Large group with very different needs and budgets and ages...help!

[SkiDilemma]

I'm a NC regularly. I feel this is a skiing AIBU post really, so want to keep it anon.

I have 2 very easy older dc who will ski with us or in ski school. We manage peak time holidays on a budget every year as we choose modest accommodation and book independently, without child care.

I've agreed to ski with a sibling and their huge blended family. Various ages, various needs. They Usual stay at catered chalets. And They'll need a crèche.

We just cannot afford this ( or should I say refuse to pay hard earned cash for it, as we spend half their usual budget!)

I am concerned that now we have agreed to holiday with them, that we will have to pay twice our usual budget in order to be together, due to their more complex needs.

AIBU to feel annoyed by this?

Should I suggest we find a cheaper accommodation in the same resort as them?

I know that their dc in particular would be upset about this, but we just never spend 4k on a skiing holiday!

Any advice / budget ideas welcome ( family resort with good crèche facility and good skiing for high intermediates). Tia!

[SkiDilemma]

'Regular'

[BikeRunSki]

Can you not just organise seperate holidays in the same place at the same time.

[SkiDilemma]

We may have to do that. Their dc will want to share rooms with my dc and my sibling will be really disappointed, as they want us to all be together. Tbh I'm quite keen on having a bit of space!

[BikeRunSki]

By "place" I mean resort/town. Different accommodation for each party depending on budget and needs.

[SkiDilemma]

Trouble is, if they have a catered chalet then we wouldn't see them at all in the evenings. That would be a shame.

[UniS]

Could a catered chalet with a nanny service booked locally work ? They pay for nanny, you don't. Non ski in/out chalets may be more affordable?

[SanityClause]

We always go self catering, and drive ourselves, which does keep down the cost.

Could you suggest hiring a self catering chalet, rather than a catered one? Then you would have all the fun of being in the same place, but the cost would be reduced.

Most of the larger resorts have a crèche, I think. For lots of intermediate skiing, try Les Arcs, La Plagne or Morzine/Avoriaz.

[SkiDilemma]

Catered chalets are about 800-1000 pppw, so way out of budget ( half term week).

Self catering chalet is my top idea so far, but they have so many children I'd end up feeling like I was a housekeeper rather than on holiday.

Thanks for resort ideas. Maybe driving down and choosing less 'desirable' resort would be an option.

[sandk]

There's a service called chaletkitchen.com which delivers chalet-style meals to self-catered chalets in a couple of resorts - could that form part of a compromise?

[SkiDilemma]

Wow sandk that's amazing! That'd be perfect! Thanks so much.

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

Self catered chalet has to be the obvious compromise. If you're driving then booking one not in a town centre will keep costs down.

Friends of ours have taken meals from cook out with them before (cool box in the roof box) when they've driven which worked well.

[SanityClause]

How old are the DC? Surely any that are at least 6 or 7 can make their own beds, etc. (if they don't make them, they can go unmade). Older ones can load the dishwasher, hang up any wet ski gear, put in a load of washing, sweep the kitchen floor, or go out in the morning to the boulangerie for the breakfast bits. Many hands make light work!

TBH, we rarely eat a proper dinner in the evening, as we usually have a lovely lunch on the slopes. We might have a bit of pate or cheese on toast, or some soup, so easy to cater for. I have sometimes done lunchtime cooking as well, but that relies on having ski in ski out accommodation, and actually, with such a big group, it would be too much, I think. You really would feel like a skivvy!

[SanityClause]

Oh, and I usually take out some cakes with us; things like boiled fruit cake which are a bit substantial. That, and a cup of tea when you get in, means you can flop for half an hour before getting everyone organised to do their little bits.

[SkiDilemma]

Sanity, the children demanding by virtue of being quite high maintenance personalities/ needs and collectively very loud. 3 of them will be early teens by the time we go, so possibly I'm being pessimistic in terms of how hard it'll be (based on my experience holidaying with them when they were younger!).

I really want to spend time with them,btw, but it does need careful planning due to potential self catering workload as the dc outnumber the adults considerably.

[UniS]

Pre prepared meals might help in self catered set up. In some resorts a local deli offer this. La Tania for one.
See if you can set up a morning bread delivery , eat a main meal out at lunch some days. Plan on simple cooking ( pasta and simple sause) and pre prepared deserts for nights you/ sil/ bill/ dh cook.

[SkiDilemma]

Uni do you mean take turns to cook? I could cope with pasta n sauce for 13 people but not much else! It's meant to be a holiday, lol.

[anotherdayanothersquabble]

Assuming this is for next year...

How about looking at these guys in Morzine or similar operators offering a mix of catered and self catering options.

Treeline

Two apartments in the same chalet, you could take one catered, one self catering, kids could share rooms as necessary and perhaps arrange one or two meals for all of you together. The owners are nice, I am sure they would be able to come up with a solution.

There are several nanny companies operating in Morzine, Cheeky Monkeys, Jack Frosts, Morzine Nannies who could sort the childcare part of the jigsaw. You could drive, they could fly.

There are many operators in Morzine who have a mix of self catering / catered options and many chalets have a separate apartment that can be rented separately.

Wishing you the diplomacy skills you need to negotiate with your sibling and wishing your sibling the understanding he / she needs to see this as an opportunity rather than problem!!

[rookietherednosedreindeer]

I agree with those saying that separate accomodation is the way to go.

It sounds like your families have very different needs so it's the only way to avoid you having to pay loads more for services you don't want, or them sacrificing catering and childcare. Anotherdays solution sounds like a great solution.

[Pushka2]

As others have said, I'd go with self-catered. We've done catered chalets and self-catering and as the kids get older, we prefer the freedom on self-catering. We've also been with sibling and family and booked a large enough apartment so that we have a separate living room(ie nobody sleeping in the living room) - that tends to be a downside of catered chalets unless you rent out the whole chalet and therefore have exclusive use of the living room.

For food, as somebody else mentioned, we've taken some Cook stuff in a cool box. For other meals we've ordered take away pizzas in resort, taken fresh pasta, ordered spit roast chicken from the supermarket/deli, eaten out a couple of nights

I'd also be upfront with your sibling about this - I'm sure they'd be happy to compromise.

[flashheartscanoe]

We stayed in an apartment block last year with 2 or 3 apartments on each floor. (very nice) One group had booked a whole floor but each family had their own apartment. When we walked by it looked great fun as they all had their doors open and the kids were in and out. That way each family is responsible for themselves but you get to be together. There was takeaway pizza just up the road! The village had a crèche but it wasn't on site. This place was la perle d'oisans in Vaujany but the idea could be applied elsewhere I'm sure especially if you book independently and early.

I think if they are not prepared to compromise then they surely cant want it that much. Explain your budget and stick to it!
We do the same as you- DIY in half term and we had to give up on going with another family as they just wanted to spend to much.
Good luck!

[SkiDilemma]

thanks very much for all the great suggestions. i've looked into this loads and followed up on all the links/ ideas on this thread.

i know Morzine is a very good option but i'd like to try to think out of the box and find maybe a slightly lesser known resort with a creche, so I've started another thread (the motivation for doing this is finding cheaper accommodation).

[SkiDilemma]

do any of you upthread know of resort creches in the places you've suggested?

[flashheartscanoe]

The vaujany crèche is supposed to be really good but we didn't use it-sorry.
Vaujany is linked to alpe d'huez so huge amount of skiing available.

[flashheartscanoe]

Also- if you haven't done so, -go over to 'snowheads' and ask there. The forum is great- lots of knowledgeable ski fanatics.

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

Owners direct or chalets direct (the solutions room) would be worth a look.