 Poster: A snowHead
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Our first skiing holiday ever, both novices in mid to late thirties but I had a few fridge lessons beforehand.
A nice short flight from Manchester to Verona was a bit spoilt by the 3 hr transfer into the resort, I wish they would at least schedule one comfort break on the way, remind me not to drink on the plane again!
The hotel we stayed in was the grand paradiso which is situated at the bottom of the Serodine lift, the hotel is probably the best in resort and the crystal rep took pleasure in pointing out the initial excellent scores the hotel was getting on their feedback forms. Food was actually really good with a choice every night of three courses plus salad bar. The rooms, whilst a bit small, where quite nicely appointed and the bathroom modern and spotless. It also has a really nice spa and bar area.
The biggest issue was probably the steps upto the piste which were very icy and the walk to the ski school was a good 10 minutes in ski boots, despite there being a school in the lobby of the hotel which met right outside!
I made it into the top group and progressed to parallel on the second day but not much further, the rest of the week seemed to be just skiing around behind the instructor on the same runs, I would of liked a bit more out of the instruction to take into my own hands afterwards and practise but that's how it went.
The slopes themselves were nicely looked after, being an early bird the first few lifts up were very empty and I found myself sometimes very alone on the pistes, they were perfectly groomed if a little bit fast and crunchy until the sun or wind hit them, queues were best before 11am but the most I ever waited was around 10-15 minutes. There seemed to be a good but ultimately limited number of runs, I stuck with blues with a few smaller reds toward the end of the week but I met some very advanced skiers who praised the blacks and the very high glacier runs as well.
We got some snow mid week which really freshened everything up and generated a bit of buzz, nobody complained about snow conditions so I guess that's a plus!
I had a bit of an off on a steep blue right up in the mountain, it was just too steep for my ability but when I checked on the piste maps it was down as a red! This is not information you should get mixed up in my book, I only fell over and laughed but I know other people who were sticking to blues that would of had a serious problem getting down!
Tonale itself isn't what you would call jumping, it is quite small and more hotel orientated though there are a good few bars to indulge inmy favourites where the La Barracca for lunch and hot choc and La Botte for a few after ski beers and munches, the Paradiso had an Apres Ski Marquee which was the place for lively after ski and bouncing music until about 8pm
Overall I liked tonale and would return, it may not ultimately offer enough for really advanced skiers and boarders but for 90% of people it would be fine.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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sted, nice review oftonale and hotel. Totally agree with whzt you said. We went 2 years ago and stayed in same hotel. We went for a superior room which was beautiful and v large with big balcony. I thought the food was nice but overall, a bit too posh for a ski resort. You wantcarbs etc after all day skiing, well, we did anyway. Wasnt a bug fan of getting onto/off slopes from hotel. They have a lift which takes you strihht onto the slope, but was never open when we went there and we either climbed the steep hill or hit the metal steps. Found nightlife is v limited and quite a bland resort...not pretty. Not sure we would return as we like going new places, but I have recommended it to people. Great value for money. Glad you had a good hol.
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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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Hi sted, we are off to this hotel end of Feb (also with Crystal). We're too old and crusty to venture far in the evening, so I'm considering taking Crystal up on the half-price (-ish) hotel credit. What were the bar prices like in the GHP and do they open the restaurant at lunch for paying punters?
TIA!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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sted, when were you there? 10 -15 minutes sounds a long time to queue, but if it was New Year, I suppose that's par for the course.
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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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pauly69, hi mate, the hotel is a little out of the way of what few bars there are so we found ourselves partaking if the hotel bar a few nights, it's not exactly cheap but was pretty much in line with other places in tonale, large beer was €5, glass of wine about the same for a large, cheapest large beer we found was La Barracca at €3.50. I had a few single malts in the hotel and they were coming out about €8.....ouch!
They don't open the restaurant through the day but the bar sells panini, pizza, sandwiches etc which aren't a bad price and fill a gap, the bar staff are really nice by the way......in more ways than one! There is also a self serve place at the top of the metal stairs which serves basic meals but it us part if the hotel so ou can charge your room in there.
The après marquee is another option just outside the hotel by the first lift, very noisy though, not my thing. Also there is a pub attached to the hotel but I never bothered with it.
The restaurant is nice but I would get there when it opens to get the best service, we didn't struggle to get food at all but we found if we were on time we could get the food and wine ordered and just relax.
We did the hotel credit thing and I'm glad we did as the bill soon mounted up, especially if you get any spa treatments charged to your room....which I didn't......but the wife did!
pam w, yeah there was a lot of locals over the holiday period, it wasn't too bad, like I said 10-15 mins was the worst, early on I found myself alone on some pistes! Heaven!
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sted, thanks for the update/advice, much appreciated.
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