to the MD of Alpine Elements (Bellhouse) Via Snowheads . I will give him right of reply before I post any further.
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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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12th December 2010 Tignes, France. I will not at present go into the details here for legal reasons (just look on trip advisor as i now whole heartedly feel for the many who have had a bad alpine elements experience and their holidays ruined). I feel a fool for not researching who I was booking with. If I had, I would have never risked it and purchased what turned out to be the worst holiday in 37 years on this planet. It was, simply put an over-priced budget holiday of the most diabolical standards. We decided to leave on our own accord after 2 days to try and get answers from the London Office due to our experience and treatment by all staff (although it was apparently recommended in their complaint response that we curtail our holiday short by staff). This is a false statement and never happened. On our return, I immediately phoned the UK office in London. We were stone walled by the company. From reps all the way to managerial level, our experience has been and is continuing to be diabolical. I have now received a response to my initial complaint. As I stated to the complaints department, and as I'll state here. It contained many statements that didn't happen and falsehoods. I am now at present responding this and will be sending it 'recorded guaranteed next day delivery' to the complaints department, the CEO and the sales manager as i did my initial complaint. The companies initial response never got to me as they had sent it standard mail. I am quite happy to go under oath in court regarding this and all matters with this company. If you want to chance spending over, at present 100 hours in my case, trying to get justice after your holiday, book with Alpine Elements. This is my view and my view only, and is written without prejudice. This post is here to ask you all to do your research before booking with any company so that you can make an informed choice.
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You know it makes sense.
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12th December 2010 Tignes, France. I will not at present go into the details here for legal reasons (just look on trip advisor as i now whole heartedly feel for the many who have had a bad alpine elements experience and their holidays ruined). I feel a fool for not researching who I was booking with. If I had, I would have never risked it and purchased what turned out to be the worst holiday in 37 years on this planet. It was, simply put an over-priced budget holiday of the most diabolical standards. We decided to leave on our own accord after 2 days to try and get answers from the London Office due to our experience and treatment by all staff (although it was apparently recommended in their complaint response that we curtail our holiday short by staff). This is a false statement and never happened. On our return, I immediately phoned the UK office in London. We were stone walled by the company. From reps all the way to managerial level, our experience has been and is continuing to be diabolical. I have now received a response to my initial complaint. As I stated to the complaints department, and as I'll state here. It contained many statements that didn't happen and falsehoods. I am now at present responding to this and will be sending it 'recorded guaranteed next day delivery' to the complaints department, the CEO and the sales manager as i did my initial complaint. The companies initial response never got to me as they had sent it standard mail. I am quite happy to go under oath in court regarding this and all matters with this company. If you want to chance spending over, at present 100 hours in my case, trying to get justice after your holiday, book with Alpine Elements. This is my view and my view only, and is written without prejudice. This post is here to ask you all to do your research before booking with any company so that you can make an informed choice.
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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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Sorry for the double post. I tried to delete one, then neither showed up on the forum. I put it on again, two appeared. Moderators, please delete one post. I tried but could not. Regards, Jon.
and..... Happy Snowboarding to you all.. fortunately, Im off to italy in 5 weeks = I will be able to finally forget about my Alpine Elements experience for a short while and what is most likely going to be spending 2011 in legal action against this company. You know the score - nothing enters the mind whilst hammering it down a slope.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| fatbob wrote: |
| tequilaslammer wrote: |
Skiworld had a name change. For different reasons, but still..... |
Also an indicator of iffyness in my experience - the last "package hol" I experienced. Charged extra for ticket collection at airport which were then posted to us, rep who was so incompetent he couldn't even turn up to his own welcome meeting resulting in a frantic hunt the next morning to obtain lift passes, tea served ridiculously early at another hotel where the staff would then scoff all the cakes before the punters got there.
I'm sure the other majors are no better. |
Actually, I was quite impressed by my Crystal holiday at Wengen. First time I had been with a TO for yonks. I had a relatively minor issue - which I took up with Simon Cross on return via a sH PM - and got a considerate and helpful answer. The holiday itself was great - good, well-run transfers and a very satisfactory hotel; the reps varied from good to outstanding.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thought I might chime in here.
Meribel Jan 2011.
Apart from the herd of gibbering drunken swearing buffoons on the transfer bus who I've mentioned before (not really AE's fault), our experience with AE was good. Not great, but good. There was a minor cock up at the end of the week where we had no breakfast on leaving day, but that's possibly because our chalet girl was in hospital with a broken head. (If anyone knows her - "Clementine" - tell her we say hi!)
Food was decent, location was ok, the chalet was a little bit 'rustic' ('slightly tatty' if I was feeling especially uncharitable), and the rooms were certainly not large - but this was a budget holiday not a luxury effort and you get what you pay for. We paid moderate money, got what we expected, and had a really good hol.
The resort rep seemed a bit dim and disinterested, but our chalet girl was hard working and great fun, and that made a lot of difference I think. Yeah we had a couple of gripes - the washing up not being finished one evening springs to mind - but just raised it politely with the staff, they said sorry, and we all just got on with it.
I'd use Alpine again, assuming they've not been bankrupted by the amount of red wine we took off them.
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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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Just to throw my tuppence in...
I've used Alpine Elements twice now, once for a winter trip to les Deux Alpes and again for a summer trip to Tignes. I have to say both were excellent bearing in mind the cost and expectations. I've also booked another trip with them to Courchevel 1650 in March which is less than £650 per head for flights, accommodation, transfers, catering and lift pass. I'm pretty happy with that.
Now even though this is one of their "premium" chalets I'm not expecting a great deal but I do know that the rooms are en suite and "proper" ones as opposed to the bunk bed in corridor or one bed flats for five people cheap deals I've seen, particularly in France.
The staff have always been really helpful from flexibility at the booking stage, such as this year when I didn't have everyone on the trip's full details but needed to book to get the free lift pass, to just being nice in resort. The accommodation is basic but right enough and will probably depend on where you fall in the renovation cycle. The food was probably the most iffy bit but I'm not fussy so don't really care and even then it ranged from decent to good which is perfectly acceptable for me.
The prices and discounts on the website are odd though and their numbers don't always add up. I queried quite a bit the first time I went but subsequently have just seen what the final figures came to and judged those against competitors. They generally win out anyway.
Well worth a look if you're after a cheapish deal.
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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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I would still like to get back in touch with Clemmy, if anyone knows her...
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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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I wouldn't use Alpine Elements ever again. Our trip in March to Les Arcs revealed a complete disregard for basic Health & Safety. Our 5 year old received an 8 stitch gash to his foot due to broken tiles in the swimming pool. The pool was not closed or repaired and no warning signs were put up. An electrical power point was faulty electrocuting two guests - the chalet host didn't report it because 'they won't do anything about it anyway'. We pointed out that 110v would kill a 4 or 5 year old - Alpine Elements wrote back explaining only if they tried to put something into the socket. Unbelievable. Be warned.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| mclarbj wrote: |
| I wouldn't use Alpine Elements ever again. Our trip in March to Les Arcs revealed a complete disregard for basic Health & Safety. Our 5 year old received an 8 stitch gash to his foot due to broken tiles in the swimming pool. The pool was not closed or repaired and no warning signs were put up. An electrical power point was faulty electrocuting two guests - the chalet host didn't report it because 'they won't do anything about it anyway'. We pointed out that 110v would kill a 4 or 5 year old - Alpine Elements wrote back explaining only if they tried to put something into the socket. Unbelievable. Be warned. |
strange, most people seem to have liked this company, and yet you come along and post the same whinge on 2 threads both of which are months if not years old!
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CEM, 6 threads now 
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So, in conclusion, should I book with them for half term??? 
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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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harrim51, No, try Ski Beat
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FAQ
