Chalet Virage, Meribel, France - Meriski

I returned one week ago from a skiing holiday with my three children with Meriski in Meribel. This was our third time with Meriski in three consecutive years and we were blessed this year with perfect snow and lots of wonderful sunshine.

Meriski was an independent ski holiday company bought by Four Winds Resorts 4 years ago and has been running successfully in Meribel for the last 23 years.

Meribel is a supremely family friendly resort; picturesque, safe, never too crowded and with plenty of choice in terms of bars, restaurants and cafes. It is situated at the heart of the 3 Valleys ski area which includes Courchevel, Les Menuires and Val Thorens and is the largest ski area in the world and, arguably, the most beautiful. After 5 years going to Meribel, I have probably not even skied half of it yet!

We stayed in Meriski’s Chalet Virage, a new addition this year to Meriski’s portfolio of chalets. It is a large, spacious chalet which can accommodate 4/5 families or 16 plus guests. Unlike some of Meriski’s other chalets which must be booked as a whole, individual rooms can be booked at Chalet Virage. This is never a concern for me as the other guests are invariably nice and usually have children for mine to play with.

The Chalet has fantastic views over the mountainside but is barely a 5 minute walk into Meribel village. It has a Games Room downstairs with TV, DVD player, Wi-Fi and i-Pod docking station, a laundry room, sauna and shower-room and ski and boot room with heated boot rack. Upstairs there is a large lounge/dining area with a TV, DVD and CD players, a massive table, leather sofas and a centrally positioned wood-burning fireplace which makes the room very warm and welcoming in the evening. Outside, there is a large sunny balcony for relaxing and taking a dip in the wonderful hot tub; a luxury I now fear my children will regard as a necessity having insisted on going in it every afternoon after skiing and having lots of fun with the other children staying in the chalet. The bedrooms in the chalet are warm and cosy and pleasantly decorated each with an en suite bathroom and balcony.

Breakfast (which is as hearty as you can manage) and afternoon tea with homemade cake, kid’s tea at 6pm and champagne and canapés for the grown-ups at 7.30pm followed by a three-course dinner at 8pm are all included in the price. The chalet staff who live in have one day off a week (Thursday) but are happy to offer advice on restaurants and book for you plus organize babysitting with one of the Meriski nannies. Breakfast and afternoon tea are still laid out for the guests.

Meriski also run a crèche employing fully qualified nannies for those with young children where lunch is provided. The nannies take the little ones out on fun expeditions like tobogganing, bubble rides and building snowmen. The nannies will also happily pick up your children from their ski lessons and take them back to the crèche returning to your chalet with them at the end of the day. They will also bring them to you if you want to take them out to lunch or for a ski. Private Meriski nannies who look after your children in your chalet can also be arranged.

The company have a couple of minibuses which run a shuttle service down to the slopes in the mornings and pick you up at the end of the day. Between these times you can always call the on-duty driver to come and pick you up and you never have to wait very long.

They also offer a free ski guiding service 3 days a week which I only took advantage of for the first time this year. It was led this time by Lucy Strong, the intrepid and extremely knowledgeable resort manager. I can honestly say I never enjoyed skiing so much as on the 2 days I did this. The skiing was as challenging as the group wanted it to be and we covered Meribel, Courchevel, Les Menuires and Val Thorens in those 2 days going down runs I had never been down before. It opened up the whole 3 Valley area for me without once having to open my map! We also stopped for lunch in some lovely mountain restaurants. I declined to go on the third days’ guiding as it involved skiing 14 peaks in one day with a challenge set to beat Lucy’s previous record of 7 hours 15 mins. Amazingly, Lucy and a couple of doctors in my chalet managed it in a new record time of 6 ½ hours. Definitely not for the faint-hearted.

I thoroughly recommend Meriski to anyone who loves skiing and has children as it has been for me a guaranteed way to enjoy a hassle-free skiing holiday that is fun for everyone. Granted, it is not cheap but you get a lot of value for money and Meriski fares very well in comparison with it’s competitors in that way. I have had no cause for complaint in 3 years of travel with them; only praise for their high standards, friendly and helpful staff and a real appreciation of what it takes to make a great skiing holiday.