Ski Beat experiences in La Plagne please or Comments on Tignes with Esprit

[tulpe]

Having just found out that our first choice (Esprit at Belle Plagne) is full until April unless we fork out £5K plus; I am now looking for alternatives.

I really like the La Plagne area. Our DCs are 6 and 10 and whilst childcare would be great, it isn't absolutely essential.

Have found a couple of places with Ski Beat in Plagne 1800 - specifically Chalet Sorbier although others look fine too.

Anyone been/used the company?

Alternatively, Esprit still have some deals available in Tignes. Neither DH nor I know the area. Any opinions? We need cruisey blues for DCs and I (with a few do-able reds) and Blacks/Off-piste for DH.

i haven't been to tignes, but i believe it is a large resort with los of runs, so will easily accomodate your skiing requirements. However it is a high resort, and can be quite cold, so you'll need to wrap your little one's up well.
I expect is esprit go there it will be relatively child friendly, and you'll love it.

I've been to Tignes, I learnt to ski there. Definetly plenty of blues as there was anough to keep me busy all week. We stayed with Esprit in Tignes, I can't remember which chalet, was quite a bit chalet hotel. The only thing I would say is that it was a good 5+ min walk to the main lifts, probably the most walking I've had to do to a lift. You need to be somewhere near the main aeroski gondala not near the smaller drag lift. I think Esprit advertise even their far away chalets as being "50m from the nearest lift" or similar without pointing out its a crappy drag lift not the main chair/bubble. It was 7 or 8 years ago we went so not even sure if they have the same chalet.

We always go to Belle Plagne with Erna Low. Might be worth checking if they have anything.

Cannot comment on Esprit, but Tignes is a fantastic place to ski with plenty of choice for intermediates and really challenging stuff if your dh is looking for something to stretch him. It's not a particularly attractive resort (but then, neither is La Plagne) as most of the skiing is above the tree-line, but it is my favourite place to ski for the sheer variety and interest it provides. Can't say a lot about the apres-ski as I'm usually too knackered for that.....

Sparkly - which accommodation do you use?

Sparkly - which accommodation do you use?

We are a family of 5 and we stay in Les Nereides which are apartments. Great for ski in ski out.

Thanks for that. Just been looking at them online. Are they as good as they look? (have been stung by marketing photos before).

Also, do you cook for yourselves or use the in-house option?

We "cook" for ourselves. By "cooking" I mean buying a hot rotisserie chicken chicken from the Spar. Or alternatively there is a lovely deli that serves about 4 different casserole-y things every day. Just heat in the microwave.
There's also a good pizzaria in BP.

The apartments are the most spacious we've stayed in at ski resorts. When we first started going 5 years ago they were pristine. Now they're beginning to look slightly tired but still clean and well -appointed IYKWIM

Incidentally we drive to BP and Erna Low do a v good deal including the Eurotunnel crossing.

Les Néréides apartments are owned by Pierre et Vacances, so if you are interested, it might be worth pricing directly with P&V also. For example week commencing 26th March iwth Erna Low is £767 (not including ferry/tunnel) whereas with P&V for the same apartments, the cost is £548. You might find other weeks are cheaper booking with Erna Low.

We are going this year to a P&V apartment complex in the Chamonix valley, it's cheaper direct with P&V, last year at the same apartments, we got a cheaper price by booking with Peak Retreats, a UK company.

La Plagne is fantastic for ski-in-out apartments, there's a huge choice there too, many giving you access to or including a swimming pool. You can also buy family passes for Paradiski area too, price this up before booking lift passes with a UK company. Same goes for ski hire.

thanks both. I have been looking at the PV website and agree that they do seem cheaper direct.

Good to know they are spacious. One of the things which drives me nuts on ski trips is the falling over each other and each others ski stuff. If there is a little more room for storage then all the better.

Am liking the ski concept of self catering, btw sparkly :o When DH first suggested SC I was a bit at the idea of "same crap different city" for me but am now convinced I could make it work :o

We went to Plen Peisey with Ski Beat a few years ago and they were absolutely fabulous...not cheap but you deffo get what you pay for!!

We went to Plan Peisey with Ski Beat last year and they were pretty shocking.....the actual holiday & chalet was marvellous (when we got there) but the resort managers and the attitude of the company were severely lacking. Wouldn't recommend them to anyone!

We've just had a good experience with ski beat.
But some years ago had such a bad experience with esprit that wont go near them again.
Interesting how individual members of the team if poor have a big influence on whether people will turn into repeat customers or not.

tulpe, we went to Tignes last year with Esprit and stayed at their brand new Chalet Corniche. It was really excellent and we had a fantastic time.

It's across the road from one of the smaller lifts which you take and then ski down to the bigger lift (although there is a teeny bit of walking)and near the shops and bars etc. I loved it.

The skiing is good. Not pretty, tree lined runs but our ds was 5and a half last year and only his second year skiing and he was fine.

Ski Esprit are great if you want the full-blown child-care and have cash to spare, but we prefer self-catering which is a lot cheaper and more flexible - can spread out in the apartment and eat when we want! we have booked a really good deal with Erna Low to go to Arc 1950 which links to la plagne on 2nd april and for some reason it's a really cheap week. maybe because not a peak french one? it's great for kids - everything easy to get to and really nice ski school and kids club. And Erna Low have a rep who helps do all the stress on the first morning of getting skis and into ski school. we go with a bunch of families and they all get together sledging outside our windows after skiing. also as we drive out, we can bring a ton of stuff that saves money ... and miss those horrible airport queues.

i have skiied tignes before but not sure i would take my young children there yet - les arcs and la plagne are perfect for us.