Mark Warner's Cygnaski Hotel is being sold!

A snowHead

I should imagine the execs at Mark Warner are pretty angry.

The owners of the Cygnaski hotel in Val d'Isere have just told them they're selling it, and it won't be available this season.

Trouble is, the brochures have all just been sent out, and holidays have been sold there - including ours!!

They're having to contact everyone and get them into other hotels, this will cost them loads of money..

I'm hoping we get the Chalethotel Val d'Isere for the same money but I won't hold my breath.

I only know because I rang them to order a cut price ski pass (they have an offer of £110 for the full Espace Killy pass for w/c Dec 16th). Only to be told they'll contact us in a couple of days to change hotels!

A snowHead

Piccadilly, Bansko is nice in December wink

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

Mmmmm wonder if a contact was signed - could be an expensive courtcase!

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Piccadilly, they do have the Moris,

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Stayed there, I love it - however I wouldn't take my mum there!

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Piccadilly,

Have Mark Warner actually confirmed this is the situation or are you simply going to coause a panic with MW's Cygnaski clients like me.

After all it is free

I've just checked online and the Cygnaski is no longer listed.

The Morris ... the height of exclusivity in the Alps ... emm.
We got a "Red Card" there .. I think it was 1996.
Brilliant week.

The shame is I'm always looking back to those times.

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Piccadilly, the Cygnaski isn't that great at all.

Location- especially if you have young kids is not great- it is quite a faff to get to and from the lifts

Decor / general standard- it looks like nobody has waved a paintbrush in anger for years (at least not when we were there last- albeit about 8 years ago)

Staff- the usual bunch- gap year types mostly looking to catch (or avoid) a dose of something incurable.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

sorry to sound uninterested in your own difficulty- if I were in your position the I would be livid.

Just that in general the loss of Cygnaski is no real loss.

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Piccadilly, if you want to ski Espace, try the Hauts de Toviere in Tignes. Pretty good location, Scottys Bar attached, reasonable rooms and great food the last couple of years. We prefer it to Auguille and Tignes is cheaper than Val.

You know it makes sense.

Yep, stayed there in March last year, great hotel, agree with all of that. However the hotel location and Tignes itself is not really suitable for my mum who's in her 70s and only skis greens. She likes a few shops etc to look round as well, and Val D is much better for that.

Thanks for the suggestion though Scottish Scrutineer.

I'm pretty well up on the MW hotels, and there are only a couple suitable for my mum (unlike me, who'll stay anywhere!!)

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

So this is how it pans out - they offer you something they deem to be equivalent, you don't think it's equivaloent so argue a bit, either then you accept or they refund you your money and you're left with bot all. At least that seems to be the general theme with non-confirmed properties. Hopefully for you MW have a bit more of a guilty conscience than many TOs.

A snowHead

The Christina in La Plagne is the same money, so if they don't give us the Chalethotel Val D'Isere, we wouldn't mind going there (for the 4th year running!).

Maybe we could try and get them to give us a nice room at the Moris, ha.

A snowHead

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

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Our 18 man group booked the Cygnaski for February 2013 back in April 2012. Big groups need to book early to get something that can handle them all. Obviously, the TO benefits by getting the deposits early and we have to give up the chance of being able to book a late-deal.

We are now just at the stage of paying the balance and this happens. What chance is there that we will get anything that suits our requirements at this late stage?

The same thing happened to us at the same stage in 2010 when booked with Crystal. They could offer us nothing that was remotely like-for-like when they 'lost' the Hotel Savoy in Meribel and Crystal also seemed less than concerned by our predicament. They offered us different resorst at additional cost/less facilities. This resulted in our club's 'ABC' (Anyone But Crystal) future holiday booking policy. Strangely, it was MW who got our booking instead that year.

Now we have the same situation with MW this year; TO operator loses use of a hotel that they have advertised as being available and taken deposit for from their customers many months ago! How can this happen? Why don't they make it so financially painful for a hotel owner to pull out of a deal, that they get enough compensation to offer their affected customers a fantastic deal?

Will MW be able to offer us something equal or better in the same resort? I'll let you know

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Mr Marmot, sorry to hear of your predicament, however if it helps, Mark Warner have been brilliant with us.

We've now been moved to the Chalethotel Val d'Isere AND been put on BA flights (better times), all for no extra cost.

Couldn't ask for more, I love MW.

I hope they can get you in somewhere!

I do agree, how can hotel owners just suddenly be able to pull out and leave TOs and guests massively in the @£$%??

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If this thread runs to form then hopefully either Mr Mark or Mr Warner will be along presently with a full explanation

After all it is free

Glad to hear that you are sorted to your satisfaction, Piccadilly . Chalethotel Val d'Isere is a step up from the Cygnaski. I can't understand why your flights have changed (for accommodation in same resort) unless you are saying they offered you better flights as a way of an apology for the 'hassle' of having to accept other accommodation.

We are still waiting to hear from MW, via our travel agent, regarding what they can do for us.

Piccadilly, I'm with you about MW, the hotels may not be the most up to date in terms of decor, but never have had an issue with any of the staff or found them wanting if you need anything, they have been brilliant.

MW have just done a deal with BA and are using them for most of their flights this season.

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Mr Marmot, we were originally on Monarch flights, but were planning to pay the bit extra anyway and change to BA as the times are so much better (it's one of the reasons I originally called them, only to find out about the Cygnaski).

They just threw it in for free. Can't fault them at all, very happy customers.

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MR MARMOT We have a 18 man party booked in the Cygnaski at the end of January, I think MW are looking at an apartment in Brides Les Bains, the only thing available.
Whats the apre ski like? rolling eyes

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It doesn't look like Mark Warner care about us as much they do about Piccadilly!!!!! . If we want to stay in our chosen resort of Val d'Isere then they can offer us the Moris at no extra charge or we can each pay £150 more to stay at the Chalethotel Val D'Isere.

When we originally got the whole group together back in April to make the original choice, no-one wanted to stay at the Moris and some of the group couldn't afford the cost of the C.H. Val. We will now have to arrange another meeting to vote on the poor choices we have been offered or try and find something else (could be difficult to find somewhere suitable for 18 people only 12 weeks before we depart).

Mark Warners have had our deposits for nearly 6 months and now they suddenly tell us they can't actually give us what they originally promised, or an alternative that we consider to be acceptable.

You know it makes sense.

^ I suppose if they did the same for a party of 18 as they did for us, they stand to lose way too much money.

Why don't you go for Tignes instead? It doesn't really make that much difference.

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

Mr Marmot, If it were me, I'd go to the Moris and not worry about the standard of the hotel! Surely the quality of the skiing is more important! snowHead

I almost went with Mark Warner to the Moris myself for that week but I found it cheaper to book a flight from Newcastle to Geneva and a catered chalet in the Paradiski area myself, my first time as an independant traveller this season.

A snowHead

Mr Marmot,

You could try this:-

http://www.yseski.co.uk/products/2341-9255/les-chardons.php

I've been staying this company for many years.

A snowHead

welshflyer, do you believe me now then?

RichardB, the Moris isn't for everyone though. Most of the rooms are not en suite and share a shower and/or toilet.

I was lucky and had a nice room when I stayed there but I prefer not to share a bathroom!

Can't wait to go back to the Moris next March.

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

I stayed in the hotel suggested by welshflyer, a few years back when it was run by the owner (barking didn't even come close to describing her - but she was very friendly). Rooms are a decent size and the location is brilliant (across the road from the moris). The boot room was a little small and cold if I remember rightly and the ice at the bottom of the doorstep treacherous but I really liked the feel of the place. YSE has a great reputation in Val D'Isere for honesty and good service. John Yates-Smith lives in the village (has done for years) and keeps a tight ship with his staff. I'd be interested to go see what he's done with the place since taking it on as he said they had quite a bit of prep to do leading up to the start of the season. I particularly like the fact that there are a number of single rooms available too. I would definitely recommend this option if available (and a similar price to MW - assuming you can get a refund). YSE does Sunday travel (like MW) via Grenoble with good flight times - they operate 1 Gatwick flight so no waiting for others to arrive either. If you can't do Gatwick flights, their discount for self travel is about £100 I think - although best check the website.

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Piccadilly,

Yes, as you will see after my first posting I checked their website.

Thank you for giving us a heads up on this situation. I've now suggested a possible alternative for Mr Marmot because it must be difficult to find somewhere for a very large group.

A couple of years ago there were rumours that the Cygnaski was being sold by the owners and that MW were losing it's use.

I've spent many weeks in the Cyg with MW in the past.

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Piccadilly If we had wanted to stay in Tignes, we would have booked Tignes six months ago!

RichardB If we had wanted to stay in the Moris, we would have booked the Moris six months!

Welshflyer thanks for the suggestion. I will forward it to the rest of the group.

Mark Warner have dropped markedly in my estimation by the way they are dealing with this problem. But then again, my estimation of the holiday and travel industry was never that high, so they didn't have too far to fall. But they are now as low as Crystal!

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I really feel for you, I hope you get somewhere suitable booked. Good luck!

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

Mr Marmot, i think that's a bit harsh. It's not the TO's fault that the hotel was sold AND not made available for the season. It sounds like the hotel owners made this season's availability a sweetener for the buyers without giving fair warning to MW so in case the purchase fell through, the hotel would still be rented - legal but unethical. MW are now up the creek without a paddle, scrambling to salvage their customer's eagerly anticipated ski trips by offering alternatives. OK, you may not like the alternatives but finding 18 places with 12 weeks to go (as you yourself said) is difficult.

Take the Moris and relax.

After all it is free

Mr Marmot, I know you're angry, but there's no need to get pissy with people for making alternative suggestions. If you want EK without paying extra, go to Tignes or the Moris, otherwise go somewhere else or get your money back.

As said, it's not Mark Warner's fault their hotel is being sold at this late stage, completely agree with ALQ's comments.

Mr Marmot is simply stating the facts which I totally agree with:-

1) Staying in Tignes is not the same as staying in Val d'isere.

2) Staying in the Moris is not the same as staying in the Cygnaski.

As fellow snowsports enthusiasts let's hope Mr Marmot finds something satisfactory for his large group. I can empathise with his frustration because organising a trip for a large group can be very difficult.

Unfortunately MW also lost use of the Toviere a few years ago. The situation for MW must be very difficult because the Cygnaski was where most of their child care was based in Val d'isere. A few years' ago MW had 4 chalet hotels in Val now they only have 2.

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It might not be MW's 'fault' but they have mucked up here and should be sorting Mr Marmot out in the way they sorted Piccadilly.

Help!!

Mark Warner's Cygnaski Hotel is being sold!

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