Soldeu Andorra just got back

A snowHead

Just got back from Soldeu so here's the report;

tour op; pretty bad (not going to name them) first time we've ever done skiing on a 'package' and not sure we will do it again.... anyway;
Snowed day of arrival which gave the piste a much needed (apparently) freshen-up.
Skiing on Monday/Tuesday brilliant, bright blue skys and not crowded.
Weds heavy rain all day, from wednesday onwards temperatures in resort rose dramatically upto 10 degrees therefore snow cannons could not be put on at night. By saturday slopes getting pretty grim.... either ice or grass/mud towards the bottom of most runs.... they desperatley need some snow. Some slopes on saturday getting virtually dangerous, we are very competent skiers and were finding the bottom of most slopes very hard to navigate........

A snowHead

Uff, that confirms what I'd been hearing about the slopes back to base. How are things looking at the top at the moment? Glad you had a good time at the start of the week; that snowfall came just at the right time for you.

What went wrong with the TO?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You can't do that. Name the TO and add some details, so we can avoid if we are bothered by the same stuff you were.

There are good TOs out there, but it does seem to be hit and miss with some. I wouldn't write it off as an option entirely based on one crap TO, but it's your money to do as you please.

What accommodation were you in? Good/bad/details?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Heading there on Friday Sad

Convince me its going to get better and yes tell us more about the TO package.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

ok guys, well the snow was ok at the top, stay high and it is skiable; coolhandluke; temperatures set to drop towards the end of the week and we were told the snow cannons will be on 24/7 as long as it stays cold (there were on constantly before xmas to build some base)

TO?; OK, well just don't criticise! we went with Directski; On arrival at Toulouse wondered about trying to find the rep for bus info, found the coughing and spluttering girl who directed us to the bus.
Unfortunately we both arrived with colds so by the time we got to resort all we wanted to do was crash out and get some sleep in order to hit the slopes first thing in the morning..... i had only booked lift passes with them to be collected at the 'welcome meeting' i popped down there and explained to the rep i just wanted the lift passes and would be off, wouldn't be staying for the meeting, he couldn't understand this and began to tell me i should stay to hear about 'excursions blah blah blah' after much convincing i got our lift passes and went.
we stayed at the Sport Village, supposidly 'four star' ---- not so sure about that, food was the same every night, chips and meat, then, more chips and meat, by weds night i had found mould on my bread and a hair on my meat, kinda put us off of eating there, then that night my husband had a severe stomach upset and sickness (we hadn't eaten anywhere else at that point' and he spent most of the night being sick, so we lost thursday. I tried to complain to the hotel staff but kept getting told 'you must speak to the restaurant manager and he isn't here'---- aparently never is....
The chairs in the room had gone threadbare on the arm (not what i'd expect from a 4 star) and it seems that you are really paying for location and not much else..... When we came to go home were picked up at 5am, the only ones on the bus we sat at the front (husband tall fella better leg room behind driver!) at Pas de la casa another coughing and spluttinger rep got on and told us we had to move as it was the 'reps seat'?! i thought they always sat on that bottom seat next to the driver really this turned out to be so she could stretch out and go to sleep snoring for the whole journey! our flight was then delayed by 7 hrs to get home and there was nobody from directski to be found to query what was going on etc and whether we could get some food......... all in all its been a learning experience! we've never booked a 'package' before and not too sure we will do again, fair to say the tour op cannot be held resonspible for getting sick or travel delays but just wasnt impresseed with thier lack of help or interest..... DONT SHOOT THE REPORTER GUYS!

You'll need to Register first of course.

"we stayed at the Sport Village, supposidly 'four star' ---- not so sure about that" - This is in line with my experience of Andorra hotels. Their star system seems to bear no reflection on whether the hotel is actually any good. Maybe in 1970 they were 4 star hotels.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I wouldn't have been happy with that level of service either. Sounds like another TO desperate to go out of business unfortunately.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Monium; i think you're right, the hotel was full of Russians who seemed quite happy with things, in fact, they never seemed to leave! spent all thier time in the lobby looking at thier i-pads and smoking cigars! lol .....

just hope that if anyone else goes with directski they have a better experience!

I think the main problem with the sport village hotel is that because its so big (also incorperates the sport hotel and the sport hermitage) they don't need to be bothered or care, whereas we've stayed previously in very small family owned properties who take alot more pride in thier business and thier customers, they cannot afford to have bad reviews as this would just ruin thier livelyhood.......

After all it is free

Are Direct Ski a tour operator or a website selling holidays (this direct ski - http://www.directski.com/)?

I only ask because we booked with Direct Ski to go to Andorra (Pas) last year, turned out it was a Neilson holiday. Everything about the holiday, hotel and reps were fine.

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience cbowls30,

Thanks for the update cb,heres hoping conditions improve.
Try not to let your 1st experience with a TO put off,most will always work out fine in fact over the past few years Thompson/Crystal have become much more customer focused.
We are in the EuroSki hotel so will post my findings when I return.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

hammerite, Direct ski the company is owned by the son of the Owner Operator of the Topflight TO Group.

In Ireland it sells topflight holidays at a big discount! Not sure about the UK, Basically the reps are the same in resort as the Topflight Rep but with diffrent jackets!

We used them 3/4 years ago as we got a great last minute deal with them. Rep tried to charge us for lift passes at peak season rate rather than off peak!

snow reports

They definately seemed to have something to do with Neilson because when i was wondering around toulouse airport to try and get some info or find out about food vouchures the Neilson rep seemed to be dealing with it and there were no other reps (crystal/directski) to be found.....

Thanks for that Fattes13, cbowls30, interesting.

Monium, I guess a lot depends on the circumstances, your experiences and expectations. Some of which would be the TOs fault, some the hotels, your particular room (in some cases), some the ski area, snow conditions - if you have a bad experience of all, and no effort is being made by those who can to remedy the faults then it's not going to lead to a happy time.

You know it makes sense.

well, i've put my issues in writing to Directski so watch this space!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I was also in Andorra with directski last week staying in Arinsal no problems at all.My son was feeling a bit ill after a long day travelling so we went to the meeting and explained the situation picked up our lift passes and left.The rep took the troble to come to our hotel room the following evening to see if he was ok and to see if we needed any help.I would have no hesitation using them again

A snowHead

A snowHead

I've used directski twice to Livigno and Chamonix, no problems although the rep in Chamonix was a young one without much clue or interest in snowsports. There website allows real time pricing unlike other Irish TOs. One good thing was I managed to ski the second Saturday in Chamonix and this meant I got a chance to ski the Vallee Blanche so a thumbs up from me for that alone!

Andorra isn't known for high standard accommodation, 4 star there may be 2 star elsewhere. Only been once and neither room or food were great although a very cheap late deal so wasn't bothered. Personally I prefer going independently just to avoid being on a bus full of once a year skiers!

Help!!

Soldeu Andorra just got back

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