 Poster: A snowHead
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We are looking into going away next year skiing with a few families. I have been skiing a few times before but never with children (and it's a whole new ball game!). There will be a couple of three year olds in the trip (who might like to have a go skiing), otherwise children age from 5 to 9 year olds.
I have looked at Espirit and family ski and others like them but they are so expensive. Does anyone have any experience of the childcare facilities out there? The brochure's only have a couple of sentences about them and it's hard to guage. Inghams? Thomsons? Crystal etc
Does anyone have any experience of good resorts for families - good ski schools that they can recommend etc etc.
We are thinking Austria at the moment (maybe Bulgaria) for March 2010. The resort doesn't have to be fantastic for experienced skiiers as we think that we probably wouldn't be able to go away too far anyway.
Any experiences good or bad greatly received. Thanks!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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kapow, welcome to 
Depends what you and your group are looking for in terms of accommodation - catered or self-catered, chalets, hotels etc
From a personal perspective, we have spent the last few years in Vallandry - which links to Les Arcs - and have used the creche their Tom Pouce for our daughter. It's reasonably priced, English spoken and they take them to taster ski lessons on the bunny slopes.
For the older children I'd highly recommend both New Generation and Darentasia who operate in Vallandry.
Vallandry we have found is ideal for family holidays - it's a quiet resort, mainly families. But is easy to get to Les Arcs for skiing - although some of the best skiing is in the trees above Vallandry
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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.
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We mainly deal with groups and groups of families. The Hotel Renzi has child care for around Euro 25 per week, from age 2 upwards so depends on how old you children are - they will sometimes take younger kids by prior arangement. All fully registered and well run.
http://www.folgarida.co.uk/folgarida_hotels_Renzi.htm
Not suggesting you book wih us by the way (I'm not in the marketing dept) - there are other companies that go to our resort as well.
Send me a PM if you want more details or I can put your in touch the owner a good mate of mine if you want to go independently.
Good luck
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Just booked my kids' second ski holiday (half term 2010). After consultation it was made clear to me that all day ski school would not be acceptable to them (they just about coped with 3 hours each morning this half term), which unfortunately ruled out the whole of Austria, a good chunk of Switzerland plus some of the Italian resorts. As I wanted half board that pretty much also ruled out France (hotels too expensive and under 12's not allowed in catered chalets unless you book the whole chalet), so I was fortunate to find somewhere in Passo Tonale (after regretfully concluding Corvara would end up costing too much).
However if your kids are OK with not seeing you all day, then I would suggest a DIY trip to Serfaus (the 3 star hotels look like 4 star and have generous kiddy discounts). This resort specialises in taking your kids off your hands all day (a lot of the hotels even take your kids to ski school for you) and the lift system and resort as a whole is Rolls Royce. As a bonus your kids may have learnt German by the end of the week...
If you want a package the Neilson brochure is marginally less expensive than the others at the moment and the places that will provde a lot of childcare seem to be:
p110-113 Kronplatz (both the ski school and ski kindergarten are all day and include lunch with supervision)
p222 Hotel Feriengut Ellmauhof, Hinterglemm
p236 Falkensteiner Hotel Cristallo, Katschberg
p241-4 Both hotels in Gerlitzen
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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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kapow,
I have never used then but Snowbizz get almost universally favourable reports from 's. I have been to Puy St Vincent which is the only resort they use and its certainly a very pleasant small but family friendly resort with some excellent skiing. It should be a very good place in March with decent altitude and some North facing skiing.
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| Quote: |
As I wanted half board that pretty much also ruled out France (hotels too expensive and under 12's not allowed in catered chalets unless you book the whole chalet
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I've never experienced that 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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kapow,www.snowbizz.co.uk excellent company for the first 'en famille' experiences. Use the search facility to search for more info.
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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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Boris, no, we never found that either - may be the case with some chalet operators, but not the ones we used. Our under 12s loved chalets.
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Kapow
I might mention the village where I live and also have some apartments available.
The kindergarden in Leogang - Villa Kunterbunt is excellent, if the kids want to try skiing then they can book in the KG for half days, if they need full care including lunch then that is also available. The location is right at the nursery slopes, and it is easy enough to come down at lunchtime to see how they are getting on. The ski school will take kids at 3 if they settle , some do some dont.
The resort is good for kids, no tour ops here so very much a family resort, sounds boring but many come year in year out as it has a good snow record and the skiing is good , linked with Saalbach and Hinterglemm ( Ski Circus ). From Mid March to end of season all kids get a free ski pass if an adult buys one, and it is not limited to a 1.1 ratio, it could be 1 adult and 4 kids and they all get a free pass.
Our apartments are suited to families, we have Sky TV with the kids channels and a kids play room, also table tennis pool and board games. There is a bar so no need to go out,we also have some listening devices so you can plug in and listen. Some kids also enjoy the hot tub , but not allowed alone.
Kids get a card from us which offers discounts on ski school and also ski rental, and in the evenings there is toboggoning and evening skiing, plus a family show with clowns, music and entertainment every Monday.
If you want to eat out the restaurant next door but 2 to us does early evening meals, where a daily 3 course " special " is about 13€ but kids meals are much cheaper than this.
All in all Leogang is good for families, and better still the skiing is good for everyone. Look at the tourist info site at www.alpinworld.at for more info.
Hope this is helpfull .
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You know it makes sense.
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| pam w wrote: |
| Boris, no, we never found that either - may be the case with some chalet operators, but not the ones we used. Our under 12s loved chalets. |
Our two refuse to go self catering and want all the benefits of catered chalet - possibility of other kids, some sort of games console for the evening, TV, house dog and good meals !
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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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Thankyou very much for your kind welcomes and good advice. It's good to know of the less well known resorts. Ideally I think what we'd be after would be a quiet resort with good runs for children where they can build up confidence (don't want to put them off) and good ski schools. I will eagerly look into all your suggestions.
On another note, is self catering a false economy? - self catering is alot cheaper but what about food prices out in the resort? - and the thought of lugging shopping around really puts me off! Also being in a large group we'd require somewhere communual where we can meet up in the evenings (kids may be in bed)
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Poster: A snowHead
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kapow, I can highly recommend this lot:
http://www.simonbutlerskiing.co.uk/da/24868
English-speaking instruction from their own crew is part of the package, very safe hotels, resort meets your requirements (though in France, not Austria).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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kapow,
| Quote: |
On another note, is self catering a false economy? - self catering is alot cheaper but what about food prices out in the resort? - and the thought of lugging shopping around really puts me off! Also being in a large group we'd require somewhere communual where we can meet up in the evenings (kids may be in bed)
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It's a false economy if you don't self cater definately. Resort food prices vary quite a bit, but you can usually put together something reasonable at a decent price if you don't want to recreate British cuisine and can eat very well in some places that do excellent but not completely cheap partially prepared dishes. We ususally DIY and have a hire car so lugging stuff around is not an issue and it enables us to do a big shop out of resort where prices are cheaper.
The two things that I look for when self catering is a dish-washer as washing up after the meal is a faff and a reasonable sized appartment. Some appartments are so small that you can't relax after the kids have gone to bed. As rule of thumb Austrian and Swiss places are a fair bit larger than the average French place, though I have stayed in some very good French appartments.
A decent sized appartment solves your problem of a communal place to meet up.
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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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If you're driving to resort - stop in the valley and do the shopping in one of the bigger supermarkets. You'll save a lot that way.
Agree that a dishwasher is a must!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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kapow
we have dishwashers and a large social room, and each apartment has a sitting room in addition to bedrooms.
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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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Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who gave me tips and advice. I looked into this in great detail (never bothered so much before) and although we love Austria we have decided to go with Snow Bizz. It looks perfect for all our needs and I can't believe I'll have to wait a whole year before we go! At least it feels like summer's on its way so I can put skiing out of my mind and I have 12 months to get fit!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Wll here I am again, one year on and just got back yesterday. we had a fab time. Snowbizz were brilliant. It was such a good place to go with kids. So many families go time and time again which speaks for itself, and hopefully we will join them again next year. (such a long time to wait!)
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kapow, glad it worked out so well!
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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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kapow, we've just come back from les deux alpes, where we stayed at the Aalborg Hotel, which is through Neilsons, it is right on the slopes and the hotel is very child friendly, it even has a creche for the smaller ones. The hotel is great and right on the lower slopes, the staff are great and really friendly and helpful and its half board accomodation. You can check it out on tripadvisor
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Sack the Juggler, seconded, been there and we were very impressed with Neilson staff and this hotel.
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FAQ
Snowbizz are fab, glad you had a good time 