 Poster: A snowHead
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genepi, you have a prescription for Prozac and avoid the rush hour then.
I swear, if I get hit in the face once more by one those ridiculous avisacs-pretending-to be-handbags women insist on carrying into packed tubes these days I am going to empty the damn thing out on to the floor of the carriage then we'll all see why they think they have to carry the huge bloody things on public transport in the first place. And seriously, ladies, I do not care if you have to go to the gym, carrying more than two bags the size of weekend bags into work means you are a bag-lady, that's just a fact. And take the ruddy rucksac OFF!
I once started a list of things that I hated about the tube. I got to 126 then stopped as I realised I would either have to do therapy or a stand-up act if I continued. I can't afford therapy and I'm not that funny.
genepi, can I borrow some of your Prozac? It just occurred to me that your name might be a clue as to why you are so mellow about the experience. That and the fact that you are in Hants.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Wild beasts, I swear, whether tormented by hunger or by the steel that has pierced their vitals ... are less hideous in appearance than a man inflamed by anger. If you are free to listen to his cries and threats, hear what language issues from his tortured soul! Will not everyone be glad to check any impulse to anger when he realizes that it begins by working harm, first of all, to himself? If there are those who grant full sway to anger and deem it a proof of power, who count the opportunity of revenge among the great blessings of great estate, would you not, then, have me remind them that a man cannot be called powerful -no, not even free - if he is the captive of his anger
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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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Chalets all the time, only bad experience was with a TO (Crystal) where the host's welcoming speech announced he was only really there to get drunk and ski. Top marks for honesty though and have to say he lived up to our expectations (not sure the company values are supposed to be 'aim low, under deliver'). We only had to cook our own breakfast once due to his non-show. Cheap, late deal made it more palatable.
Always go for small independent chalets now. It's the hosts' own business so invariably providing a good service is crucial to their survival. The good ones will give you all the info and photos you need in advance to make an informed decision about whether it suits your needs. Not bounded by 'company policy' when requests are made or when having to rectify problems (which can occur on any holiday).
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Things I hate about Chalet holidays ... Nothing.
Hotels, anti social and unfreindly
Self catering, well, it's just that
It's each to their own, I'm self employed and work alone, even when I'm away with the family I look forward to meeting others.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| RattytheSnowRat wrote: |
found out later that this bar was stocked with the bottles left over from the duty free previous guests brought in and then left. They even held bottles over from season to season. So they were getting the stuff for free then charging us by the glass at a slight discount to local prices. Thieving twunts!
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One man's thieving twunt is another's convenient service provider, eco recycler and entrepeneur. SOP for even moderately bright chalet staff - the honesty bar, and considering the guests generally consider booze left over as a "tip" don't see the difference from them buying it.
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considering the guests generally consider booze left over as a "tip" don't see the difference from them buying it.
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I agree - who else would the guests be leaving the booze for, if not the chalet staff? When we stayed in chalets we were very grateful that the staff hauled crates of beer up from the valley, kept it cool and sold it to us for much cheaper than bar prices, along with mixers for our duty free spirits. They earn a pittance and work hard - why begrudge them this bit of enterprise? Meeting and getting to know the chalet staff was a positive part of the holiday. The ones in Courchevel had bought a barge and were converting it to take Americans on cruises through the French canals in summer - they were supremely well organised and got a lot of skiing in, but they were in their nth season and had it down to a fine art. Their food was excellent and the chalet well kept. We had by far the nicest of our "chalet staff day off" evenings there, sitting by a roaring log fire, with the whole luxury chalet to ourselves, with a fine bottle of red wine and a variety of charcuterie bought at the street market, playing chess. I'd read the guidebook on Courchevel, fortunately, and when some fellow guests kindly invited us to join them for dinner I recognised the name of the restaurant they were booking as a very expensive one. Our evening was very agreeable and about 5% of the cost. Other evenings were quite convivial and busy so one quiet one in the middle of the week was a treat. We could pretend the chalet was ours!
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pam w, Of course the licensed bartenders of France are the only ones qualified to dispense spirits or mixers safely and accordingly the long arm of les plods will be soon feeling the collars of the honesty bartenders. 
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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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fatbob, I daresay all kind of food handling and drink purveying rules are being broken - as they would be if a B & B in Yorkshire put bottles of spirits on the sideboard and invited guests to pay for them.
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I'm just back from a wonderful chalet holiday in Les Deux Alpes - so much so I have booked up the same chalet for next year (was going to go to Bardonecchia but changed it now!). This is the 4th time I have been in a chalet and I like it and have always had a great time except for the one time where the chalet was filthy, the host was a young guy who really didnt care (washing all over the place when we arrived) - funnily enough, I've never seen that chalet featuring in any of the brochures!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
RattytheSnowRat wrote:
found out later that this bar was stocked with the bottles left over from the duty free previous guests brought in and then left. They even held bottles over from season to season. So they were getting the stuff for free then charging us by the glass at a slight discount to local prices. Thieving twunts!
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A different perspective might be that the thieving twunt is the tight fisted punter who happily receives 12 meals served from enthusiastic and conscientious (though probably inexperienced) kids working 12 hour days and then does a runner leaving a third of a bottle of cheap gin thinking it is an appropriate recognition of said service.
After many chalet holidays I'd say every single seasonnaire i've met wants to drink and ski to excesss but my experience is that the vast majority of them also manage to do a pretty good job and deserve a decent tip - at least pro rata to some grumpy french waiter who charges you 5 euros for a bottle of water...
Right - back to work - only 8 more toilets to clean and two cakes to bake before getting into that powder...
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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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kewhoward,
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A different perspective might be that the thieving twunt is the tight fisted punter who happily receives 12 meals served from enthusiastic and conscientious (though probably inexperienced) kids working 12 hour days and then does a runner leaving a third of a bottle of cheap gin thinking it is an appropriate recognition of said service.
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Well, I sort of agree. If the punters choose to leave a tip, then that's great. If not, then that's OK too. Good, enthusiastic service above and beyond what one should reasonably expect anyway should definitely be rewarded. But tips are not a god given right.
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After many chalet holidays I'd say every single seasonnaire i've met wants to drink and ski to excesss but my experience is that the vast majority of them also manage to do a pretty good job and deserve a decent tip - at least pro rata to some grumpy french waiter who charges you 5 euros for a bottle of water...
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I couldn't agree more. The vast majority do a great job, (but that is sort of what they are employed to do). On a chalet holiday many years ago we had a couple of chalet girls who dropped endless hints about tips while doing a perfectly acceptable (but unexceptional) job. The universal view of the entire group was that they should NOT get a tip.
All that said, it never fails to surprise me what a great job most chalet girls/boys do.
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But tips are not a god given right.
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I absolutely agree - tips are the sharp end of performance related reward - subjective, unfairly distributed but probably, evened out over the season, pretty representative of how good a job you do. Though the absolute size of the reward will obviously depend on the environment you work in (unless you luck out with the Prince of Denmark)
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You know it makes sense.
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The I do not see why we should tip the chalet hosts are the same tight ar#ses that wouldn't tip ski instructors. The group that has straight skis and rear entry boots believing that all this modernism is a waste of money. Although I am sure they only ski with their feet together to prevent the accidental fall of coinage.
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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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Blimey.... I've always tipped chalet girls, but never heard of anyone tipping ski instructors. (Not that I've used an instructor for anything other than kids's group ski lessons in recent years.) Am I alone in this?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Cynic, foxtrotzulu, I tried to tip my guide in Chamonix at the end of Jan, It was only 40 euros, he refused.
He quaified this by saying he had never had so much fun whilst guiding and the best tip I could give him was to book him if I ever wanted to go again, now I'm sure this is what he says to all clients but I tried and failed to tip him!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Are these the instructors on 4-500E/day? 
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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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| foxtrotzulu wrote: |
| Blimey.... I've always tipped chalet girls, but never heard of anyone tipping ski instructors. (Not that I've used an instructor for anything other than kids's group ski lessons in recent years.) Am I alone in this? |
I must admit it had never occurred to me either saying that even if it had the only adult ski lessons we had we barely saw our instructor on day three of our 3 half days we had booked as he was coaxing the poor wan who had been moved up to our lesson for day 2 when she was nowhere near ready down the run me and hubby did as a bit of an easy warmup before the lesson started. So there was no way we would then anwyeay.
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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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Circa 1990 Pre-Eurostar night train to Meribel. Big group of Brummies wearing matching spotted fleeces collecting at the shed/departure hall at Dover. Ferry to Calais and they were tucking into the booze. Not seen until the coach from Moutiers, loud and vulgar. Guess which chalet they got of at...... 
We immediately went skiing and they went drinking (not 8 euro a glass then). There was just my married couple friends, I and a dozen of them in the chalet. Afternoon tea turned into afternoon abuse to the poor chalet girls. Really not very nice and not what you wanted on an expensive holiday (my mate was sent abroad by the army and got his money back and I was charged single supplement).
Think they were warned off by the TO and calmed down but gave a bad environment in the chalet.
Had about a dozen other experiences and all good.
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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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martinm, Never met one: well paid probably €250 a day lesser jobing instructors less. Old saying in skiing you to be poor to teach rich to ski.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| davidhammy wrote: |
| Everything, I would NEVER go on chalet holiday, it's self catering all the way for me........! |
me too...after a chalet holiday from hell some15 years ago, when I had to run out of our room in my nightie, to go for a peaceful solitary walk in the village ...As a consequence I discovered a self catering apartment where we moved to the next day....and have rented the same apartment every year subsequently...No, could never again take the chance of a chalet holiday again. 
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kewhoward,
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Right - back to work - only 8 more toilets to clean and two cakes to bake before getting into that powder...
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I think it's the non washing of hands between tasks that folk are objecting to.
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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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I like chalet holidays. Someone cooks for you and serves you food. Usually of adequate quality and quantity although often a bit rich by the end of the week. Hosts generally aim to please and are happy to cater for various requests. Other guests have normally been fine too, I didn't really like two women in one chalet, they were in the army and I had nothing in common with them and they monopolised the sitting room playing war films at top volume the whole week. Couldn't have for more stereotypical if you had tried!
I think people who complain about chalet holidays go with expectations of silver service and a lack of tolerance or interest in other people!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| kat.ryb wrote: |
Hosts generally aim to please and are happy to cater for various requests....
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...that's fine as long as the hostess is not a psychotic alcoholic, which ours was, alas, although at first she seemed like the most perfect chalet owner/hostess, a home from home she seemed to provide...until our third holiday at her establishment when all hell broke loose...but as I said it is a long story--best forgotten! 
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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 won't tip an ESF instructor on the principle that it's France and they like the Service Compris "law".
Plus it's probably not safe for me to handle cash money Euros like that without an appropriate qualification - I might get a paper cut from a crisp note or accidently swallow some coins.
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fatbob, they're probably qualified to guide to a cashpoint
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You know it makes sense.
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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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| BobH wrote: |
As long as the snow is good we will have fun.
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And that's the point........................... despite some seriously deranged chalet guests and chalet hosts I really did have some great skiing. Ooooops....... apart from Psycho-kid stomping all over my skis at the Zurs chairlift queue.
Won't go with Ski Val-ue-Less again, nor even attempt to recommend them as a TO. 
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Poster: A snowHead
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I went on my first chalet holiday this year and loved the experience. Our group did book the whole chalet, but none of us knew all the other people. The chalet was marketed as 'budget' but it really didn't feel like any corners has been cut: great food; reasonable amount of decent wine; hosts who managed to be both friendly and efficient. This was with Snowretreats in La Tania, I'd fully recommend them.
My previous experience of being in a chalet was running one with my husband. A fairly small company, not completely different to the one in the OP. I my opinion the company maybe thought they were more upmarket than they were, but all chalets were well run and the vast majority of our colleagues took pride in doing a decent job. Yes, they were there to ski and party too, but were mature enough to know how much of this they could do and still do the job well. Many were in their late 20s and 30s.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Chalet everytime! We've been doing chalets for 10 years now and the good times outweigh the bad experiences by miles, I've never left unhappy, certainly for the price paid.
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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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Much prefer hotels to chalets. I like to meet new people.
I remember being on a chalet holiday once with my family in LDA, and it was just us 4 and this random weird bloke who'd gone skiing on his own. He was tight as a duck's *rse and never offered to buy a single drink when we went out until my brother finally said something! He even let me buy him drinks and I was about 17 and had no money!
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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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I personally have had great experiences in Chalets but we normally got I either large Chalets or Chalet hotels. Piccadilly, we (me and hubby) went one year to Selva with my parents, most the other people in the chalet were a good laugh but there was one chap who was on his own and he really latched onto my parents. He was very odd and had some very odd ideas.
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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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Julieanne,
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.that's fine as long as the hostess is not a psychotic alcoholic, which ours was, alas, although at first she seemed like the most perfect chalet owner/hostess, a home from home she seemed to provide...until our third holiday at her establishment when all hell broke loose...but as I said it is a long story--best forgotten!
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That sounds interesting...!
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FAQ
