We have just returned from our best family ski trip EVER! Just about everything was fab (except for a small matter of a faulty fire alarm......more later.....) and we cannot wait to go back there again next year.
We transferred from Geneva and despite the 3 hour trip it wasn't bad at all - Esprit rep put movie on for the kids and we had plenty of snacks etc with us.
Hotel was lovely - spacious and comfortable rooms with great view over the slopes and down to Bellecote. Wellbeing area/pool etc was great. Physios there are brilliant and both DH and I had great treatments there.
Food was much better than we have had in other chalets and there was plenty of it.
Kids had a ball. They both progressed really well in their ESF classes. Snow Club was fab with bum boarding/treks/snowman making every afternoon (again, very different to our previous experiences with Esprit).
Skiing is great for families and more advanced skiers. I loved the fact that as a not-very-confident or skilled skier I could access pretty much the entire La Plagne area on blue runs. DH had plenty of off-piste skiing and thought the ski hosting was a very high standard.
Security issues raised by Stripey a few weeks ago seem to have been resolved. They were very keen to point out that they were dealing with this when we attended the welcome meeting (probably because I had contacted Esprit by phone the week before after Stripey's review and they knew someone in the "audience" was sceptical about it!). They have now put a security code on the door to the outdoor hot-tub in the wellbeing centre (you can access the tub from a road and therefore potentially access the entire hotel without a guest pass).
I have only two gripes with the place:
Firstly, and not very importantly, I think the general manager is a bit of a joke.....we called him David Brent so often I have forgotten his real name! But he seemed really ill at ease in his role and in fact the Assistant Manager was far more assertive.
Secondly, and very importantly, we had the fire alarms go off one evening at around 10pm. Most of the parents were downstairs having supper and the plan is supposed to be that the babysitters will evacuate the kids whilst you leave and wait outside for them. Pretty much every parent ran upstairs after their own kids and its a good job we did. I reached the 4th floor to find DS2 (aged 4) crying his eyes out in the corridor, unsupervised and therefore easily could have wandered off in the confusion, whilst the babysitter was trying to get DS1 to wake up (aged 8). My kids were the first ones they began to evacuate and the alarm had already been going for 5 minutes. If you consider there are approx 9 rooms per floor, there is no way the staff can evacuate all kids from their rooms in time without the parents involvement. Thankfully it was actually a false alarm caused by a circuit failure but it doesn't bare thinking about. Having said all that, I lost DH in the confusion and was left to get out of the building with the two kids by myself. Two of the waiters saw me struggling and not only helped me carry the kids but also gave up their jackets and shoes to keep them warm (as I had literally scooped them up and run out without thinking of the -10 temp outside).
Despite this, I would definitely go back - if I could afford it I would be back again this season!!
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Ski and snowboarding
Review of Belle Plagne/Des Deux Domaines with Esprit
11 replies
TheRealMrsJohnSimm · 09/02/2009 10:42
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