 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi I am new here and looking for some help to organise our forthcoming ski hol next Jan. Party of 14 and want a catered chalet. Kids range from 7 to 14. All ski'd before but only 2 weeks. Fancied Les Gets but put off by snow record, have been before and was ok and thought chair lifts great and loved the runs but it was only a w/e. Looking at La Rosiere but not sure about amount of long button lifts. Thought I had found ideal places but each time review the TO in google, I wish I hadn't. However, sometimes its only 1 posting but very negetative. Need some firm honest opinions here please to get me back on track as feeling back to square one when actually had some good chalets. Also look at Plaisey Arc or Plan Plaisey as it seems to refer to. Not sure whether allowed to mention TO here ??? Cheers all.
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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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JoT, Welcome to Snowheads! 
I've not been to the places you mentioned, but many Snowheads have (particularly La Rosiere!), and I'm sure they'll be posting replies soon.
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I would recommend googling Eskimogul who have catered chalets in morzine/avoriaz/les gets area and are family friendly and family run (as opposed to large tour op). I vaguely know the people who run it and they are very nice. If I were looking for a chalet holiday I'd probably book with them. Friends of ours with children went with them this year and had a very good time.
You could also look at ski famille and the family ski company - haven't been with them but their set ups sound good.
Esprit and Ski Beat go to the resorts you mention. A snow head on this site had a bad travel experience with ski beat this year - maybe that is the review you found. The ski beat chalets are located in the newer/quieter les eucharts area of la rosiere whereas the Esprit chalets are in the main larger part of la rosiere - some have good piste side location. We went to la rosiere but wanted more luxurious accommodation and stayed at the cimes blanches appartments which are very nice with lovely pool/steam room etc. We used ESF les eucharts plus ESF lunch club. Our experience with the ESF with younger children was mixed so if we were going back to that resort would probably use evolution 2 who are the ski school esprit use (but you can book them independently). La rosiere itself has a good number of chairlifts and would be fine for your group. However there are 2 very long drags on the other side to go to la thuile. The weather can also be very cold there in January and if you are on those drags with poor visibility they can seem quite long!
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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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Ski Olympic have a chalet in La Rosiere and other places, definitely worth checking out.
We had a great time with them, and I've not met somebody with a bad experience. Could be proven wrong shortly, but they were very good for our group (12 people first week of the season)
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Some people hate the big corporate machine that is Crystal/TUI but I've only ever had positive experiences. The big bonus for me is that they offer a wide selection of local airport departures so no stress of trying to get to goddam Gatwick.
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JoT, I can recommend Skiworld. Have been with them three times now and never had a problem, however I fancied trying a smaller company and chose Powder White this year only to be less impressed with them.
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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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JoT, Welcome to Snowheads I'm another vote for Ski Beat, I know there has been negative feedback but I imagine that happens to all TO's at some point as you have already found. I've travelled with them 3 times now, once to La Rosiere and twice to La Plagne - both of which would be good choices for your group. I seem to remember that the chalets in La Ros held 14 so you may find you get it all to yourself which would be nice. I am certainly happy to recommend them as a TO and found them great. Hope that helps.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Massive bias as I have 8 chalets there but don't get too concerned about the Les Gets snow record unless you are looking very early (pre New Year) or very late in the season. The resorts between Mont Blanc and Lake Geneva (Portes du Soleil, Grand Massif and Aravis) generally catch the snow well and I've had great conditions in these resorts then gone down to either Paradiski or the 3 Valleys to find they've either lost half of their snow to wind blow or there wasn't as much to start off with.
... and thanks for the mention snowymum 
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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 think for anyone to get any 'balance' out of that Ski Beat thread they are going to have to read all of it, which is unlikely.
I did read it all and my impression is that the punters were unreasonable given the circumstances, and that their unreasonableness quickly turned to vindictiveness.
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Hi There, I think all the TO's get a certain amount of bad press at times. Their staff in resort are young and therefore I think it very much depends who you get as your Rep and chalet host.......some are excellent and some not so good but this changes year on year so is difficult to predict. From the big TO's try Neilson or as mentioned here already why not try some smaller companies? you will get a more personal service! Hope this helps and enjoy your holiday
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You know it makes sense.
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Silver Ski
Ski Olympic
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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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SkiDIY 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Oh, and I'd avoid Neilsen, their method for dealing with my complaints about the crap standard of their hotel and their staff looking like they were on drugs was to suggest that I contact ABTA - nice. Oh, and their hotel was crap, staff useless, and price wasn't even that good. Avoid.
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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 bad chalet experience with Neilson although this was about 10 yrs ago pre children. Chalet host was very poor and when we wrote to complain we were offered £20 each in vouchers for another Neilson holiday (having paid a high price for New Year week in Val Thorens). I would definitely recommend looking at the smaller and more upmarket operators for a chalet holiday.
Rayscoops - how can you do DIY with a chalet holiday? Or are you suggesting they self cater or book their own hotel?
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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 need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| snowymum wrote: |
| Rayscoops - how can you do DIY with a chalet holiday? |
Plenty of independent chalet companies which don't require you to book a package inclusive of travel arrangements.
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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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Frosty the Snowman, Where is the best place to find a list of all the privately owned chalets? I love the idea of supporting these independently run businesses, but I sometimes struggle to find them and its also difficult to know if they are any good.
Any thoughts?
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Thanks frosty for the links - have had a quick look!. Eskimogul (I mentioned above) is a similar set up - think it is chalet only without flights.
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kosciosco, I don't think there is a central list for all the privately owned chalets, so you need to do a bit of leg work to find them. Ask for recommendations here, try chaletsdirect.com, resort tourist offices might be able to help, Google searches, etc.
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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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| snowymum wrote: |
| Rayscoops - how can you do DIY with a chalet holiday? Or are you suggesting they self cater or book their own hotel? |
go with a smaller independent, most don't have flights etc
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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rayscoops, me too - wouldn't think of using anyone else to be honest. They do the lot for me and answer all my silly questions 
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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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One thing I've noticed with Crystal/TUI the past 2-3 seasons is that their resort staff seem to be older 'career' resort staff rather than young adults on gap years. Don't know whether this is a sign of the times or a new recruitment policy. Not wanting to sound ageist here but these people seem to do a much better job. To be fair, my experiences of chalets are limited, for equivalent cost I would always choose a hotel over a chalet.
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
Silver Ski
Ski Olympic |
|Another vote for these two. We have had many hols with Ski Olympic - always good to excellent. Their Chalet Oliver in La Rosiere is lovely, but a bit of a way from the piste. Had a great holiday (first time) with Silver Ski this year at La Biol in Courchevel 1650 - and have booked there again next year.
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You know it makes sense.
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| PJSki wrote: |
I think for anyone to get any 'balance' out of that Ski Beat thread they are going to have to read all of it, which is unlikely.
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| alexchapman wrote: |
| Hi There, I think all the TO's get a certain amount of bad press at times. Their staff in resort are young |
the staff referred to in the ski beat thread were at least in their 50's
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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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bertie bassett, Do you know if they are going back for the coming season?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hi JoT,
I'm not sure if it's a bit spammy to write this here but after a number of years in the industry I'm in the process of setting up in my own right so if you're interested in booking with an independant operator please have a look at my website ice-fire.co.uk. If you want more information, please feel free to drop me an e-mail with your details and I'll give you a call. My e-mail address is Heather@ice-fire.co.uk.
Best wishes,
Heather
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It's been something like 10 years since I went there, but I thoroughly enjoyed a week at Chatel with skialot. Stuey the owner runs it - and has his heart's in the right place.
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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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Went away with Mark Warner this year and would recommend them highly.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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we haven't used a TO for a while now, but we had several good experiences with Ski Olympic, a poor one with Inghams, a "good for the small amount of money" last minute with Ski World and a "very good for the middling amount of money" last minute with Le Ski. Snowcoach did what they said on the tin, and were v cheap, but I don't like chalet-hotels which seem to combine the worst of both worlds.
I think for the kind of party described a catered chalet is the perfect solution, if you find the right one.
I don't think Les Gets has a particularly poor snow record, does it? I can't remember who we went there with for the first time - unmemorable chalet, anyway. It was mid January and the weather was very sunny and warm. Snow was suffering a bit throughout the PdS but for a family party that's probably a better bet than snowstorms all day and one metre visibility. I also rented a 6 bedroom chalet there on another occasion, all rooms en suite, big kitchen with plenty of catering-size cooking equipment. That made for a great holiday, with each bedroom taking responsibility for one evening meal.
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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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thanks to everyone who has replied, still considering but getting there......
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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JoT, We have done family holidays with the kids in shared chalets with Esprit (Les Gets and Courchevel), Family Friendly Ski ing (La Tania), Crystal (Les Deux Alps and Morzine) Ski Hillwood (Les Gets) and Ski Famille (Les Menuires).
The advantage of a smaller operator is that you can sort out your flights and they may or may nor include transfers in their price, so you have some choice. The transfers for smaller firms are often better than the big coaches of Crystal etc but depending on your week you go the price of a big tour operator wanting to sell the seats they have booked on the plane might be better than a small firm. I expect you will all want to be together so booking ahead will be needed rather than last minute (again dependent when you are going).
You mentioned that you were worried about Les Gets. Normally the snow has been ok, but the resort did close for a few days in January in 2008 due to lack of snow. We went there in the February that year and were very lucky that it snowed on the first Sunday, but we also had a lot of rain that week. However it does not take too much snow to get things going there, while 3 valleys where we have also been a lot can suffer with low snow on rocky mountains.
Hope your search goes well
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We have gone with Inghams a number of times and been really pleased and impressed with them every time. We went with Crystal once, and haven't been again as we were really disappointed with them (having been with Inghams previously). However that was pre- children. We have booked up with Esprit as they look to be very good for young families. When our girls are older (they will 1yr and 4yrs old when we go) I think we will go with Inghams again probably, but certainly while they are this young the Esprit setup looks much more catered for their age.
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Inghams
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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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Mark Warner, excellent service compared to the TUI group. Staff are so different to the usual gap year types you get with most others. Not that I have anything against gap year types, just don't want them cooking my breakfast on 2 hours sleep.
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| Kel wrote: |
| Mark Warner, excellent service compared to the TUI group. Staff are so different to the usual gap year types you get with most others. Not that I have anything against gap year types, just don't want them cooking my breakfast on 2 hours sleep. |
Perhaps the Mark Warner staff you have been in contact with hide it better. 
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