Chalet Hotel Des Deux Domaines, Belle Plagne, France

This was our first family skiing holiday and we all had a great time. We are thinking of booking for next year!

I understand the pros and cons of the "hotel" versus "chalet" size-wise. The big pro for us was the pool which we swam in every morning (I am pregnant so only skiied the odd afternoon). We did meet some lovely people who we asked to be sat with at dinner. My DH then had some more exciting ski company than I could provide!

Childcare wise it was fine and the service was as described. However my DS1 (nearly 4) did not like snow club and may have enjoyed more "private nanny" type care which you get in smaller chalets. He did love the skiing and the lessons though. The nursery for DS2 (very nearly 2) was great and he had his day time nap in a cot in a seperate room rather than a mat in the corner (which I have seen in some child care situations). The baby listening was very good and it was reassuring to have 2 nanies on each floor.

The rooms were lovely. We had a "standard" room for the 4 of us. We put DS2's cot in the bathroom (there was a seperate loo, hooray!) every night and we all slept very well. A kettle would have been a welcome bonus though. Only other request would have been for larger towels.

Food wise - my kids were fine and ate really well. I was pleased there wasn't a fish finger in sight! Lunch and tea were hectic with so many children but at least they were getting freshly cooked meals incl veg and fruit. Adult dinners were great, no complaints.

Fantastic. Can't wait to return.

I have to say out of all the Esprit holidays I've had I probably enjoyed this one the least. It's the only Esprit place I would never go back to. Maybe it's just not my thing, I think I've definitely decided I prefer smaller chalets.

The good things;

Snow Rangers were fab. DD loved Coco Club. DD was the only child in her ski group so had private tuition all week! There is free Wifi. The rooms are very nice, fantastic view, bigger than any other room I've stayed in. Flat screen TV, DVD player.

The not so good things;

I found the hotel too big and too impersonal. Nobody talks to anyone and I missed that part of getting to know other people. We were sat with the same two people for dinner every night. Luckily they were really nice and we got on, if we hadn't then it would have been crap.

There is no decent seating area. There is a bar and sofa area in the hotel lobby. But it really is like sitting in a hotel lobby and you wouldn't wonder down there with a book and chill out like in other chalets I've been to.

The pool was too cold, other parents ignored the no chldren in the hot tubs rule and the indoor hot tub were full of screaming, jumping kids. The kids then must have weeed in the hot tub as a few days later it was shut for maintanence.

The hotel isn't secure. French people sneak in the door near the outside hot tub and use the saunas and hot tubs.

The service is terribly slow. They can't start everyone's meals at the same time, so one night will call in tables 1-14 first, then 30 minutes later the next tables. Swap over the following night. It can be after 9:00pm by the time you get starters. And it can then be a long wait for main course.

Kids menus were a bit odd. Maybe its my fault that DD isn't a great eater but other parents said the same. Fish mornay? We had tears over the meal most nights. I'm on holiday and can't be doing with it.

Our room was on the first floor and right over the kitchen. Kitchen staff had a loud stereo on full blast while they cleaned up till 11:00pm every night. This kept us awake. We had to ring up reception every night about it.

Coffee is £4 in the bar. Beer is £6 a pint! There are no coffee making facilities/kettles in the rooms. Bloody rip off.

Quality of the food varied. I had boiled potatoes one night that were rock solid.

The snow was in terrible condition, but guess I can't blame Esprit for that. La Plagne seemed nice and if the snow had been better I think the skiing would have been fab. We skiied over to Les Arcs one day which is worth doing.

Belle Plagne itself is really small, not a great choice of restaurants - but we had a meal out at La Belle Cloche which was nice. The mountain restaurant near the bottom of the Hari Kari run over towards Champagny is good, think it's called the Belvedere or something like that. Another good restaurant is below the Roche De Mio cable car, not the restaurant right at the cable car station but a little lower down as if you were heading for the Le Tunnel run. Great lasagna there.