 Poster: A snowHead
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Any good? (Ducks and covers...)
Well, my group of 10 is on hols from 15th - 22nd March. We were on the verge of booking in at Soelden, but are having second thoughts as we can only get flights to Munich, 3 hours drive away, and we don't fancy the transfer much! Innsbruck flights horrendously priced.
So we're looking at alternatives... and I chanced upon the Jungfrau region. I know there's an enormous thread, but it's too long to trawl through, so if anyone's feeling informative, any chance of a quick breakdown on:
Suitability for mixed ability group of 2 boarders (both advanced intermediates), 2 beginner boarders, 2 beginner skiers, 1 advanced skier and 3 intermediate skiers?
Snow-suredness for mid-march?
Accommodation prospects (half board hotel) and approx costs?
Swiss bed types? (Don't laugh... think of Austrian twins/doubles... are the swiss as bad? There are 7 blokes going who don't want to share double beds...)
Cost of food on slopes?
Apres ski> (would like some life but not ibiza on ice)
Best resort for piste convenience/links to other areas?
...most importantly... cost of a large beer? 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Have a look at the hotel we're using for the MSB (the week before you go). It's HB, has a mixture of bed types, easy access to the Mannlichen area (as recommended by Stab the snowboarder for beginners) etc.
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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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Large beer abourt CHF6, or 3 quid.
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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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Okay, here goes....
Advanced intermediate boarders - no problem
Beginner boarders - limited no of good runs, but ahould be okay for a week
Advanced skier - not a lot of challenge on piste, but a few blacks available
Intermediate skiers - great
Snowsure for March - as much as anywhere. The last few years March & April have had the bast snow (if you don't count the week in June that was there  )
Accommodation - reasonable choice of different budgets
Bed types - depends on hotel. The VL where we stay for the MSB has Austrian Twins, but you can move them appart
Cost of food - ?
Apres ski - a bit limited, but there are a few bars
Best resort - Wengen is the best for convenience, but Grindelwald has a bit more life and you can access more from there.....but you will have 1/2 hour uplift which ever side you ski. From Wengen you can be skiing in 5 mins.
Beer? No idea.
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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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Cheers chaps - I expected a few of your names to appear... just DG to wait for now... 
What's the hotel you guys are going to please? (I would rummage around but I don't know what thread to look in!)
Is it best to email Wengen tourist info for accommodation enquiries?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The MSB will use the Victoria Lauberhorn. Would be my pick for hotel in Wengen as well.
| Quote: |
| Advanced skier - not a lot of challenge on piste, but a few blacks available |
Lots of fun off-piste though, but much of the cool terain is not in lifts view, so the punters never go there. Some places should be skiied with care... bowls from Tschuggen catch lots of snow, and tend to slip as much.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Thu 10-01-08 12:26; edited 1 time in total
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| carled wrote: |
Is it best to email Wengen tourist info for accommodation enquiries? |
You can email the hotels directly - links at http://www.wengen.com/hotels.html
Tourist office are pretty helpful though and will probably sort it all out for you.
Give me a shout nearer the time and we'll have a beer!
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Wowsa. Unless I'm misreading it, q week's half board at the VL is about £550? Sheesh... We were budgeting on £350-400 per person for a week's half board... am I being unrealistic... for Wengen? Hang on - just had an offer in... oh, it's from Grindelwald - the Hotel Bodenwald. £370 for half board for the week. Hmm. Looks a bit remote!
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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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carled, in your opening thread you talked about not fancying the 3 hour transfer from Munich to Soelden. If you take the Flybe flights from Birmingham or Southampton then you can get a transfer bus to Lauterbrunnen in the valley below Wengen, and the transfer time is 1 hr 45 mins; the other airports, Zurich, Geneva and Basle all involve a train journey (efficient, comfortable, pleasurable experience etc) of between 3 and 4 hours. Zurich and Geneva have a mainline station in the airport building, so extremely convenient, whilst Basle involves a 20 minute bus ride.
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Try the Baren or the Hirschen - stayed in both, and v. comfortable and friendly
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Try the Bären hotel. little more walk, but the halfboard supplement is only CHF 20, and room prices from CHF 75 . They are one of the best restaurants of Wengen.
They are small though, only 20-25 beds in total.
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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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I've stayed in the Hirschen in the summer. Basic but nice and the food was good. You can also (snow permitting) ski back to the hotel as the piste passes the front door.
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The Bernerhof may be worth a try - never stayed there before, but will be trying it in March
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You know it makes sense.
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The amazing thing to me, on pricing, is that I'm struggling to beat Tour ops! Inghams as well! They're offering a package price of £522 including flights, transfers and all supplements to the Hotel Falken. When I check their prices, the Falken is £80 half board pppn, making it £560 for just the hotel! Something can't be right there, surely?
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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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The hotels are expensive if you pay the front-desk rates. But you have a good sized group (10) and you should be able to get a good deal. Alternatively, rent a big apartment and you'll save loads.
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Poster: A snowHead
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telford_mike, I'm certainly interested in hearing about any big apartments or houses going...? I didn't think there'd be anything like that in Wengen?
What's the best way to get these mythical discounts for groups of 10 of which you speak? My schweiz-deutsch isn't up to telephone conversation, so am I best to pick a few hotels and email them directly, asking for a group discount as I'm bringing a group of 10? I noticed that there are half-board/ski pass packages available, but I'm not entirely sure about the logic involved in the pricing! For example, the lift pass (before applying the discount for a group rate of 10, which I've noticed) is approx £130. The package prices coming up from the hotels are:
Sunstar & VL 1470 Sfr (about £672) making the accommodation part valued at £540 for the week - hardly a bargain price at nearly £80 per person per night?
The Hirschen is also on there at 1162 Sfr (approx £530) making the accommodation about £400 for the week - which is top end of where we wanted to be, but even at that price, we'd have to get plane and transfer to resort at £122 just to match the (supposedly higher-rated) Falken price via Inghams!
Dunno. I'm used to self-catering so I suppose I might be out of the loop, but Soelden's not a cheap spot and we had a 3* Hotel there at £53 per night half board and that had loads of spa facilities.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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carled, if you phone them up they'll speak English!
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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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You can get a big apartment for about CHF3000 - that's £1500. It might be a bit of a squeeze for 10, but it works out at a little more than £20 a night pp. Have a look at http://www.chalet-service.com
A group of us (me, AdrianV, and a few others) stayed in the apartment Diana in chalet Helene a few years back. I'm pretty sure you could get 10 in there.
And yes, I'd say it's well worth emailing the hotels asking for a special 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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OK, have mailed the chalet-service and virtually every hotel in town to ask for a discount. Will be interesting to see what comes back! Oops. First one down, nothing available at the Hotel Eiger.
Just checked Inghams for packages to posher hotels out of interest... £608 all in for half board at the Hotel Silberhorn... that's a nice hotel isn't it? Bearing in mind it'll cost us a minimum of £150 to get to and from Wengen travelling independently, I make that half board for a week at the Silberhorn for £65 per person per night... that's not bad for a good hotel really... hmmm.
Will wait and see what the other hotels come back with.
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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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The problem is, that is an Easter week so not low season. It's also an early Easter so there's a high demand for it and people aren't in a hurry to do deals.
Email the Victoria Lauberhorn back, mentioning that you are snowHeads and wondered if 'Thomas' (the director) would like to make you an offer for your group. They may not have space though.
If it's a good enough offer, make yourself a super/mega-snowHead quick with some of what you've saved 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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carled, worth checking to see if you can get a deal from the hotel that includes the lift pass, many of the hotels give a very good rate once that is included with the advantage that you pick your lift pass up from the hotel reception rather than having to wait in the station
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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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Hirschen for me out of that lot - sounds like a good deal. I've never stayed there, but we eat in the restaurant a lot and the food is very good. AdrianV can tell you all about it if he pops by later.
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The MSB week is a slow week... The VL will be the only fully booked place due to snowheads/admin
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'm still bamboozled by the tour op price, particulalry as it's Inghams! I've called them to confirm, and they can do a package to the Falken for £550. As all we'd need to add to that is £130-ish for ski pass, that makes the overall total of £680 compared to what would be nearer to £750 going independently... I can only imagine that somehow the computers at Inghams haven't twigged to 15th-22nd being an Easter week, whereas the local hoteliers have it down as such.
Going back to one of the other offers (the Bodenwald in Grindelwald) is there much of a downside to staying over there? Someone said it will be a lot longer to get up to the skiing of a morning, no matter which side we head up?
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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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Stayed a long weekend in the Hirschen, simple and comfortable. Didn't bother with the sauna or the well-ness gig - not my scene - and we didn't have the free lift pass. As for the food, as I recall, breakfast was cereals and continental and dinner was 3 course and quite reasonable, although more simple than the proper restaurant. I also seem to remember feeling that a bit larger helpings would have been handy, but that feeling diminished rapidly after a couple of high-carb weissbiers with B-52 chasers. We had a Chinese Fondue evening which didn't excite me that much.
If it helps, I'd quite happily go back and you seem to have a good deal on offer with the lift pass chucked in; however, being of the adventurous type, looking at what you have been offered, I'd probably opt for the Falken - never stayed there, but without a doubt it has a wonderful atmosphere in the bar and I discovered my favourite drink, Caipirinha, there and only costs another £42 over the Hirschen, and it's a better class of hotel - if you like the whole Addams Family meets British Empire 1924 fusion thing.
I'm just in the process of booking with the Bernerhof for earlier in March and they seem to be quite reasonable price-wise.
On the chalet front, for 10 people, if you can't find one large enough for all of you, there are a few where 2 smaller chalets are side by side or one above the other. Chalet-Services are very efficient about getting back to you quickly and providing a number of options - when they do, check the map to see where it is to determine what that means in terms of hill walking and distance from the centre.
So there you go very helpful completely useless advice!
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| carled wrote: |
| 1 free trip to wellness-oasis |
Is anything included in this, or just a quick nose around the lobby...
| carled wrote: |
| Marion the owner got a bit cross with me asking for a discount! |
Sod 'em then. It's fairly common place to feel around for discounts/offers if yoy're travelling in a sizeable group. Let's face it, some places positively advertise that fact!
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You know it makes sense.
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| carled wrote: |
Going back to one of the other offers (the Bodenwald in Grindelwald) is there much of a downside to staying over there? Someone said it will be a lot longer to get up to the skiing of a morning, no matter which side we head up? |
I looked them up on google maps / map.search.ch (more detail with them)
and i think they are basically along the the decent from either Scheidegg or Männlichen back to Grund. The last few hundred meters are a flat runout back to either the Gondola station (for Mannlichen) or the Train station. (for Kleine Scheidegg)
[edit]Die Skipisten und Langlaufloipen führen direkt zum Hotel. - they are along the piste[/edit]
You'd be quite far from the Firstbahn though (bunch of stops Busride, pause a min or 3-5, 2 more stops with the bus, all in all some 15-20 mins from the Mannlichen Gondola station)
It may be remote from Grindelwalds center, but its not all that bad a location to ski the Kleine Scheidegg/Mannlichen/Wengen area.
On the Chalet front, have you looked into that ? I imagine it could come up quite a bit cheaper then hotel based beds for 10...
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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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I think in all my years at snowheads this has proven to be the single most useful thread I've ever been involved with. Thanks for all your replies chaps, much appreciated.
I've emailed chalet-services so we'll see what they come back with. Ronald, are you talking about "chalets" in the "catered chalets" sense or the self-catering type as offered by chalet services? If the former, are there any companies you (or anyone else!) know that offer catered chalets? Always a bit wary of the quality of the staff in these, although I expect that in Wengen we're more likely to get someone decent than in somewhere like the bum end of Chatel...
Had a couple of other offers in from Grindelwald: The Bellary (http://www.bellary.ch/eng/emain.html) and The Steinbock. Not had chance to look up their locations yet, although judging by the low-ish prices, I'd guess they're remote from the centre... that appears to be how these things work!
AdrianV, The Hirschen went out of their way in the email to mention their food being popular in the region
| Quote: |
| The small and cosy restaurant is popular not only with our hotel guests, many holidaymakers from Wengen enjoy the delicious specialities, the good wines in the pleasant atmosphere. |
so if we did end up there I'd be a bit miffed if they served up a school dinner! Although I must say I'm irresistibly intrigued by the description of the Addams-family-esqueness of the Falken 
I'm now going to transcribe all the offers I have into an excel spreadsheet I think so I can compare them side by side. Several of the hotels stated that they had separable doubles whereas a few of them tried to hide behind the old "two mattresses in a single frame so it's really two beds not one" argument!
admin, I emailed Thomas at the Victoria but I've had no response as yet. Thanks for the tip though!
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Poster: A snowHead
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dont expect any replies this weekend, town is mental with the bloody race.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| carled wrote: |
I've emailed chalet-services so we'll see what they come back with. Ronald, are you talking about "chalets" in the "catered chalets" sense or the self-catering type as offered by chalet services? If the former, are there any companies you (or anyone else!) know that offer catered chalets? Always a bit wary of the quality of the staff in these, although I expect that in Wengen we're more likely to get someone decent than in somewhere like the bum end of Chatel...
Had a couple of other offers in from Grindelwald: The Bellary (http://www.bellary.ch/eng/emain.html) and The Steinbock. Not had chance to look up their locations yet, although judging by the low-ish prices, I'd guess they're remote from the centre... that appears to be how these things work!
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Both Bellary and Steinbock are further from the lifts (judging their maps), but somewhat more in the village then the earlier hotel basically on-the-piste...
Don't have personal experience with chalets...
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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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where is wengen and why
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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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| stab wrote: |
| dont expect any replies this weekend, town is mental with the bloody race. |
Dammit stab, get back on your own thread man!
I've had an entertaining hour or so wading through some of your posts on the "main thread". If we end up in Wengen I will make it my mission on the holiday to track you down and treat you to a beer for the amusement I have derived out of your posts. Cheers.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| AdrianV wrote: |
| I discovered my favourite drink, Caipirinha, there and only costs another £42 over the Hirschen |
It's one of my favourite drinks too. And I love the Falken bar. But at that price ....
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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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or join my new club, the DOH, Double OverHead
membership consists of me at the moment.
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carled,
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FAQ
I make that (allowing £130 for the lift pass) £380 for a week?
Even as a 