Help me! Never been before don't know where to go or who to book with!

[Shootingstarsandcomets]

We have 2 kids who will be 4 and 5. Party is me and dh plays the kids and my parents. Ideally we would like a chalet for all of us but not where we share with other families. We don't need childcare other than mornings of a good English speaking ski school, ds1 is super shy so want somewhere really nice for him.
Any suggestions helpful please.

[LIZS]

When are you thinking of going? Early and late season it is best to go for higher altitude as snow unpredicatable . Do you need non ski activities for gps?

[Shootingstarsandcomets]

Probably going in March. Would like some other activities too......a swimming pool perhaps or something for the kids to do that wasn't snow based but it's not essential. My parents and dh and I will all ski and take it in turns to collect the boys from ski school.

[Shootingstarsandcomets]

Probably going in March. Would like some other activities too......a swimming pool perhaps or something for the kids to do that wasn't snow based but it's not essential. My parents and dh and I will all ski and take it in turns to collect the boys from ski school.

[LIZS]

Budget? Obertauern in Austria or Saas Fee in Switzerland. There are some English speaking skischools in French Alps but ESF are a bit hit and miss.

[Shootingstarsandcomets]

£1000 per person or less.....is that doable?

[LIZS]

Should be. You might want to look at Crystal or Total for their Learn to Ski packages as they should be able to book lessons with fellow English speakers and make it easy to get equipment and lift passes but it isn't tricky to do it yourselves.

[Shootingstarsandcomets]

ok thank you

[dontcallmethatyoucunt]

I've found Iglu ski helpful.

[TopsysMum]

There's some cracking English speaking ski schools out there now. If you consider SC you can get companies that deliver your food to your apartment if it's cooking that puts you off. Pierre et Vacances have some for 8-10 people. Lots if the main tour operators use them.

[itsawonderfulworld]

Austria has great ski schools with English-speaking instructors, and they normally put together groups of all-English-speakers (and separate groups for Dutch, Swedish...).

For your first trip with such young children, I'd highly recommend the Galtenberg Hotel in Alpbach, Austria. It's about a 2-hour transfer from Munich (which the hotel organises, for a fee) and you should be able to get cheap flights to Munich. Booking directly with the hotel works out a LOT cheaper than going through a tour operator - we used to pay less than £1000 per person at February Half Term which is almost impossible if you go somewhere where you need to fly to Salzburg or Innsbruck. Outside school holidays you should be fine.

The Galtenberg is a so-called Kinderhotel with fantastic facilities for the children. Indoor/outdoor pool, I think there is even a waterslide nowadays. They organise ski school from the hotel and take them back for lunch, and the little ones can go straight into kids club (with soft play area, ball pit etc) afterwards - your DC may surprise you, mine did - never wanted to leave kids' club!

The ski resort is small, but works well with young DCs. Ours are older now and we've moved on to somewhere more exciting, but have very fond memories of our holidays in Alpbach :)

There are other hotels in the Kinderhotel chain but I haven't tried any of the others, and found the Galtenberg to be very good value for what they offer.

[itsawonderfulworld]

Sorry, just saw that you're looking for a chalet. Personally I always loved the freedom that the children had in the Kinderhotel as it's very safe, and it was nice to have the pool, spa etc. Also all inclusive so no need to worry about shopping or cooking. They do various room sizes including suites (we used to have one with DH and I in a double bed in the main room with an additional sofa, and the DCs were in bunk beds in a separate room off the living area).