Luxury Catered Chalets

Sometimes it seems that you can't always have your cake and eat it. For example, do you go for the family ski chalet or the luxury catered chalet option? Well why not have both? For the ski half term week at Chamonix Exclusive we welcomed a beautiful family who had skied with one of the well known family ski company's but after a bad experience decided to try something different. Whilst they had found the child care to be excellent, the standard of their catered chalet was described by them as a 'Health Hazard', resulting in last years ski half term holiday being a 'wash out' if you excuse the pun! By all accounts the sinks were smeared with marks that were unimaginable in terms of what they actually were, as was some of the other worktops. There was also just one host for 10 people who was also the chef!!

Contrast last year to this where they not only stayed at a true luxury catered chalet, and one that is ski in ski out (a feature loved by the children), they also got great child supervision with 5 staff supporting their family ski holiday through the week, and most importantly, dealing with people that really do care! As a result, they won't be using a branded 'family ski company', they will instead be booking again with a luxury catered chalet, that is truly family friendly, and is also similarly priced.

The moral behind this post, you can have your cake and it if you choose wisely and avoid exaggerated branding. Don't pay more, avoid 'specialists' who employ teenagers that don't care, and have a luxury chalet that is also a great family ski chalet!

Family Friendly Ski

This ski half term week we really are lucky to have some really wonderful guests, Grandma, Granddad, Mum and Dad, and their six children. When you have such wonderful family guests it really does make you wake up with a smile, and in many respects give even more just because they deserve it.

To be honest we certainly always seem to blessed with wonderful guests and I guess that may well reflect the luxury catered chalet market we are in, or the fact that we are lucky as we do hear some contrary stories? Who knows I guess. But with our family ski reviews (all guests come to think of it - family or otherwise) waxing lyrical about our service, and being half term ski week, we thought in our Chamonix Exclusive Blog that we would give away our secrets. So click here on 'Family Friendly Ski' to read our ten most important and fingers crossed, in years to come we all may be able to enjoy family friendly skiing holidays!!

Family Ski Chamonix

Skiing this weekend in Chamonix it is undoubtably a great weekend to be out with the family and ski with our children. We have had a great deal of snow fall over the last 24 hours and as a result on piste it is the perfect soft snow and off piste deep powder. As a family we can't help get excited at the prospect of getting out to ski powder and although Josh and Victoria are only 5 and 7 respectively, they are a lot easier to get to ski club when it is a powder ski day. Well that is after Mark has dug out his car from the bank that he managed to get stuck in this morning despite it being 4 wheel drive! No need to go on about it too much as his penance was missing first ski tracks whilst being towed out!

Getting back to the children, here in Les Houches, Chamonix, we can't speak highly enough of the ESF Les Houches ski school who really are a family friendly ski school. Their patience is immense and professionalism unquestionable. And they are also kind enough to drop the children back at our accommodation which neighbours ski in ski out Chalet Prarion.

Its not just ESF Ski School Les Houches that is great, the ski area of Les Houches, Chamonix is also very good for ski family holidays as it has a great beginner area and some great blue and red pistes that won't frighten Mum, well not too much anyway!

Finally in terms of family ski chalets to stop out, ours aside, their is other great family ski chalets such as Chalet Annabelle run by Mike and Jude at Breathe and Believe who really do care and are great with families and young children. But if ski in ski out is the families ski holiday choice, the number one ski chalet has to be Chalet Prarion.

Ski Half Term Holidays - A Light Hearted View From a Mum

With just over 10 days to go before the half term ski holidays, here's a light hearted view of the preparation and stereo typical roles that develop both prior to and on the first day of the family ski holiday for the ski half term skiing break:

So, its nearly time to go, the family ski half term holiday break is in sight, the excitement is building, the best family ski chalet has been booked months in advance, Mum has already booked the ski lessons and lift passes, and its just a case of the whole family packing the cases, all hands on deck and it will be done in a day.

Well probably not! The children will be firstly playing on the Nintendo, and then there's Dad, who will of course be surveying the net; researching the best off-piste runs in the resort, particularly important for skiing the afternoon with the 3 year old who is just learning to ski, then there's the piste that Hans Klammer won the World Cup on in 2002, and not forgetting the useful information on the number of pistes you can ski, how many black runs need to be ticked off, and the all famous 'Wall' that you need to ski by 10 o'clock on day one!

So from the above, I think it's safe to assume that it will be poor Mum who will probably be packing most items, checking what fits and doesn't, replacing old with new, and totally oblivious to the rest of the family, making sure no one's forgotten, everybody gets to the airport, passports are at hand, and all clothing is packed!

So the family have finally arrived t the chalet, and the first evening Mum will have unpacked the clothing, and laid it out ready for a controlled start, all of course unbeknown to Dad who's telling the whole party about last year's steep and deep over a glass or three of the local wine!

Then there's the morning, after a year's wait, the half term ski holiday really is about to start, Dad will have that look that only too much wine the night before can give you, although having been warned by Mum about his potential excess the night before, Dad will be of course try and disguise this by trying to look sprightly! Despite the sore head, he will however have managed to have checked his ski's about twenty times that morning, the edges tested and admired by the tip of his calibrated thumb, and the other father's will have seen him lift his perfectly waxed trophy, sorry skis, in front of them half a dozen times (yes darling they do look smooth and shiny), all in between discussing continuously today's ski itinerary over breakfast!

And after breakfast, as the children exit smoothly from the chalet, Dad will now be asking Mother what all the fuss was about prior to departure and arrival in the resort! Arriving at the ski school, Dad will without doubt need to take control, now claiming total responsibility for their on time arrival, Dad's last cup of coffee, the final surveying of the piste map (whilst Mum got the children ready) obviously making the difference!

But looking on the bright side Mother's, after all the Father's planning of the routes and pistes you are going to ski on day one, at least you can ski with the confidence that you won't get lost until the second run, and it will be only 5 out of 6 days that you find yourself the wrong side of the mountain with just five minutes to collect the children from ski school!!

Happy half term ski holidays!