Berangere

A very mixed bag. On the good side:

- Skihosting excellent. Very enthusiastic, skilled skiiers who adaptaed well to their groups and created a very good and cohesive atmosphere in each group - had us charging around the restort and really getting the best out of it

- some of the nannies are excellent, in our week the one in charge of the mini-club (3-6 year olds) was particularly good. Nice, enthusiastic, creative.

- the set up of taking the children down to their lessons, collecting them and bringing them back, the way they do meals etc., makes life very easy for parents (so long as your child is not ill when they are banned from the support so beware!)

- the ESF instructors they work with are outstanding. Great with the children, make every child feel like a hero and they learn a tonne, come back feeling very excited about skiing

Less good:

- Hotel is tired. Carpets are grubby, walls are scuffed and peeling. Several of our towels had holes in.

- Cleanliness: Rooms generally were clean but not cleaned well every day, several times our bin was not emptied etc. The basement where the pool is is damp and the showers and pool area were dirty - lumps of dirt around the edges of both.

- Inconsistent Rooms: We had a very good set-up of adjoining rooms with our 2 children, worked perfectly and rooms looked out onto the piste - lovely. However another family had no outside windows in their bedroom - so recommend you check which rooms you've been given when you book.

- Staff: Some of the staff are just very young and inexperienced. In general they are super keen to help but a few of them aren't (verbatim comments included: I just sit on reception, it's not my job to answer that question (after he'd given an answer I'd queried); and, overheard: I'm doing the childcare qualifications and apparently I have to go work in the creche all day - why would I do that? I hate kids). Too often when we asked a question we were told: those are the rules, I can't do anything about it

- The rules: We were forever signing up for things, and if we didn't sign up as soon as a list went up (half term so busy week) we missed our slot - this was particularly irritating for dinner when the list for the following night's dinner goes up at 8pm, and if you aren't there precisely at 8, you only get to have dinner at 2130 or later. I felt like I was being patronised at every turn. In addition, they have some silly structures, like you can't order lunch (in the bar only) until 1300 and can't even order a cup of tea until 1230 - children are eating lunch at 1230 and it was frustrating not to be able to take them out when they were finished. They need to fix this and generally show more flexibility.

- Food: Is fair to poor. A few dishes were great - often the soups. Bar food was very bad on occasion - under cooked chips and tasteless sandwich fillings. Tea was pretty bad - cakes were generally a bit dry and tasteless and over use of cream to make them edible. Biscuits often just tasted like sawdust. Children's food stodgy and often cold as it was prepared too far in advance. A few things good - soups at dinner often good tasting although strange texture; well cooked fish in goujons for the children - but not reliable. On the other hand, at least we didn't pack on the weight!

Overall it's a LOT of money for a very average hotel. You pay for a good location, great set up with the ski school, very good overall set up with childcare. Other guests were almost all friendly and fun to hang out with. If they could fix the food, give the place a thorough clean and paint job over the summer, and upgrade their staff training, relax some of the silly policies on signing up for stuff and times that food is available, it would be great.

Excellent childcare, no hot water, basic adult food, good children's food options, good location, helpful staff, nice indoor pool. Geneva airport not child friendly- do not take a heavy buggy! Long transfer but well arranged.