 Poster: A snowHead
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looking to sort out a holiday for a group of friends where the most experienced skier ( me with a solid 2 weeks under the belt) is trying to get my buddies up and running. the problem being we are on a budget. any recommendations on a good resort where there is some reasonable self catering chalets available. sorry if im clogging up the wrong board 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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theaulddub, if by "self catering chalets" you mean apartments (self contained "chalets" tend to be rather expensive) the world's your oyster, really. Finding good ski lessons for your buddies might be more difficult than finding cheap beds as good lessons (ie in groups of no more than 6) tend to be more expensive. The cheapest way might be to go for one of the "learn to ski" weeks that many of the Tour Operators (like Crystal) do. They are only good for complete beginners though, as often the included lift pass is for only limited beginner lifts.
Lots of places are good for beginners but beware of resorts that have good nursery slopes but then the next step up is to much more difficult runs. You also need to beware of places where the only nursery slopes are right down the bottom - somewhere with higher level nursery slopes too, in case of poor snow conditions, is a good idea.
I've not been there, but people say the standard of tuition is generally very good in Andorra, and there's some quite cheap accommodation there (though not as cheap as it used to be).
When are you thinking of going? What else is important to you about the resort/holiday?
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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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thanks pam was hoping i could pick a detached chalet but at a glance they do seem a touch pricey. am looking to go the day after christmas and have done L2A and saas fee and would like something different but still fairly snow sure that could suit our limited abilities. would self catering apts be the best bet too?
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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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how many in your group, theaulddub? I priced a self catering chalet for 12 (in an obscure resort) for Christmas week at 3000 euros a year or so ago. Was far too much! 
You will need to look carefully at what days the tour operators are running their holidays next Christmas. If you start moving away from the standard dates it could cost you a lot more.
You can rent apartments easily on a DIY basis, organising your own transport. But again, especially on a tight budget, you'll need to fit in with the weeks being offered. In France, the agencies which deal with apartments will probably not start dealing with next season till about June.
Dates are a bit awkward next Christmas - if you look in the TO brochures you'll get an idea of the different arrangements on offer.
Self catering apartments are probably the cheapest way to holiday, providing you DO self cater and not keep eating and drinking out - which can cost a lot!
If you really want to keep the costs down though, you need to avoid the New Year period which is the most expensive of the year in most places.
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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 again pam. probably need to rein my enthusiasm in a touch and look at things in a few months. 8 are in the group and want to kill any talk of winter sun
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You're looking at one of the most expensive weeks in the season. Are you dates set in stone ? By going a week later you would get a lot more for your money including quieter pistes!
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theaulddub, as others are advising, the week you are looking at (New Year) is the most expensive, in some places only half term week is more and in most others it's around the same. However, the week after that, and indeed most of January, will give you a) MUCH lower prices, b) more choice, as NY week is sold out already in some areas - we have been fully booked for NY since end Feb THIS year c) quieter pistes and more chance of getting your group in one set of lessons.
As the dates are awkward for the festive period, you may find the week immediately after NY is a short break of 5 or 6 days, in order to get the calendar back on track for the usual weekend changeovers; this being so, w/c 7/8 Jan might be better.
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We did the Titan Lodge in LDA in March, not self catering but cheap nonetheless
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have a look at snowtrex do some good deals on what your after
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